Nikko 10.16.05

Last weekend we took a trip to Nikko. It is north of Tokyo. Nikko is known for the leaves changing in the fall, so we went to take a look. We stayed with our friend Yoko's brother-in-law. We really had a great time and the weather was perfect in the morning while we were hiking. It did rain a little in the afternoon, but at least we got the hike in before that.

Lauren and I could hardly contain our excitement as we got on the bullet train.


Remember to keep Japan clean...


We had to get up at 5:30 Sunday morning. We left the house at 6:30 and headed to the mountain. Of course we were exhausted and I didn't sleep well on the tatami mats, but that wasn't anything a little coffee wouldn't cure. The first thing we saw was the "man's body". Stop all the dirty thoughts--it was simply the name of this mountain we went to. Actually, the kanji stood for "man's body" but now I suppose I'll just get more questions asking what kanji is...
Here is a picture from the "man's body".


Yeah, we are all dorks.

I don't really remember the order we did all this stuff in, so I'm just going to tell you what it is and you can make up whatever order you want...

Here is the view of a lake with the leaves changing. It really was beautiful there.



We stopped and ate breakfast at this lake.


Ryuzu Falls



We hiked after seeing this and walked along the water.
Remember: Don't over the fence.





At the end of the hike, we were at a place that is said to be the site of a battle of the mountain gods. We decided we should reenact what may have happened that day when the gods of the mountain went to battle.



After the hike, we saw "god's bridge" or the emperor's bridge.



After that we went to a Shinto shrine, then a Buddhist temple. We saw the famous Nikko monkeys. (Hear no evil, Speak no evil, See no evil)



Oh, and here is the invisible elephant. (Don't ask me-it was in the guidebook.)



There is also a famous "sleeping cat" in Nikko. We thought we were going to see the cat, but were actually going into a shrine. As we were walking into the Shrine, Lauren said, "Are we sure this is where the cat is, or did we come here to pray?"
Well, we did finally find the cat...and it wasn't real like we had come to believe. What a crock...why do these people talk about a cat that is carved on a wall??
Anyway, here is the stupid cat.



Here are a few more random pictures from the trip.


It's raining, it's pouring...(actually it wasn't raining that bad, but they get their umbrellas out at the first sign of a drop of rain)


A samurai guarding the Shinto shrine


And rule #1 is--wait, which one?