Nikko

Almost exactly 3 years ago, I was on my first trip to Japan. I had prepared my itinerary carefully: a day in Tokyo, 3 days in Kyoto/Nara, Student Pugwash pre-conference in Hiroshima (Wed. July 20 - Fri. July 22), Senior Pugwash conference (Sat. July 23 - Wed. July 27), then 2 more days in Tokyo before returning to Belfast. For one of my final Tokyo days I had planned to visit Nikko, a town 2 hours north of Tokyo which houses many well-known temples and shrines. As things turned out, I met this woman there who I was quite smitten with and so abandoned my Nikko day to spend another day with her in Hiroshima. It turned out to be a good call, but it did take 3 years for me to finally get to Nikko.

Since Nikko is 2 hours north of Tokyo by train and I am 1 1/2 - 2 hours south of Tokyo, it made for a lot of trains and travel time. I left the apartment at 8:30 am and didn't arrive there until 1:30 pm. I left Nikko at 6:00 pm and arrived back home at 11:00 pm. That means I spent 10 hours (and about ¥5000 - approximately $50) to spend 4 1/2 hours there!

But it was worth it; the setting is gorgeous - up in the green mountains surrounded by huge trees. And the temples, shrines, toriis (gates), and other historical items were interesting and beautiful.