April 5, 2014

April 5, 2014

Today we are traveling ninety miles north of Tokyo to explore the World Heritage sites of Nikko. We meet a local guide, Ogi, at our hotel and catch the Shinkansen bullet train for the first leg. At 120 mph the scenery whips by. What a great way to travel. The second leg is a local train that lasts as long but travels a fraction of the distance. This second train climbs into snow-capped mountains. Uh-oh, I am pretty sure we are not dressed properly with just a shirt and raincoat. It is cold, especially in the shadows.

Our first stop in Nikko is a dive restaurant for an early lunch. Noodles, again. Good but just like yesterday. We have had our fill of Japanese noodles. We had a giant slice of tofu for appetizer. Dipped in soy sauce and wasabi, it was tasty.

After lunch we cross the Daiya River and hike up the hill toward the shrine complex. We pass by the Rinno-ji Temple that is completely covered in a tarp for renovation. Past the temple is the Tosho-gu Shrine dedicated to Shogun Tokugawa. Up a hill is his actual gravesite. All the buildings are of medieval Japanese architecture; they are very ornate and covered in gold leaf. The shrine complex is built into a beautiful mountainside filled with huge cedar trees. A side building has a series of eight carved reliefs with monkeys meant to teach certain morals to children. One is of the famous three monkeys depicting “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”.

We finish our tour of Nikko at Taiyuinbyo, the mausoleum of Tokugawa’s grandson, who built the shrine to his grandfather. Our female guide today was delightful. She drew us pictures, and gave us little gifts and treats. She kept calling me a Ninja because I walked so fast!

Unfortunately I woke this morning with a slight sore throat. Back in Tokyo we stop in a 7-11 and buy some salt. Sometimes gargling with salt water can prevent the onset of a real illness. I am sure being underdressed today for the cold isn’t going to help!