Vanessas Adventures Around The World!

Yesterday i headed out of Tokyo, about an hour and a half north to Nikko. There are a lot of shrines and temples there but after Kyoto i was feeling a bit shrined out so got the bus up into the mountains which were absolutely beautiful...it was strange because it felt very european!

There are lots of onsens (japanese baths) in the area but i didnt visit any. i went to kegan falls which are close to chuzenji lake, they were very pretty but it was quite cold up the mountains!

oh the shinkansen up to Nikko was a double decker....how exciting, ive always wanted to go on a double decker train!!! was strange looking out of the carriage at the level of the platform.

Today i got up early...6am!!! we went to Kokugikan the sumo stadium in Japan. the main sumo tournament is in may but they were having an open practice which the public were allowed into for free!

the stadium is great, in the round, the seating area is all tiered and you have a little area to sit on the floor (with your shoes off...like most places in japan!)
i was suprised beause although the sumo wrestlers were big compared with normal japanese men they werent huge huge!

not quite sure what was happening really because it was all in japanese but the wrestlers all stood round the ring and took it in turns to wrestle. every 45 mins or so a new group would come out and i think it was going up in ranking of experience because towards the end all the japanese people started clapping when certain wrestlers came out!!

After i wandered round the area im staying, asakusa, its got a couple of shrines and a great road called the Nakamise which is full of little stalls.

on a road nearby there are lots of kitchenware shops and they sell the plastic food you see in the windows of lots of japanese restaurants! its meant to look appealing but it makes me not want to eat there!!!

just about to leave the hostel to check into a capsule hotel for the night!! should be an experience!