Edit page blog/2009/April

[wiki.git] / blog / 2009 / April

diff --git a/blog/2009/April b/blog/2009/April
index 4d8597f737e858b51e016f7fdf78f7fcd0fb1599..18c5aa941acc453b274b33b4eb341711ee04c972 100644 (file)
--- a/blog/2009/April
+++ b/blog/2009/April
@@ -2,6 +2,32 @@
 
 === April 27th ===
 
 
 === April 27th ===
 

+==== Afternoon: travel to Nikko ====
+
+Nikko is in an adjacent valley east of Nagano on the Japanese alps.  Unfortunately, no train lines
+and busses connect them directly, so we had to take an expensive -- yet very fast -- Shinkansen
+detour all the way down to Saitama and then up again.
+
+Once at the station, we immediately realized that our was a good investment, after all.
+This mountain town overflows with temples, world heritage sites and statues of Buddah
+spread in an extremely beautiful natural environment with many great falls, ancient woods
+and hot springs where even wild monkeys take an onsen.
+
+Our [[http://www.nikkoparklodge.com/|hostel]] is ran by Zen monks and serves an unforgettable
+vegan dinner with seit.  In the evening, we exchanged excited stories with a family of Italian tourists from Milan who had
+chosen to travel by car rather than by train to save money and gather access to places unreachable
+by public transport.  Quite a smart idea for groups of 3-4 people who aren't afraid of driving
+on the left.
+
+Surprisingly, one of the monks speaks perfect English.  He told us that he lived in California
+for some time.  An explanation worthy of the plot of a very bad 007 movie, where locals
+always happen to speak English somehow, saving James from the embarrassing need of resorting
+to silly gestures in order to get his stupid Vodka Martini the way he likes it.
+
+Tomorrow, of course after our morning yoga and vegan breakfast, we're going on a day long
+guided hiking tour with the monks, which sounds really cool.
+
+

 ==== Morning: Zenko-ji ====
 
 In the morning, we tried again to visit the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenk%C5%8D-ji]].
 ==== Morning: Zenko-ji ====
 
 In the morning, we tried again to visit the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenk%C5%8D-ji]].


@@ -21,23 +47,7 @@ pictures inside was strictly forbidden.  A monk yelled at me just for fiddling t
 my camera, which was quite surprising, considering how tolerant Japanese people usually are
 towards our ignorance of their culture.
 
 my camera, which was quite surprising, considering how tolerant Japanese people usually are
 towards our ignorance of their culture.
 

-
-==== Afternoon: travel to Nikko ====
-
-Nikko is in an adjacent valley east of Nagano on the Japanese alps.  Unfortunately, no train lines
-and busses connect them directly, so we had to take an expensive -- yet very fast -- Shinkansen
-detour all the way down to Saitama and then up again.
-
-Once at the station, we immediately realized that our was a good investment, after all.
-This mountain town overflows with temples, world heritage sites and statues of Buddah
-spread in an extremely beautiful natural environment with many great falls, ancient woods
-and hot springs where even wild monkeys take an onsen.
-
-Our [[http://www.nikkoparklodge.com/|hostel]] is ran by Zen monks and serves a wonderful vegan dinner.
-In the evening, we exchanged excited stories with a family of Italian tourists from Milan who had
-chosen to travel by car rather than by train to save money and gather access to places unreachable
-by public transport.  Not a bad idea if you're not afraid of driving on the left.
-
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nagano/Zenko-ji/00186.jpg|The sacred inscription we can't read, let alone understand|maxwidth=800}}

 
 === April 26th: Matsumoto again ===
 
 
 === April 26th: Matsumoto again ===
 


@@ -68,6 +78,7 @@ with some dumb [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/Shopping|shopping]].
 In the evening, we headed to [[http://wikitravel.org/en/Nagano]], a city famous for the
 1998 winter olimpics and for an ancient [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenk%C5%8D-ji|buddhist temple]].
 
 In the evening, we headed to [[http://wikitravel.org/en/Nagano]], a city famous for the
 1998 winter olimpics and for an ancient [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenk%C5%8D-ji|buddhist temple]].
 

+{{Nagano/Shimizuya_Ryokan/00053.jpg|All sorts of accommodations come with good wi-fi, including traditional ryokans|maxwidth=800}}

 
 **UPDATE**: the report for [[blog/2009/April#kyoto-higashiyama|April 21st]] is now available!
 
 
 **UPDATE**: the report for [[blog/2009/April#kyoto-higashiyama|April 21st]] is now available!