Nikko Day Trip

Nikko is a small mountain town north of Tokyo (though not so far north as to be affected by the Fukushima disaster, luckily.  At least, that's what I'm told, and it seemed that way.)  The trip took about 2.5 to 3 hours by train, and was so worth it.  Very beautiful view along the way, and the hot spring is on top of a mountain with a great view.  The weather held up, with just a light rain, so that was nice.

Thanks to the lovely Ko-san for arranging this and for showing me around!

Most of these pics will be posted without comment, aside from providing a general context.

These are on the train from Kita-senju to Nikko.  Some are blurry.  Some are decent.  Some are sideways (I didn't edit anything before posting.)  In some you can see the reflection of the window. 

I especially like how you can see the changing scenery, from pretty flat farmland (though with quite small plots) to mountainous.  Also, there are cherry blossom trees planted all over the place.  Sometimes there will be a stand, and sometimes just one or two, in striking contrast to the mostly green scenery.

And we arrive in Nikko!!  I think it looks like any small mountain town in New Hampshire, just with more Japanese / Chinese writing!

First we visited a beautiful shrine about a 5 minute bus ride from the Tobu Station (above).  Very quiet, with lovely trees.  A very pleasant walk through the woods.

Ko-san tells me that the writing on these shows the name of the makers, and it seems like they're relatively new.  But they look old, so that's good enough for me.

Next, it was off to the hot springs!  Me, naked, in a large tub with a half-dozen old Japanese business-men, similarly naked.  Kind of an unremarkable Wednesday afternoon...  No pictures from the actual spring, though, for obvious reasons.  Those being 1) the moisture, and 2) we were all naked.  Living the dream here in Tokyo.  Sadly, there were no co-ed springs, so, just me and the guys.  Oh well. 

I spent a bit of time in the sauna, then onto the indoor spring.  As there was a brief, light rain, I only spent about 5 minutes in the outside tub before heading back in.

These pics are from the waiting area outside the spring.  6th floor, on a hill.  Nice view.

There is a little path down to that pond, which is actually a Koi pond!  The fish follow you from side to side, as they're conditioned to expect food to be thrown in.  Having no food, there were some disappointed Koi that day.  Sorry, fish.

Now on the ride back to Tokyo.

The ghost in the window there is Ko-san!  Look at those cheeks!  She wasn't happy about showing up here, and kept trying to shift her position so as to not be in the pics.  She failed, and eventually hoped over to the seat next to me instead.

These trees were planted several hundred years ago by a famous Japanese General (who lived in Nikko).  The trees extend for 34 kilometers!  That's quite an undertaking, but less impressive when you consider the fact that he wasn't exactly out there planting himself.  It's amazing what you can accomplish when the surfs do all the work.