Nikko and Hitachitsuda!

I woke up in the hostel in my princess bed (with lacy netting surrounding me), had a brief panic when I thought I'd lost my key but managed to find it (it was in my bag all along) then headed out with a kind lady I'd met the night before who fancied showing me the way and possibly wanted a morning walk too. Firstly, I explored the impressive Toshogu shrine, complete with the three money (see no evil, hear no evil, tell no evil) and a ridiculously extravagant gate.

I saw the cat shrine too and on my way back down through all this fantastic expression of ancient wealth, I noticed a crowd had gathered around the three monkeys section and a window had opened. Intrigued, I made my way over and was met face to face with a white horse, looking quite bored with all the attention.

After that, I checked out Iemitsu's shrine too, which was a lot quieter and smaller, but no less impressive. Then I made my way down to the main street and had a stroll, leading back up to the main area and through a forest where there were some people engaged on a 20km, two-day walk challenge (I was offered some free beverages and snacks but politely decline). There, I walked for a bit, had some lunch on the way and made my way up and back down a steep hill and then retreated to the hostel, where I was hoping to dry my hair as it was still wet from this morning's shower. However, upon my arrival it became apparent that the hostel was closed, every day between 10am-4pm, for cleaning. This was fine, I just stood close by to use the wifi and then began the long trip to Hitachi-tsuda!

When I arrived at the station, I noticed that there was another foreign person, apparently waiting, after some time had passed and I hadn't seen the friend who'd said they'd collect me, me and the other girl ended up talking and it turns out we were both waiting for the same person. Luckily, I managed to remember the way to the house, where we interrupted our mutual friend's aroma therapy study session. After introductions and a bit of waiting around, we were joined by two other volunteers who'd just came back from going to a pottery museum (as well as a brief stop at a flamenco show) and we settled in for the night.

2017年9月2日