Journal no. 3

from Toshogu, we planned to walk to a waterfall.
Nikko is famous for waterfalls, but it was winter and the larger ones are quite a journey away.

unfortunately, we got lost along the way...

near Nikko Toshogu shrine is the Toshogu art museum.
there was absolutely no one there, which was a refreshing change from all the people visiting Toshogu. the snow-covered ornamental pond and little garden was delightful.

we walked up a narrow motor road, not knowing if this was the right way.
there appeared a small shrine on the tree side of the road!

in a hollow of the hillside, appeared some ancient looking statues.
surprising and slightly scary.

i thought we were going the wrong way, so we did a u-turn.
the road was surrounded by rock walls - they sit very neatly on top of each other, without the use of any cement to fix them together. they are about 1.5m high and moss carpeted the rock walls.
i love fuzzy moss :D
 we asked an old man at the car park for directions who told us to walk upwards.
so we did. on the other side of the road was a valley.

the tree side of the road was actually a hiking trail, but due to the snow, the trail could not be seen. this was a signposted hiking trail where one can see many important pieces of history, accompanied by an introduction in Japanese.
it was safer to walk on the motor road, of course.



 3 different sized Buddhas/monks.

 a famous giant rock.
we got to a small bridge where there was drainage/dam work. this is the view from the bridge - a very nice and wide drain.

 i suspected that we reached our destination. now to find the waterfall, if the water has not frozen over...

 aha! here is it! a small and charming waterfall called Shiro-ito Taki (白糸滝).

near the waterfall was a temple/shrine that couldn't be seen from the ground. one had to climb up some stairs but it was too slippery, so we decided to give up, and go to the ryokan hotel at Kinugawa-onsen.

the ryokan was called Kinugawa Park Hotel, which i booked via Jalan.net.
it was reasonably priced, and 5 minutes walk from the train station.
the kimono ladies didn't seem very welcoming, but the concierge guy was congenial. i didn't understand much of what he said about the onsens, but i told him we wanted dinner at 6pm and breakfast at 8am.
our room was spacious and clean.

finally it was dinner time, which was served at a dining room.

the ladies serving us were quite elderly but friendly, especially the head lady. she instructed us on how to cook our meal.
it was quite a spread. there was beef+onion+green pepper to be hot-plated, veggies to be hot-potted in soy milk and sauced in ponzu, and variety of mysterious foods in many small bowls (sashimi, grilled fish, chicken, yuba, steamed yam cake, etc, etc).
the beef was marbled with fat but it was aged to point of being greenish though ><

after dinner, we went back to the room and discovered that they had laid the futons for them already.

i consulted the handbook in the room regarding the onsen and decided to go to take a bath there. there were 2 baths on 2 separate floors, with separate usage period for men and women.

excited, i read up on onsen etiquette online (here) and asked mom if she wanted to go, but she was ready to go to bed. oh well.
so i changed into the provided yukata at about 10pm, and went downstairs to the women onsen.

i entered an unfamiliar space. there were 2 women at the dressing table area (at the back of the room), 2 women sitting at the bench at the front of the room, where box shelf units were standing, and a sliding door (on the right side of the room). i wasn't sure what to do since no one was moving around so i went to read the signs posted outside the sliding door. they said, "take care as floor is slippery", and "do not touch the monkeys". wtf.

and there was, of course, info on the onsen water being 40 deg C and warnings not to stay in the water for too long, etc.
so i inspected the shelves, saw that there were yukatas and underwear placed there, and gathered that it was the changing area. i stripped, hiding the room keys under the bath towel and covered myself with the small towel as i opened the sliding door.

it was extremely foggy - and there were 2 ladies who just got out of the bath as i entered. i averted my eyes and went to the last shower stall to clean myself because nothing irritates Japanese onsen users more than a person who doesn't shower properly before entering the onsen.

the 2 ladies also showered and then left, so i was the only one using the onsen. hmmm, actually there was a warning saying not to use the onsen alone. oh well.

i hopped into the round cypress bath tub. 40 deg water is just nice.
then i went to the shallow tiled pool facing the large window. it was pitch black outside so there wasn't much of a view.
after a quick soak, i dressed, dried my hair and tried the various skin lotions available. then i went back to my room, watched tv and fell asleep.