Nikko, Now Extra Templey!
You know the Three Monkies? (see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil?) I know you’ve heard of this. But do you know where it comes from? I do, I do, I do!
It’s Nikko! Doesn’t that just make you love nikko even more? Oh, those monkies. They’re actually part of a set of life lessons, but this one was the most marketed for whatever reason.
To be fair, the others aren’t as catchy. Like “no matter how high up you climb, there will always be higher to go”. And “Choose a life partner because you’ll weather the storm better than way”, etc.
This next picture excites me simply for its age. Imagine how old those cedar trees must be, to be that tall! Here’s a fun fact: Cedar (sugi in Japanese) is often associated with sake, because the cedar trees are said to shelter the sake gods in certain areas. Also, the sugidama (cedar ball) hanging outside a storefront lets you know that sake is one of their specialties!
Photo c/o okadots.
But back to Nikko.
The cold wouldn’t bother me so much if I could stay bundled up. Unfortunately, almost every place we went to wanted us to take off our shoes and walk barefoot on the outdoor wooden floors. Ugh.
Most of the places didn’t allow you to take photos inside, which I think is a shame. I have the memory of a goldfish. Aside from telling you all about our travels, teamEggers is really a way for me to remember what the heck I did yesterday.
We found some nice strangers to take our picture. This country is way more trusting than most – I never fear that the guy behind my camera will run away before giving the camera back, and I’m not constantly checking that my wallet is still there in bars. It’s kind of great.
When you’re chilled-to-the-bone, there’s nothing like hot soup and noodles to perk you up. Mountain Folk know what’s up. This was my lunch of yuba soba:
The end of our day brings us dragony goodness. We found this shop that painted dragon pictures! Really neat ones! Jon loves him some dragon, so we got one.
And with that, it’s time for us to head back to the city. Until next time…