It was going to take us about an hour to get back to Nagano, so I looked up train times for the shinkansen that would take us to Nikko. The route that was recommended was to take the bullet train to Omiya and from there take another bullet train back up to Nikko. It was about 8:30am and our whole train journey was going to place us in Nikko at around 12:30pm. Like everyone else on the train, we had our eyes glued to our smart phones and the hour on the train was over before we knew it.
Nagano Station was the end of the line, so we dispersed ourselves along with the commuters, as we continued back up to the ticket booth level. We then took the escalator back up to the ground level. We went back up the stairs to the large Nagano Olympic logo, where we took a few photos, before going to the JR office to reserve tickets for the next part of our journey. The woman at the booth gave us tickets to continue to Omiya. Then from Omiya we would take the shinkansen to Utsunomiya, where we would take a local JR train to the Nikko National Park. The local JR train wouldn’t require reservations, so we wouldn’t need to do anything beyond just showing the ticket booth attendant our rail passes.
We had a little bit of time before our train departed, so we grabbed a bite to eat at the food court, and then took the elevator up to the platform. A train arrived about 10 minutes early and I looked at my phone to see if the time was correct. I looked at the ticket, then saw that this wasn’t our train, but another train that looked identical. When our train did arrive, we got on and found our seats. Elizabeth and Escher sat by the window, I was in the middle seat, and the aisle seat was open. I wanted to work a little bit on my tablet, but also make sure that my phone was charged, so I took up the outlet for myself and the aisle seat.
At the next stop, a Japanese gentleman sat down next to me. He seemed like he was in his mid-30’s, thin, and wearing a suit, but no tie. He asked, if he could use his assigned outlet and, I said that it would be fine. He pulled out his cable and plugged it in. He politely asked us where we were from and where we were heading. I told him that we were from San Diego, California. We were just in Yudanaka and heading to Nikko, by way of Omiya. He said that he was traveling into Tokyo for a conference for work for a couple days.
I asked him what he did for work and he said that he was a cardiologist. But not just a cardiologist, a cardiologist that does surgery with a robot. He told me that he took a fellowship a few years back and spent some time in London, Ontario, Canada. Being fairly familiar with Ontario, I started asking him about places that he had visited, like Toronto or Niagara Falls. I talked to him about how cold it gets in the winter. I also brought up my favorite Canadian subject, hockey. I asked him if he had seen any games or started following it as a result. He said that he would go to Junior league games with people from his work. I asked him if his love for hockey continued when get came back to Japan. He said that while he likes hockey, he is a big fan of baseball. In fact, he said, “I’m Japanese. Of course, I like baseball.”
He told me that he was married and had a teenage daughter and a younger son. He said that they had ice skated before, but they weren’t really into it, since they had moved back from Canada a few years back. He talked about going to Tim Horton’s for coffee and eating poutine, but he liked living back in Japan.
Even though, he was traveling to Tokyo, he said that he lives in the same city now that he grew up in. He went to college near there as well. We talked more about sports and he asked me if I remembered Hideo Nomo. I told him that I had. He named a few more Japanese baseball players that I didn’t really recognize. I told him that I wanted to go to the New Japan Pro Wrestling match in a few days. He said that he wasn’t really into wrestling much, pro, sumo or otherwise. I told him that Andre the Giant used to wrestle in Japan and he lit up. He said, “I know. How do you know him?” I smiled and told him about how he wrestled in the US. I also told him that I remembered Jushin Thunder Liger, The Great Muta, and Antonio Ioki, and he seemed impressed with my knowledge of Japanese wrestlers from the 80’s-90’s.
The stop where we were transferring was coming up soon, so we wrapped up our conversation. This gentleman once again illustrated the extreme politeness of the people in Japan. I went from having a stranger sitting next to me, to feeling like I could be friends with this gentleman. We gathered our luggage from the top rack above the seats, then when the train began to stop, we headed toward the front of the car to the door of the train.
As we got onto the platform, we immediately saw signs that were advertising Nikko National Park. There was even a poster that said, “Nikko IS Japan.” We still needed to travel on one more shinkansen before getting on the JR local line to Nikko. We had a few minutes in between trains, so we grabbed a few snacks before heading back to the platform. Our next destination was Utsunomiya, which was only about hour train ride. When we arrived in Utsunomiya, the station felt like one big advertisement for Nikko. There were signs pointing from the shinkansen concourse of the station to the JR Nikko line and posters of the Nikko forest, temples, and shrines on the walls. We headed through the ticket gate, then down the elevator, where the train was waiting for us to arrive. Some people started running towards the train, which made me think that maybe it was leaving, so Elizabeth and I picked up our speed, then hopped on. I feel like in most cases, if I see the train, it’s leaving at any moment, but once we sat on the train, it felt like we waited about 10 minutes, before the train started to move.
Looking around the train, this definitely felt like a train full of tourists, most people looked to be of European descent and were dressed casually. Once the train started moving on down the track, it seemed to be going half as slow as the train that we were just on. When we finally arrived at the Nikko station, we were greeting with more rain. By now the typhoon was in full effect and while we were pretty far inland at this point, we were still getting hit with rain.
Nikko Park Lodge Tobu Station
The room that I booked for the night was only about a quarter mile from the station, but in the rain, while carrying the roller bag and the stroller, it was quite the chore. The Nikko Tobu Lodge, was a multi-story building with a little bar/cafe on the first floor. I knew that we were going to be arriving early and that the check in time was 3pm. We were going to be arriving at 1pm, but I figured that they would let us leave our luggage in the meantime considering most of the people staying there were going to want to be out during the day. When we walked in towards the check in desk at the back of the cafe, there was already a caucasian gentleman standing there complaining about what he was going to do with his rain soaked jacket.
The woman checking people in, who very well could’ve been the owner of the establish seemed to be a “No shit kinda woman”. The gentleman seemed nice enough, but she talked down to him, like he was the dumbest man on earth. When it was our turn to check in, I knew that it was going to be a trip. I tried to be polite about arriving early, basically just wanting to leave our bags, while we rode the tour bus and then come back for our bags later. Much like her attitude with the previous gentleman, she wasn’t going to let us check in early, without giving us a hard time. She told us that our room wasn’t ready yet, but we could leave our bags in the storage closet. She gave us our keys and told us that we would be able to get into our rooms after 3. Then she told me to follow her and she would show us where to take our bags. She took me outside the side door, then we turned to the left, where in another 5 feet or so was another door. She showed me how to key into the touchpad, then we opened the door to the storage closet, which was completely packed with other people’s luggage.
She took me back around to the front desk and told me that we could leave our luggage under the bar, which was already looking full from all of the travelers passing through. Elizabeth and Escher were hungry, so Elizabeth nursed Escher, then sent me to the Tobu station across the street to find out what the tour bus situation was. Elizabeth and I gathered our valuables and put them into her new tote bag. I walked through the light rain over to the tour bus station, which was about a 5 minute walk across the little town square/bus stop area. As you walked into the station, the lockers were straight back in a separate room. I walked passed the bus ticket counter and tourist center on the right, then walked through the waiting area, where rows of seats were surrounded on 2 sides by coffee, soft drinks, and tobacco stands. The large room full of lockers of all sizes was dimly lit, and there were a few other tourists locking up their possessions. I put the bag into one of the smaller lockers (which cost 600 yen per day), then walked over to the tour bus ticketing area, to find out what the options were in regard to getting around the area to see the sites.
There were ropes set up to keep the open area, neat, and orderly, but there wasn’t anyone in line. I walked up to the desk straight in front of me, where there was a young woman eager to help. She spoke a little bit of English or at least knew enough to communicate with me at the time. I told her about a few sites that I wanted to see, then she pulled out a map of the national park area. She got out a pen and circled where we were and then showed me a list of the different bus passes that were available. One pass would keep us in the general area where we were, another level would take us to one of the many waterfalls in the area, and the top level bus pass would pretty much take us anywhere we wanted to go. I knew that we were only going to be able to go so far in a little more than a day, so I got the middle level.
The pass was about $25 per person for a 2 day pass, and even though the day was most of the way over, it seemed easier than paying each time we go on and off the bus using the Pasmo card. The young woman took me over the ticket vending machine, then walked me through the process. There was an option for credit card, cash, or Pasmo card. Without really thinking about the consequences I chose the Pasmo option, which would end up not being the wisest choice at the moment. I took my Pasmo balance down to around 1500 yen (around $15), and that was supposed to last the rest of the trip. Two tickets were printed, then dropped from the machine. The young woman directed me to the tourist information desk 10 feet away, where someone who was fluent in English was talking to a couple, who were looking for travel advice as well.
When she was finished guiding the couple through their tour, she waved me to her counter, where I told her about the three sites that I wanted to see: Kegon Falls, Ryuzu Waterfall, and the Rinnō-ji Temples. She looked at the map that I had been given, then circled the sites. I asked her what route she recommended that I take. She told me that it was probably best us to take the bus up to the waterfalls that afternoon and then spend the next day exploring around the Rinnō-ji area. I thanked her and then went back over to the lodge/cafe, where Elizabeth was still taking care of Escher. I told her about the map and the routes, since it was already getting close to 3pm, we were going to need to get going, because it was getting dark at around 6pm.
As usual, she insisted that we stop and get a hot meal before we began our journey. I was a little hungry, but I didn’t think that it was necessary to go to a place to sit down and eat, because we were sort of pressed for time. We had also been traveling for most of the day, so I was really anxious to actually see some stuff. I sat at one of the tables looking at the map, then eventually Elizabeth decided that she was ready to go. We went out to the street, where it was still raining a little, then looked around to see if there were any places close by to get something hot to eat. We walked around the little town square and in between some souvenir shops, there were a few places to eat. Elizabeth looked at the menu at a place called Asahiya Honten which specialized in ramen. She decided that it would be a good place to go, because they had a few vegetarian options.
We climbed the steps up to the dining area. When we got to the top, we were delighted to find that there were actually tables available. A young woman who spoke fluent English told us that we could sit in any, open table. We looked around and found a table for four near the window. We sat down, then looked at the menu again. The waitress was bringing us water, the hostess asked us if we’d like to sit in one of the booth style tables, where you sit on pillows on the floor. We thought that would be a great idea. That way, we could take Escher, lay him on a pillow, and not have to worry about taking turns holding him while we ate.
Elizabeth and I both ordered a bowl of ramen. We were next to the waitress station where all of the waitresses greeted Escher with an enthusiastic “Kawaiiiiii!” Our food arrived and as I was eating, I discovered that while it was delicious, it was the beginning of the end for my desire to eat ramen for every meal. The restaurant was cash only, so after we finished, we paid the exact amount, then headed back down to the rainy streets below.
Chasing Waterfalls
Since we were finally ready to take a tour and see some beautiful waterfalls, we crossed the road to the bus stop to check the schedule. We still had about 30 minutes before the bus would arrive. There wasn’t anyone in line yet, so I ran back over to the station to get some drinks. Elizabeth wanted an orange juice, but when I looked in the coolers, I only saw an orange flavored drink. So, that is what I purchased. Wanting to take advantage of Japan’s lack of open container laws, I purchased a small bottle of sake, which I thought that we would be able to share.
When the bus arrived, the short line that we were standing in started shuffling forward. I rifled through my pockets by I couldn’t find our tickets. During my manic search, the plastic bag containing the glass bottle of sake, dropped to the ground, breaking the glass. Meanwhile Elizabeth’s orange drink contained in a plastic bottle was safe and sound. I was getting really frantic, especially when people behind us in line started to walk around us. I was almost afraid that they wouldn’t let us on the bus. Eventually, I found the tickets. There wasn’t a trash can around, so I had to leave the bottle of broken glass under the bench, out of the way. We were able to get on the bus, which was already pretty packed, but luckily we found two seats together. The bus route took us all along the main street, then up towards the area of Nikko where the temples and shrines were located.
We rode on the bus for around 45 minutes, most of which was driving on a winding road, up through the mountains, in the rain. The drive reminded me of drives that we have taken through the mountains in California, specifically at the entrance of Yosemite park. There, you have tall trees on both sides and you have no idea where you are going, except for around another corner. In spite of the rain, the driver seemed to be going much too fast. Even though I don’t typically get motion sickness while riding on buses, I was starting to definitely feel woozy.
When we finally made it up to the Kegon Falls bus stop, Elizabeth was ready to call it a day, and we hadn’t even really seen anything yet. We looked at the bus schedule, to find out when we should be back to the station. If we were back in 30 minutes, we would be fine to take the bus on to Ryuzu Falls. We opened our umbrellas and tried to avoid puddles as we trekked the half mile or so down the road. We turned down the path leading to the waterfall and as we got closer to where the waterfall was supposed to be, we were only able to see clouds of fog. When we got to the fence that was supposed to keep us falling into the falls, we could hear the waterfall, but seeing it would be a different story.
We kept walking and hoping that we would be able to see something, then we saw that there is an elevator that took you to the level of the bottom of the waterfall, where you would supposedly be able to see it, even on a cloudy day. It had been a long bus ride, so we figured that in spite of the fact that it was an $8 elevator ride, it was worth it to see one of the top ranked waterfalls in the world.
We waited in line with the other tourists, our feet becoming even more soaked by the minute in the endless shower. Eventually, we purchased our tickets. We continued with the crowd to the elevator, which took us a few hundred feet down. When the doors opened, it felt like we were in an underground tunnel. We walked down a ramp, then down a few steps, which opened to an observation tower. There were staircases in the middle of the viewpoint that took you to three different levels. There was also a little shop selling souvenirs. As we got out from under the stairs, we could see the massive waterfall just beyond the mist. It wasn’t a clear shot, but you could see enough of the waterfall to definitely be impressed. Everyone around us was taking photos, while standing in the front of it. Because of the rain, I was a little reluctant to take my camera out too much, so the rain water didn’t damage it.
We were however able to take quite a full photos of main falls. There was also a few small waterfalls across the gorge from the lookout, as well as a small bit of falls directly next to the look out. While these smaller falls didn’t have the size that the Kegon Falls had, they were still beautiful to look at. While I was walking around taking pictures, Elizabeth all but disappeared. Up and down the stairs I went and she seemed to be gone. Apparently, we kept finding ourselves on the other sides of the spiral staircase, but eventually we found each other. Then blamed each other for getting lost.
We went back up the elevator to main level, then continued back through the rain to the bus stop. Elizabeth bus pulling away. Another bus arrived and was supposed to depart in what looked like 5 minutes, and was going up to the Ryuzu Falls. Elizabeth excused herself to use the restroom and within a minute the bus was gone. I sighed and shook my head. The next bus up to the Ryuzu falls wouldn’t be arriving for another 45 minutes. Based on the google maps, it would be another 30 minute drive to the stop nearby the falls. It was already getting darker as a result of the clouds and in close to a half hour, it was going to be late enough to be dark. I was so frustrated that we weren’t going to be able to continue our journey, but more frustrated that Elizabeth didn’t seem to really care that we weren’t going to be able to continue.
After asking Elizabeth if she wanted to go back to the lodge or go to the waterfall, she sort of shrugged it off, and didn’t give a clear answer. She was worn out from carrying and feeding the baby. While she probably just wanted to go back to Nikko, she also didn’t want to let me down. In reality, I wanted to show her a good time and it didn’t seem to be working. I went into the bus station lobby and just sat and waited. When she came back in, I told her that I was going to just sit here until she decided what she wanted to do. About 10 minutes of silence went by before we worked out that it was probably too late to move forward, so we might as well just go back.
We went out to the bus stops to check the schedule and there was a bus heading back to Nikko Station in only a few minutes. There was a line of people already waiting at the stop, so there was a chance that we might be standing the whole way back or might not fit on the bus at all. The bus was built in a way that an addition seat could fold out into the aisle, if it needed to, but as we waited as the people ahead of us slowly boarded, we hoped we wouldn’t have to sit in the aisle.
Luckily, the bus wasn’t full when it arrived, so we were able to find two seats next to each other. We packed in, as more people were getting on the bus behind us. While the bus maneuvered back down the mountain, it had become almost completely dark inside the bus, with the night beginning and the pine trees lining the road appearing black. While the roads were wet and slippery from the rain, the driver was speeding around the corners and down the hills. It almost felt like we were riding space mountain. I was starting to get nauseous again on the way down, so I sat quietly almost the whole way. “What’s wrong?” Elizabeth would say, thinking that I was still angry that we didn’t get to see the amazing waterfall at the end of the journey. “I don’t feel good,” I would respond.
When we arrived back at the Nikko Tobu Bus station, I got our valuables out of the locker, then we walked back to the cafe across the square to pick up our bags. When we arrived at the desk area, we gathered our things. We were waiting while a few guests were checking in, who were blocking the door to access our room. “Do you need something?” the snappy innkeeper shouted. “I need to get through.” I said. “Well, go on ahead!” she said in a similar disdainful tone. “I can’t get my suitcases through, with them standing there.” I responded. The guests looked back at me like I was inconveniencing them, but told them “Excuse me.” in Japanese and they moved to the side, so that I could get through the door.
Elizabeth and I went out the side door, then around to the next door on the side of the building. We put in then number to the keypad to unlock the door, followed by a second key to open another door, then walked into the elevator. We took the elevator to the 3rd floor, then exited to the right. Our room number was the first door on the right. We started to key in, but when we opened the door, there was a woman standing there on the other side. We both stood confused. Then I realized that these were the people that we would be sharing the bathroom with, which was located in between our two small rooms. We continued into the small hallway and unlocked the door immediately to the right, then keyed into that door as well.
The room was dark, though I turned on the light to reveal a small studio apartment. Directly to the left was a small kitchen area, with a sink and a hot plate that looked like it had been there for 50 years. There were a few cupboards, but the space for accessing them was only wide enough for a pretty average sized person. A wall going partially across the room separated the kitchen area from the sleeping area, which was comprised of two narrow twin sized beds separated by a small night stand. While not really containing much space, there was a small round table with two chairs and a small desk with brochures on the top. A TV was mounted on the wall above the desk across the room from the beds for easy viewing.
Before flat screen wall mounting televisions, it’s hard to imagine that large box CRT televisions would be able to fit well in these small rooms. It makes you wonder if the flat screen concept started in Japan, where every room is tiny. Then, Americans thought it was trendy to have a thin screen, in spite of the fact that the quality of the picture had improved.
Even with the lights on, the room was dimly lit with a yellow tint. Out the window was the view of a Lion D’Or grocery store a few blocks away, which was illuminated brightly like a food oasis in the darkness. It had been a long day, so we laid on the beds. Elizabeth and Escher on one and myself on the other. I had put on the television, then started watching a show where an overweight drag queen plays pranks on people. I set an alarm on my phone in case I fell asleep. After nursing Escher, Elizabeth was wiped out. She passed out shortly after. While I thought we were going to have a quick nap, then get some dinner, we slept for close to two hours.
Another Late Dinner
By the time we woke up it was around 8:30 pm. We tidied ourselves up a little bit, put sleeping Escher in the the stroller, and took the elevator down to the ground level. When we walked outside, we noticed that the rain had completely stopped, and the bus station area was completely silent. While the street in front of the cafe had been busy almost the whole day, now there wasn’t a car in site. The row of shops and restaurants that lined the bus station square were closed up for the night. As we walked down the main street that goes through town, we started to notice that every place had closed for the night. Most of the coffee shops had been closed for hours.
Eventually, we came upon what looked like a small hotel, which had a restaurant called Uotami on the second floor. We had to go up some steps to the second floor, but we carried the stroller up the winding staircase, where we walked through the glass door, into the waiting area of the restaurant. Everything around us had natural wood trim, and on the floor in front of us was a hundred or so shoes and slippers belonging to the other diners. We went to the host station and requested a table. He showed me a sign that said that there was an $8 cover charge. While I thought that was strange, since we were there to eat and there was nowhere else open to eat in town, I pulled out some coins to hand off to him. The host, who was a younger man, sporting iconic spiked hair, and hipster glasses, shook his head and said, “Pay after.”
He guided us down a hall where there were booths on either side with doors that closed them off from the other tables. I was assuming that this was so that if people were smoking, that their smoke wouldn’t travel from table to table, and bother those who didn’t smoke. The layout felt a little bit like the scene in Kill Bill, when they shoot the panning above shot, before B fights the Crazy 88’s, or it at least felt that way. The host took us to the very last door, then implied that we place our strolling in a little corner. When we went through the door, we were presented with a large room, with televisions, toys, and a floor that was made of up of cushioned gym mats.
There was one large square table, where a medium sized family would be able to eat, while their children played. It was also one of those tables where you can sit with your legs crossed, but there was an opening in the floor where you could sit like you were sitting in a booth. This was our first experience with the electronic tablet style of ordering, instead of reading a menu and ordering from the waiter. We would find that while convenient when there is a language barrier, it didn’t allow for substitutions, recommendations, or a knowledge of the order in which items would be presented.
We took turns pressing the icons on the screen. Ordering edamame, miso soup, hot sake, a couple of entrees, and a dessert. Within a minute of clicking the check out button on the tablet, a server came through the door with the hot sake. Then a minute later, we had edamame. It was the fastest service that we had ever received. While it was strange that our dessert came before our entree, we thought that it was otherwise a pretty efficient way of ordering food. When we were done eating, we didn’t get a check and there wasn’t anyone to see us out. We just walked to the front with the tablet and settled up with the host. I gave the host my credit card, but for some reason he seemed to be struggling to get things settled. Another young man with spiky hair came over to help. When he wasn’t able to do so a third guy came over and began messing around, before we actually were able to sign a receipt.
Elizabeth had already started to get Escher ready. We put on our shoes , then carried him and the stroller down to the first floor. Across the street from the restaurant was convenient store and I told Elizabeth that we should stop over. “To get more Monster drinks?” she said with a bit of sass. “No, I wanted to get a beer.” She came inside with me and saw some bottles that she thought looked like sake, then we brought the items to the register. We walked back to the lodge on the empty streets, then went back up the elevator to our room. I cracked open the beer then we watched some television. Elizabeth cracked open the bottle that she thought was sake and it ended up being whiskey.
Even though, we had a long nap, the alcohol mixed with full bellies and jet lagged, meant that we crashed out soon after.
