Nikko day 1

As I'm traveling, I'm stuck using my iPad to blog.  It is definately more difficult than the computer and there are things I cannot get to work like spell check, photo sizing and positioning and captions on photos.  Sorry about the drop in quality.

Getting to Nikko from Hiroshima took a good chunk of the day.  We left home around 7 AM and arrived in Nikko around 2 PM, by train.  Nikko is a national park that is about 2 hours outside of Tokyo and has a nice mix of pretty nature things and some Japanese history including a couple of world heritage sites.  The weather was pretty miserable when we arrived being only slightly above freezing and raining consistantly.  We decided to brave the elements and do some exploring.  

Usually, I put forth a great deal of effort trying to take photos without a whole heard of tourists wandering through them.  That was not a problem this time as the weather was miserable enough to keep everyone else away.

First we checked out the Rinnoji temple Taiyuin mausoleum.  It was several very ornately carved buildings dedicated to the third Shogun.  The time frame is 1600's.

Entrance to the shrine.

A cool lantern.  They has a bunch of these that were made out of copper or stone.

Me in Jeff's ski jacket trying to stay warm.  Thank goodness his coat still fits me, none of mine do.

The shrine.

This was near the entrance.  It was a small waterfall that looks like it is coming out of the mouth of a dragon and then through a serries of colverts to a trough that holds water to purify your hands before entering the shrine. 

This is the actual mausoleum.

After we had enough of the cold and wet we found a small cafe that had amazing hot chocolate and delicious cake to warm us back up.  It was a good start to vacation!