X-Git-Url: https://codewiz.org/gitweb?p=wiki.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=blog%2F2009%2FApril;h=9b7d42dc85b91506c8543929797ed25e872e91a8;hp=56c771c829f2df4f81d8871b97362cb1136a4b47;hb=2af8763795bc31cc48175bf5c5cd6a75497a2b92;hpb=f748697bbd6def4a9981d84f67c715c32ff8d9c4 diff --git a/blog/2009/April b/blog/2009/April index 56c771c..9b7d42d 100644 --- a/blog/2009/April +++ b/blog/2009/April @@ -1,5 +1,34 @@ == Bernie's brain dump as of April 2009 == +=== April 30th: Departure === + +TODO + +=== April 29th: Back to Tokyo === + +TODO + +=== April 28th === + +==== Guided tour ==== + +Pictures of our day-long [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nikko/waterfalls_tour]] are now online. +Our friendly guide, the Buddhist monk whose name I forgot, answered many of our pending questions +about Japanese traditions and religion. Hiking through these sacred mountains and woods was an +enjoyable experience. + +{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nikko/waterfalls_tour/00038.jpg|maxwidth=800|The Yutaki Waterfalls}} + +TODO: assemble a good video from all the scenes I took along the way + +==== Nikko Temple Area ==== +In the afternoon, we went to visit the [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nikko/world_heritage_site]]. +One would expect to grow bored of Shinto and Buddhist temples after seeing many of them +all over Japan, but visiting the Nikko temple area was once again an extraordinary experience. +And I could finally spot a few [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko]]s too! + +{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nikko/world_heritage_site/00096.jpg|maxwidth=800}} + === April 27th === ==== Afternoon: travel to Nikko ==== @@ -27,10 +56,13 @@ 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. +**UPDATE**: ouch! + +{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nikko/00026.jpg|Ouch!|maxwidth=640}} ==== Morning: Zenko-ji ==== -In the morning, we tried again to visit the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenk%C5%8D-ji]]. +In the morning, we tried again to visit the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenk%C5%8D-ji|Zenko-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.