Today’s feature attraction is Nikko, a World Heritage listed area of old shrines, temples and tall cedar trees around 2.5 hours out of Tokyo.
We found ourselves with some time to kill in Asakusa before our train transfer, so wandered around for a little while. We walked up to the rather ugly Asahi building (a huge structure with a larger golden poo sitting atop it) and checked out a charming row of stalls that led to the entrance of a significant Buddhist temple.
We got to Nikko at around lunch time and headed for Gyoshentei, another shozi ryori joint we found in the lonely planet. Neither of us had expected it to be the trip highlight that it was!
Gyoshentei was like stepping into a romanticised version of Japan’s past – with a sparse dining room overlooking a striking garden with bonzai trees on show, and softly spoken hostesses in immaculate kimonos providing outstanding service. Marthese had yet another vegetarian feast, claiming it was even better than yesterday, and I had the most impressive “bento” I’ve ever had. We could’ve stayed there all day!
We eventually made our way up through the gorgeous tall trees to Tosho-Gu, a shrine and resting place for one of Japan’s earliest and most significant shoguns. After exploring a while, the sound of drums was met with the crack of thunder, and a downpour began. Clutching our umbrellas we headed back to the train station for the long ride home.
The station yielded yet another delicious treat – a scallop with tofu skin filled with red bean that is CRAZY DELICIOUS and a Nikko specialty.
A further exploration of Asakusa’s cute shops were in order before returning to Shibuya where Marthese joined me for Burger Quest at MOS Burger (her rice burger was pretty average) and we finished the day off with a quiet drink at an Irish pub.
Elias Rambles 