Overnight trip to Nikko

 Hello! I am very new to the blogging world, but I hope this blog will help me keep in touch with friends and family and share some of what we are doing in Japan. 

We have been in Japan for 3 month now. Honestly, August through October is a blur. I hope to write a prequel to this post that will have pictures and experiences from our first 3 months, but rather that wait to get that done I think I will jump in at the present and post some things from this past weekend. 

This weekend we went with a couple in our Branch on an overnight trip to the town of Nikko, which is north of Tokyo, about a 3 hour drive from Camp Zama where we live. We went to see the Fall colors or "Momiji" - meaning the viewing of Autumn leaves. Very popular in Japan!!

I am including a couple of pictures of the Air BnB we stayed in. Apartments and houses in Japan are much smaller in scale than those in the US. This one is pretty typical in size. The kitchen and eating area comprise the whole of the shared space. There were two bedrooms and a small bathroom. It was very clean and comfortable, just not roomy. Generally Japanese apartments don't have ovens or dishwashers. They do have a small fridge and microwave.

Nikko itself is home to the Toshogu Shrine, a World Heritage Site where you can find the original wooden carving of the monkeys - Hear no evil, Speak no evil, See no evil. The Shrine also has a lovely and famous bridge.

If you drive into the mountains above Nikko you come to Lake Chuzenji along with a beautiful marshland area. We were told that Japanese children's stories often feature the marsh as the scary place where bad things happen. On the day we visited it was very scenic and peaceful!

At the lake there were several fishing boats out. We noticed the fish they caught were tiny, but they seemed to be catching quite a few and having a good time doing it!  

We also made a stop at Ryuzu Falls or the Dragon Falls. The falls are thought to resemble a dragon's head in the center. 

Kimball is always amused by the signs with English "instructions". Rather than KEEP OFF - they opt for the slightly wordier version. Or the use of words that are correct but not commonly used - "witnessed".

We stopped at a mountain rest area with a restaurant and snack bar. Inside there is western style seating with tables and chairs or you can choose to take off your shoes and sit on the tatami mats in the Japanese style. We had curry and rice and croquettes (panko breaded and fried potato patties). 

It was a very lovely day and outside they sold ice cream cones. We couldn't help noticing the group of people eating their ice cream with chopsticks. Kimball wanted a picture but that's rude - right? So he took it slyly.

This is an "Onigiri sandwich" that Kimball bought at a rest area on the drive home. It's sushi rice with a katsu patty between sheets of Nori. Pretty good actually - Japanese fast food!