Nikko - Day 2

On our second day in Nikko, Glenn and I checked out of our hotel and headed on a bus towards central Nikko. This area is home to several famous shrines, the most famous of which is Toshogu shrine which is one of the most elaborate and intricate shrines in Japan.

One of the things that the Toshogu shrine is most famous for, is a carved wooden panel on the horse stable. It depicts the famous hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil monkeys. Glenn was reluctant to take this picture because of the large crowd, but believe me, he wasn't the only one doing this same thing.

The shrine was beautiful and I wish we knew more of the history of this area, but regardless, I enjoyed walking around with my hubby and enjoying the beautiful leaves. We were a little late in the year for most of the bright red and orange leaves, but there were a few gorgeous trees still holding out for our trip north. I think if we had been there 2 or 3 weeks ago, all of the trees would have been beautiful. The fall leaves in Nikko made me miss Minnesota and Iowa a lot. They are so beautiful in the fall.

Another recommended destination on my Nikko sightseeing map was the Shinkyo bridge. Initially it was built for only the emperor and important such people to cross the river, now it sits next to road that crosses the river. So it has lost some of it's luster, but you can still pay $5 to walk across the bridge and feel like your someone special. We decided to just take pictures of the bridge instead.

 

After checking out all the shrines and temples, Glenn and I headed to our final destination of the Nikko trip, Lake Chuzenji. We arrived around check in time at our second hotel, bundled up in our gloves, hats and scarves and headed to the lake to enjoy the sunset, eachother and a chu-hi. A great end to a second day!