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Konichiwa!
I'm now in a place called Nara, pretty close to Kyoto and have a nice walk in the park with several temples and shrines to see tomorrow. The picture is not of here but of Senso-Ji Temple in Tokyo, which I visited as it was close to my hostel there.
Nikko was beautiful! Wasn't really expecting it but was up near some snow-covered mountains and had glorious sunshine all the time I was there. Pine trees, over a foot of snow on the ground and endless blue sky made me happy instantly...as did the chap playing lap steel sat next to the weirs that were also a nice feature. I went to look around the temple and shrines in central Nikko and they were brilliant. Set in a lot of woodland, and with some really lavish buildings, it was one of the most spectacular things I've seen. I think it's also where the 'see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil' monkeys originated but I didn't take a photo of them on the principle it was too obvious. But made for a refreshing afternoon's walking and I was so happy I checked in for a second night too. Was at a nice lodge with a log fire and 4 guitars, and I got on well with a chap called Adam so we chatted quite a lot in the living room, making it feel really homey. Second day there I headed up to Lake Chuzenji, Japan's highest lake and had a look at the Kegon Waterfall too, although it wasn't a real 'wow' one. Saw some so-called 'Snow Monkeys' while up there as well which was cool. Also sought out a rotenburo, an outdoor onsen (Japanese communal mineral bath) that overlooked the lake and mountains so spent some time relaxing there. Having said that, some combination of the scalding heat of the water, the rays of the noon sun, the sulphur smell and the minerals themselves made me feel very strange indeed so had to get out for a bit to let the blurry vision and muffled hearing dissipate. Other people have had similar experiences so it's not just me but it was a bit strange. Fell asleep on a bench in front of the lake after that in true tramp style. Chilled out in the lodge for the rest of the day.
Up early for 7 hours of trains to Takayama, a small city with lots of traditional-style streets which was a really cool place. Saw a folk village with proper old buildings smelling of smoke and with metre-thick thatch on top, and the place was lit up at night too which was good. Lots of tatami mat floors and latticed paper windows so very cool. Was on my own in an 8-bed dorm so felt like a home for me, so made friends with the staff and watched Howl's Moving Castle on DVD in the evening, as watching some anime seemed to make sense. Next day saw a traditional government building and met a couple of girls on the free tour so wandered with them a bit. Saw some crazy puppets in a museum doing all kinds of free-standing acrobatics and had a great lunch of the regional 'Hida' beef with miso paste and veg, yum yum. I went off and saw some small temples and an atmospheric graveyard in the woods before getting fed up of the rain that persisted the entire day so watched another anime before going out for dinner. Invited myself to join a bunch of 10 Aussies on a tour group so had a great time with them for that short while.
Then travelled to Nara today, the first permanent capital of Japan. Went to Horyu-ji Temple, with supposedly the oldest wooden buildings in the world and it was OK. Had a nice simple five-storey pagoda but I've seen better things for less money! Now I'm staying in my first ryokan, a traditional place with basic facilities but my room is one of the tatami mat, paper windows jobbies, so it's very atmospheric. There's a beautiful garden in the courtyard that I can't wait to see in the morning.
So far Japan has been great. I feel much better about being on my own, though I always want to tell you guys stuff that's just happened! The Japanese are really helpful, kind-hearted people, with a real love of ritual. They won't cross the road unless the green man's on, they won't wear their indoor slippers in the toilet (there are toilet slippers for that!) and they queue up for the trains in the designated spaces! The place is the cleanest country on earth I bet, and even the back streets seem to have relatively new, clean buildings, even if they are actually old. Lots of low, dark wooden structures are what characterise the typical architecture, and it really is nice. I don't feel that the temples have as much character as those in China but on the whole there has been more thought and attention to detail gone into things here. I think modern Japanese are more like their artistic, philosophical ancestors than the Chinese are like theirs and to me that's a great thing. The scenery between here and Takayama was unexpectedly wonderful. a bright blue river running by the tracks, forested hillsides with mottled brown trees dotted around, and perfectly manicured rows of bushes in farmers plots made it a spectacular train ride.
Hopefully that keeps you up with what I'm doing as well as giving you an idea of what Japan is like, as I haven't done that enough. Thank you for all the messages - I promise to reply to some soon! Love to you all as ever.
Dave
P.S. Also found the best food item ever - an ale pie crossed with a steamed bun. I couldn't stop groaning in pleasure with each bite!
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