Day 12 Nov 11 – Nikko

Our nice dinner in Shibuya last night turned out to be not so good after all.  Erin ate something that disagreed with her and was sick in the night.  We had to drag her off to the station as we had to get to Nikko.  She soldiered on very bravely through the walk to the station and the crowded train to Tokyo Station.  From Tokyo we went by Shinkansen to Utsunomiya, so we were able to make her comfortable along the way.  At Utsunomiya we transferred to the local train to Nikko.  Fortunately this train was not crowded, so Erin was able to nap until we reached Nikko.

 

It was very cold and cloudy in Nikko, which is not very surprising as it is in the mountains.  The hotel staff could not have been more helpful.  When we explained that Erin was ill, they sat us in the lounge area, quickly arranged to have our room cleaned and prepared and let us check in early.  We spread a futon on the floor for Erin and she snuggled in for a sleep.  John and I rested and had tea.  It was a good opportunity for us to stop and relax after a very full schedule.

 

Once we were confident that Erin was OK, John and I left her to rest while we went for a walk to Toshugu Shrine.  My little umbrella came in handy after all as it was raining as we left the hotel.

Toshugu Shrine was amazing.  It is the burial place of the Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa.  The autumn colours along the way and in the surrounds of the Shrine were gorgeous – vibrant reds, glowing golds and all shades in between.  There are a number of buildings in the shrine area with beautiful carved decorations along the walls.

Bridge on the way to the Toshogu Shrine




Beautiful Nikko

Autumn colours everywhere! 



Golden autumn trees

 



At the Toshogu Shrine

We went in to visit the main shrine.  Visitors were admitted in groups, who then sat on the floor (ouch!) while the priest gave a descriptive talk about the shrine.  We didn’t understand any of it, but when everyone looked at the feature he was pointing out, we looked that way and nodded wisely as if we knew what was going on.

Good advice

After the shrine, we went up to visit the grave (describe decorations).  By that time it had stopped raining so we were able to amble back through the autumn leaves to the hotel.

 

Back at the hotel, Erin felt well enough to go out for a short walk to see the beautiful red bridge and the autumn trees that were not too far away from the hotel.  They found a shop to buy some plain food (bread, rice crackers and fruit) for when she makes a full comeback.  We whiled away the afternoon napping and reading then John and I went out to a Chinese restaurant for dinner.  As we were leaving the hotel to go into the freezing cold evening air, a young couple came into the hotel. The woman was wearing a mini skirt with over-the-knee stockings and bare legs in between!  The lovely guy in the hotel gave her a warm blanket to wrap around her legs.

 

The guy in the Chinese restaurant was very funny.  He spoke good English and had quite a chat with us.  He taught us a simple Japanese game which will come in handy if we need to fill in some time.  He asked us to write a message in his message book.  I wrote the first part in English and the second part in Japanese.  He was very surprised and suitably impressed!
We enjoyed being in a Chinese Restaurant in Japan listening to hits of the 60s (Mamas and Papas, Beatles etc.)

 

Our friendly Chinese Restaurant guy

Back at the hotel, we arranged a taxi to take us to the station in the morning, had a lovely soak in the bath and snuggled into our futons.