Nikko!

With all the pavement padding I have been doing here in the land of the salaryman, it was time to get out of the city for a little ancient Japanese adventuring! On Canada Day, myself, Oliver and our friends Nigel and Stacey (other fellow Canadians) set off towards Nikko, a World Heritage Site two hours from the bustle of Tokyo.
The town of Nikko , a popular tourist destination, offers a glimpse into the traditional lifestyle of the Japanese. The whole place had a very samarai feel about it, complete with wild monkeys, ancient legends, and temples galore! The town was founded by the Buddhist priest Shodo in the middle of the 8th century. It was known for a time as a training centre for monks, and a sacred site to visit. There are both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines at the hermitage. We visited two temples and the famous Tosho-gu shrine. At the entrance gate to the shrine there are the ever-popular "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" monkies. Surprised by their size, this carving is actually just a panel in a series of images depicting the lifecycle of the monkey. The shrine itself was an ornate display of intricate gold carvings and beautiful lacquered details.
The atmosphere was perfect for our explorations, the day was misty and moist. The lush forest surrounding the sacred site made the day magical and peaceful. We hiked along a river called the Guan Man Fuchi Abyss, lined by many mysterious Buddha statues, the legend being that the total count will always be different, from one end to the other. Of course, we didn't find that out until we were leaving.....it remains to be seen!
We stayed in a bizarre and lovely little inn, run by a couple of Japanese men, one a Buddhist monk who taught free yoga classes in the morning....early. Seeing as we had been up until 3am the night before, relaxing at an onsen, quite a dark and trecherous hike from the inn, Stacey and I were less than genki about the 7am start! We had breakfast at the inn and then the owner kindly drove us into town to explore the sites I just mentioned. Nikko requires a lot of walking, so we were grateful for his generosity, even though we turned down his 4,000 yen/person offer of a guided tour. We seemed to get some of it for free!
It was fantastic and refreshing to smell clean air, see the colour green and get the hell out of Tokyo for the weekend! Nikko was a facinating slice of Japanese history. I hope to return in the fall, and spend some more quality in the onsen.......mmmmmm.