+==== 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]].
+Even on a Monday, the queue was not much shorter. A nice volunteer guide advised us that
+the pilgrims where queuing just to touch a wooden pole with an inscription on it that was
+right in front of the temple, and we could skip aside if we weren't interested. So we did.
+
+We still had to queue for half an hour inside the temple to reach the secret chamber where
+we would get the rare opportunity to see the hidden Buddha, visible only once every seven
+years. Quite a lucky combination! I was impressed by the devotion of the people around me.
+The spiritual side of Japanese people does not seem to clash at all with their high-tech lifestyle.
+
+TODO: dark corridor
+
+I only have outdoors [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nagano/Zenko-ji|photos]] becuase taking
+pictures inside was strictly forbidden. A monk yelled at me just for fiddling too much with
+my camera, which was quite surprising, considering how tolerant Japanese people usually are
+towards our ignorance of their culture.
+
+{{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 ===
+
+==== Back to Matsumoto ====
+
+Our [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nagano/Shimizuya_Ryokan|ryokan in Nagano]] was simply great.
+Everything was traditional Japanese-style, including the room, the onsen and the breakfast.
+
+We tried to visit the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenk%C5%8D-ji|Zenko-ji]] right next to our
+ryokan, but we spotted a really long queue of pilgrims at the entrance, so we went back to the
+station to visit the [[http://localhost/wiki/Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/Castle|Matsumoto Castle]],
+one of Japan's top 3 castles ([[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/Castle|photos]]). The adjacent
+museum was also great ([[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/Museum|photos]]). On our way back, we did see
+a [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nagano/dancing_kids|dancing show]] with cute little girls and their teachers.
+
+Apparently, by leaving Nagano we missed some kind of prayer or event held by Tibetan monks at the
+[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenk%C5%8D-ji|Zenko-ji]]. Too bad, it might have been a good chance
+to show some support for the Tibetan cause. Go, Tibet, Go!
+
+=== April 25th: Matsumoto ===
+
+Yesterday, we arrived on a rainy night to the mountain town of Matsumoto, where a lady with a car
+took us from the station to a cozy [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/family_hostel|family held hostell]].
+The next day was rainy, so instead of going right to the famous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsumoto_Castle|Matsumoto Castle]],
+we spent the best part of the day at the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/Station|station]] and
+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]].
+
+{{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!
+
+=== April 24th -- over 1 [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megametre|megameter]] by train ====
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