Sightseeing – Nikko National Park

We decided to go a little farther afield today (in the past we’d stuck close to the hotel and work) to see some authentic Japanese countryside. The guide book assured us that Nikko is not only the home of some of Japan’s “greatest historic sites”, but is also “an alpine wonderland for hikers in the summer and skiers in the winter, abounding with lakes, waterfalls, and onsen (hot springs).” Since it was also sunny for the first time since I’d gotten here, how could we pass this up?

So we stopped at one of the countless convenience stores for snacks and set off cross country with map in hand. The strange thing with countryside is though, that after the first rice paddy and cute little old farm house, they pretty much all look alike. The snacks kept us amused for a while though. How can something that looks so innocuous in the picture be so deceiving? The potato chips turned out to be soy sauce and vinegar flavored – it was a potato chip, but it left you in no doubt at all as to which side of the Pacific it was bought on! (oddly enough, I actually like them better than the salt and vinegar ones at home) And the little chocolate cookies ... well, they turned out to be little round edible styrofoam peanuts coated in chocolate glaze. Strangely addictive once you start eating them, and then you look at the empty bag and wonder why you ate them all. ugh.

Then we got into the mountains – it’s amazing how lush the landscape is. I mean, I ought to have expected it after a week of rain, but coming from the California coast, it was still a shock. Almost tropical in how green everything is. And with a really neat mist curling around the tops of all the mountains.

Nikko is enough of a destination that we had no trouble following the signs. Since it houses so many historically important temples, we figured we’d do the tourist thing first. All I have to say is that for a “world heritage site”, you would really expect them to be a little better prepared for non-Japanese speaking tourists. The extent of their English was the English/Japanese picture guide book (“perfect English!” the sign assured us). So we dutifully followed everyone else around, looking at whatever they were oohing and aahing about with almost total incomprehension. There were about 5 major temples in the complex, all extremely old and ornate. At least one is a tomb for someone’s grandfather (who had, incidentally, told his grandson he didn’t want a large monument when he died). There was a lantern with a “mysterious legend” (that’s all the guide book said – no details). The “roaring dragon” was cool – if you stand in just the right spot under his head (he’s painted on the ceiling) and clap, the room echoes.

Once our feet got tired, I bought the requisite fortune and we sat on the temple steps while the Redhead tried to decipher fortune-cookie style Japanese. We finally concluded that I’d just purchased a wish, and to make it come true, I had to tie it to the string in front of the temple. As I tied it on, it tore – I’m hoping that it’s good luck since it obviously meant I really wanted what I wished for.

After lunch we went in search of the waterfall we’d really come to see. Unfortunately, it started to rain, but we decided that it would just be more picturesque that way and continued up the mountain. Now, remember that “neat mist” I mentioned earlier? Yeah, you see where this is going. By the time we got to the top, it was so rainy and misty that we could barely see the waterfall (we did see enough to know it’s worth coming back on a sunny day though – it’s got to be spectacular). There was another group of insane tourists standing on the rain soaked platform too, so we all smiled and took each other’s pictures and then ran back for the relative warmth of the car.

The highlight of the day was watching a dog walk down the sidewalk and realizing that it wasn’t a dog at all, but a monkey with a baby hanging on to her back! Apparently they’re native here and it’s not uncommon to see them in rural towns.

The least said about the trip back, the better. Suffice it to say that when there’s an accident on the only through road for miles and said road is only 1 lane in each direction, it takes a LONG time to get through.