Nikko

Today we ventured out of Tokyo on a day trip to Nikko. Nikko celebrates the extravagance of the Edo Period dating back to the 1600’s and is filled with temples all set in a national park.

Nikko is about 2 hours north of Tokyo by express and local trains. We headed out early to catch the bullet train to our first stop. From here we changed to a local train which was filled with tourists. Gracie was pretty good on the bullet train as she slept in her carrier ie me standing at the end of the carriage. On the local train she was very restless. I don’t blame her! As a side note, I must say that the toilets on the trains are immaculate and clean. The only thing that’s a bit too much is that they have a heated toilet seat.

When we got to Nikko we made our way through the town to the main temple.

On the way you pass Shinkyo Bridge a gorgeous red bridge flowing over crystal clear water and green mountains in the background. The bridge was built in 1636 and until 1973 was off limits to the general public. You can now walk over it if you buy a fortune.

We then headed up to the main temple, Toshogu Shrine. It was a bit of an effort to get to with a pram. We had to push Gracie up a steep hill and then the complex is a series of steps and soft rocky earth. We were lucky a guard could mind our pram while we explored. Notwithstanding, it was worth the hike as Toshogu Shrine is a lavishly decorated shrine and mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu who ruled Japan in the early 1600’s.

This shrine is also famous for a series of paintings depicting the three monkeys that “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”. It is kind of poignant this temple has the three monkeys as Gracie was born in the year of the monkey.

After the temple we headed back towards the station to grab some lunch. Most Japanese restaurants are small and the tables tightly packed. A challenge for a family with a pram. They also don’t normally have high chairs. We were lucky to find a place where we could sit on the floor and put the pram next to us. Another win as we wanted to have this dining experience. The room was empty when we arrived until a group of about 6 hipster Japanese guys arrived who were smitten with Gracie. Gotta love this country!

On the way to the train station we were lucky to see some wild deer grazing in someone’s yard!

Back to Tokyo by train and a rest at our hotel. We decided to do something different tonight with Gracie and feed, bathe and bottle her first. And then put her in the pram asleep so we could (hopefully) get a meal in peace. And, it worked!!! We got about an hour to eat our “cook your own” seafood meal, have a few beers and watch the drunk Japanese business people stumble down the streets.