We have enjoyed all of our guests here in the Far East! However, we knew that the adventures with this group was going to be epic!
Mazda was doing a killer deal where you have the car from Friday at 5 through Monday at 10 am for 10,000yen which was about $120. Hooray! Getting to the Mazda car rental was a hassle. It was 15 minute bus ride, 2 different trains and a 1/2mile walk annnd Seth had to work later than he thought annnnnd their flight was coming in early....(deep breath) Here we go!
Seth and I ran to the bus stop to catch the bus. Lets be honest, Seth and I are pros at public transportation so it all went very smoothly, we even got to the airport early! Man, we are getting good at this whole Japan thing!
Seth and I could not stop smiling at the airport! As we waited, we daydreamed about the upcoming awesomeness until...they came around the corner. I ran up to them so fast that I basically tackled Amanda. In the car we just picked up from where we all left off a year ago. I think that is how you know your best friends for life, you just pick up like no time has past at all.
When we got back to the house we set up the Ross' air mattress and invited the Haines' over. Everyone was so excited to see each other! After some stories and laughter we let our new house guests go to bed. It was a "snug" set up with 5 adults in 600sqft. apartment....the perfect setup for a great week.
Saturday: Nikko
Because we had the car for the whole weekend we decided to take everyone to Nikko for them to get the true feel of the Edo period. Since we have already talked about the history of Nikko Temples here, we are going to just dive into our favorite photos of the temples.
After we got templed-out we wanted to check out the waterfalls nearby. Unfortunately, when we went to Nikko with Seth's parents the roads were too icy. On top of the mountain is Lake Chuzenji (Chuzenjiko), which is the coolest lake I saw in Japan. Especially with the wintery scenery!
Of course since we are New Mexicans and snow is unusual when it stays longer than 12 hours. It goes without saying that we had to play in the snow and check out this icy lake...haha what is that!?
Us girls started voicing that we were starting to get cold and that we wanted to check out the BIG (Kegon) waterfall ASAP! So we left our frozen lake, walked back to the car, and got to the falls in no time. Once there, we got our warm coffee from the vending machines which got us all jacked up on caffeine. Said 'jacked up-ness' is very apparent in our photos.
~Kate
Mazda was doing a killer deal where you have the car from Friday at 5 through Monday at 10 am for 10,000yen which was about $120. Hooray! Getting to the Mazda car rental was a hassle. It was 15 minute bus ride, 2 different trains and a 1/2mile walk annnd Seth had to work later than he thought annnnnd their flight was coming in early....(deep breath) Here we go!
Seth and I ran to the bus stop to catch the bus. Lets be honest, Seth and I are pros at public transportation so it all went very smoothly, we even got to the airport early! Man, we are getting good at this whole Japan thing!
Seth and I could not stop smiling at the airport! As we waited, we daydreamed about the upcoming awesomeness until...they came around the corner. I ran up to them so fast that I basically tackled Amanda. In the car we just picked up from where we all left off a year ago. I think that is how you know your best friends for life, you just pick up like no time has past at all.
When we got back to the house we set up the Ross' air mattress and invited the Haines' over. Everyone was so excited to see each other! After some stories and laughter we let our new house guests go to bed. It was a "snug" set up with 5 adults in 600sqft. apartment....the perfect setup for a great week.
Saturday: Nikko
Because we had the car for the whole weekend we decided to take everyone to Nikko for them to get the true feel of the Edo period. Since we have already talked about the history of Nikko Temples here, we are going to just dive into our favorite photos of the temples.
Five story pagoda y'all!
Gold, gold, gold = next music video location for Seth and Leon's rap duo.
Leon started his "one-fall-a-day" campaign about 30 seconds after this was taken...he claims Jill pushed him.
"Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil." CHECK!
After we got templed-out we wanted to check out the waterfalls nearby. Unfortunately, when we went to Nikko with Seth's parents the roads were too icy. On top of the mountain is Lake Chuzenji (Chuzenjiko), which is the coolest lake I saw in Japan. Especially with the wintery scenery!
Of course since we are New Mexicans and snow is unusual when it stays longer than 12 hours. It goes without saying that we had to play in the snow and check out this icy lake...haha what is that!?
Us girls started voicing that we were starting to get cold and that we wanted to check out the BIG (Kegon) waterfall ASAP! So we left our frozen lake, walked back to the car, and got to the falls in no time. Once there, we got our warm coffee from the vending machines which got us all jacked up on caffeine. Said 'jacked up-ness' is very apparent in our photos.
Caffeine ENGAGE!
"Kegon no taki" is the most famous waterfalls in Nikko as well as the 3rd most beautiful waterfall in all of Japan. To be honest, it was the coolest waterfall I had ever seen.
If the drive up the mountain was as curvaceous as Marilyn Monroe, then the drive down the mountain was more like a Beyonce' or Shakira! We thought that it was hilarious how much we got tossed around in the back seat!
Once we made it down the mountain Kate was complaining on how we did not see any wild monkeys..."gosh that would have made this day just perfect...wait stop!" Sure enough, we saw a monkey on the side of the road. Here is a video of how close we were to that little guy!
Whew...what a day!
Whew...what a day!
~Kate
Post a Comment