Nikko trip 23-25 November 2007

I went to Nikko last week because Friday was a holiday, thus we had a long weekend. There were 12 of us actually. hehhe, quite a number huh. Anyway, the trip was good, I loved it. Anyway this is the breakdown of the trip.

23 November

Well, we left the apartment early in the morning as we need to go to Asakusa, Tokyo to take the train. The trip to Nikko takes about 2 hours from Asakusa. It takes 1 hour from Yokohama to Tokyo, thus 3 hours journey altogether. Once at Asakusa, we bought a 4-day All Nikko Pass. Well, just an advice if you go Nikko for more than 1 day, BUY the pass. The bus ride within Nikko is damned expensive. The all day pass will make the trip so cheap. The 4-day pass cost 4400 yen. Yeah, I still remembered the price because I bought the ticket.

The 2 hour train ride passed so fast because we talked so much along the way. Our friends from Kyoto came over. Thus, making the number 12. Once arrived, we were busy getting our orientation. yeah, none of us have been there before. We need to find the location of our ryokan. We were lost for 1 hour actually. It was understood as the place was somehow quite hard to find. The place we stayed was nice, the room is big and it has the japanese style bed, i.e. futon.

That day, we didn’t really go anywhere as the day was practically ended by 4pm. yeah, it is getting dark by 4pm and the shops and diners were closed around 5pm. Anyway, due to our numbers, the movement was slow. We just managed to take a round trip bus to the top of the mountain.

We also did a long walk as we stopped somewhere in the middle of the mountain as we wanted to see a waterfall. The last bus service was 4pm. We walked all the way back to the station. Gosh, it was damned cold. I tell you, I think the temperature is around 4 degree and below. I have prepared myself with all the winter wear, even then, it was not enough. The glove I have was not sufficient to keep my palm warm. Well, I was still in a good condition as I still wear the long john. Two of our friends really suffered as they were not properly dressed. I could not believe that they took winter so lightly. I did called and emailed them the condition before the trip.

Anyway., the day ended fast. We walked around 2 hours under really really cold temperature and strong wind. I could not believe I made it.

We had a really good sleep that nite. Who wouldn’t?

24 November

We were kiasu this time . We practically left the ryokan around 6pm. Hahhaha, yeah, we need to safe the daylight. Otherwise we could only sightseeing for half a day. So, the first destination was yomoto onsen, it was the top of the mountain. It was already snowing in the mountain, so we could see snow and played. yeah, it was the first time for me to see snow. hahhaa…. The morning was good and fresh. I loved it the most.

Yumoto onsen has a beautiful lake, an onsen and a ski area. The ski has yet opened as the snow was yet thick.

From there, we went to another onsen site and errr lost our way. At the end we found several farming area. Hehhee, it was an interesting walk. There was also an aread prone of bears. Errr bears as in real bears. Finally we find another resting place where they sold souvenir and a diner. Thus, we had our lunch there. The price is slightly more expensive but still ok.

We also visited the Chuzenji lake. I think the lake was so so. We also visited 2 waterfalls. They are beautiful. Unfortunately, the red leaves were no more. yeah, the leaves have dropped, thus leaving a bare trees.

From there we went to the plateau, gosh, we practically walked 30 minute to get there, yeah 30 minutes under dropping temperature. It was 4  pm at that time and the weather was getting colder and colder. The plateau was so so. Hehhehe…. From there, well. we missed 2 buses, thus we practically waited for more than 1 hour under extreme cold. It was damned damned cold and trust me, nobody else there but us!

Finally we got on the bus and went back to the station. Well, the bus was damned HOT. The sudden change of temperature made me want to vomit and the whole nite I was not feeling well. Yeah, it was like standing under 0 degree or below and then under 30 degree within a few seconds. I will bear that in mind for the next trip. Be careful of the sudden temperature change.

Again, we had a good nite. Who wouldn’t? Oh ya, need to mention that we had onsen at nite in the ryokan.

25 November

We decided to walk around the shrine in the vicinity. Nikko is famous for its shrines and waterfall. We had breakfast in the ryokan. Well, we had a bowl of fruits and 3 buns of bread, err for 1500 yen.

The shrine in Nikko is one of the world heritage. I think the shrines are beautiful, less commercial than Asakusa temple. I have visited several shrines and temples in Japan and I think all of them are the same. They will have running water for washing, a huge bell, a place for prayer and a charm booth. There are numerous temple and shrines in the vicinity. it is a huge compound indeed.

We walked around and practically didn’t check the time. We actually took a later train back and our friends from kyoto nearly missed their  shinkansen -_-”.

Overall, it was a good get-away. It was a good catch up with friends. For myself, I learnt many things, I learnt to appreciate nature, I learnt to love taking photos and I learnt to be more friendly. kekkeke…