A good night sleep was followed by a simple Japanese, starch-heavy breakfast and an early start up to the mountain. The bus journey was quite long and windy and mum wasn’t feeling great on the way back. But the view on the top was magnificent; with impressive landscape such as Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls.
Toshogu Temple is worth seeing if you haven’t already seen thousands of other temples in Japan, and we couldn’t be bothered to pay to get on to the Sacred Bridge.
It was strange to get on the train again after yesterday’s 15 hour travel. We were all very looking forward to the traditional Japan dinner at the Kinugawa Onsen Hotel and a hot spa afterwards.
Dinner turned out to be a two hour ceremony with over ten interesting but suspicious-looking dishes, served by a lady in a traditional kimono. It was 100 per cent fun, but I wasn’t really that keen on the raw baby squid.
My mum and I enjoyed the hot spa and tried out different pools of varying temperatures. Brad wasn’t pleased to find out that we were not joking about having to be naked in the segregated hot spa but enjoyed it in the end.
Travel Tip: You are required to wash before getting into the hot spa and no clothing is allowed. A night for four at the Kinugawa Onsen Hotel including dinner and breakfast costs ¥55,200 (less than HK$900 per person).
Suggested schedules drafted by a friend who knows Japan really well (times are approximate):
- 8:00 - Tobu Bus from near the hotel to Lake Chuzenji and Kegon Falls
- 11:00 - Tobu bus back to Toshogu Temple and Sacred Bridge
- 15:00 - Pick up luggage from the hotel and go to the station
- Train from Tobu Nikko Station to Kinugawa Onsen station (may need to transfer at Imoimaichi station)