We woke up the next day and took the 10:46 Yamabiko to Utsunomiya and switched over to the JR Nikko line, which we took the rest of the way to Nikko. Arnond then informed us that the place we were staying would hold our bags, but wouldn’t guarantee them, so we ended up stuffing our stuff in a coin locker at the station before heading out to do sightseeing. We headed up to the major shrine and temple complex of Nikko, walking our way up the major road to get there. Arnond and I still had our backpacks, and so upon arriving at the complex, we left our bags with a lady providing bag holding services. We then got the combined tour ticket, and proceeded to explore the complex. I took pictures when I could, but many of the places did not allow photographs of the interiors.
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| The main hall of Rinno-ji, the Buddhist temple that administers Tokugawa Ieyasu's mausoleum |
It was an interesting contrast to come here, as the shrines and temples were much fancier than you find most anywhere else in the country. Chris told me that this was because this complex was built for Tokugawa Ieyasu, whose mausoleum was also part of it. The complex is also known for having the “See no evil, Hear no evil, Speak no evil” monkeys, so I took pictures of them as well.
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| The famous "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" monkeys |
We considered going into a weapon and armor museum along the way, which required a separate fee, but with little time before we had to pick up our bags from the baggage lady, we hurried our way along. After seeing the remaining shrines on the combined ticket, we rushed to get our bags from the lady, and then headed down to the station to get our other bags. We then went to the hotel, which was farther and more uphill from the station than any of us had expected. Arnond had chosen it because he wanted to be able to pay using credit. It was the place with the most non-Japanese feel that we stayed at during the entire trip. All the guests were foreigners, and the place exuded the feel of a lodge, which I guess shouldn’t be surprising as the place was named “Nikko Park Lodge”. It didn’t even have the normal Japanese amenities provided, like a yukata to sleep in. Nevertheless, the lodge people were very nice, and it wasn’t a bad place to stay at.
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| Arnond coming up to the second half of the room |
Chris tore into his “Letter from the Alps”, and it was delicious. We had dinner at the lodge and ordered breakfast for the next morning, and then we headed back to the room to relax and do more Comiket planning. Chris also prepped for an interview he was to have the next morning, and then we all went to sleep.
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