Onwards and Upwards to Nikko

A train arrives

Today we leave Kyoto. It is raining lightly but the walk to station is not too long. The ticket office accepts credit cards, it even has a large red sign saying so. The clerk was helpful and his English is good. Our journey will take us through Tokyo and then north. The nearest mainline station to Nikko is Utsunomiya . The journey between Kyoto and Tokyo was smooth and comfortable. We located the platform for the train to Utsunomiya and was confronted by an unexpected sight - a double decker train. Naturally the top deck, the Green Car, was reserved for the upper class, we sat in the lower deck. Not that the lower deck wasn't luxurious. We had to wait a few minutes before we could get on the train as an army of cleaners were valeting the carriages. You get a whole new perspecive on the world when the view from your train window is level with the platform, for one thing you can enjoy a well-turned ankle.The journey to Utsunomiya was very smooth and then we transferred to a local line on to Nikko . Nikko means sunlight or sunshine. We arrived during a downpour so decided to take a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver took a while for the driver to work out where the hotel was but came to a decision after chatting with his colleagues. The taxi arrived at the Turtle inn, we got out and paid the driver.

The front of the Annex - in better weather

We struggled with our cases into the hotel only to be informed that we were in the annex, some 300 yards further along the road. As things were getting late we decided to leave our bags and find somwhere to eat. We were directed to a resaurant a few minutes away. When we arrived there they were just closing. We must have looked like deserving causes because they took pity on us, or was it the curiousity of entertaining Gaijin . The food was good and a hot bowl of ramen and rice took the chill of the rain out of our bodies.

View from the hot tub

After the meal we returned to the Inn and then we and our luggage made our way through the rain to the Annex (Hotori-an). We booked in and got to our rooms. Now I had to make a decision, do I walk back through the rain to the other part of the hotel and update my travel blog, or do I stay in the Annex and relax in the Panorama bath. Common sense ruled and Rita and I spent 20 minutes washing and the relaxing in the hot pool looking over the river gorge below. What would tomorrow bring? Would I be called on to learn new phrases "I see it is still raining" and "Can I borrow an umberella?" OK I know us English are obsessed with the weather but we were only in Nikko for one day and it would be a great pity to miss the beauty of the place.

Winner of the best dressed statue

Sunday morning 5am saw the weather looking promising, there was still some cloud but there were blue bits as well. We opted for the Western breakfast which was unusual. A bowl of fruit, some toast and a hard boiled egg. The fruit was good, especially as we had not had much fruit since arriving in Japan. After the meal and some excellent tea we felt ready to face the day.

The compact nature of Nikko meant it was easy to to find and explore the shrines. There were four: Rinnoji Temple , Toshogu Shrine , Rinnoji Taiyuin Temple and the Futarasan Shrine all within a small area. On our way to the first shrine we passed a lovely little personal shrine "all dressed up and nowhere to go".

Winner of the best dressed statue

Did I say the four temples were in a small area? This is what we thought, in fact the various buildings were close toghether but the area the buildings occupied was vast. The map at the entry showed us the extent to the complex. Tickets were required to visit each of the shrines. We discovered that if we wanted to see all the buildings the cheapest method was to purchase a block ticket for all four shrines, which is what we did. I managed to retain part of the ticket as a souvenir and you can see a copy of it here .

Shoyoen

The first place that caught our attention was the Japanese Garden. This is what the sign in English said but the Japanese version had the kanji to garden but nothing about Japan . After a search on my electronic dictionary I discovered the fist two kanji meant ramble, saunter or walk which was far more applicable to the gardens the the rather bland term Japanese. The garden was a wealth of hues, of shapes and of textures. The pool contained a population of Koi carp who swam towards the shadow of people probably expecting to be fed. There was nowhere to sit in the garden, if there had been I think we would have relaxed but ramble we must.

Sanbutsudo

Beside the garden was the Treasure House, a small museum cantaining some wonderful examples of Nikko craftsmanship and history. Unfortunately we were not permitted to take photographs so you will have to take our word for it.

On leaving the treasure house we were confronted with an impressive spectacle. The Sanbutsudo fronted by two sets of steep steps. Even from the bottom of the steps the building looked imposing. We entered the building and took the tour, unfortunately it was in Japanese. My daughter showed her grasp of the language by giving us a running commentary; we were impressed. It was only after we left the building that she admitted she had made up the whole thing.

Sanbutsudo

By the time we left the building the clouds had dispersed and the sun shone brightly. In some respect too bright as it became difficult to get good photographs. I was glad I had a digital camera so I could check and retake as necessary. Made note to buy a neutral density filter at the first opportunity.

As we left the first shrine we passed a stall selling grilled fish and dango - rice balls or dumpling, both on sticks. I am an avid reader of the novels of Terry Pratchett and the image that sprang into my mind as I saw the stall smelt the merchandise was "Here is a Japanese cousin of CMOT Dibbler" - Seppuka Dibura - selling "fish on a stick" and "balls of rice on a stick". Being tourists we bought one of each.