Asakusa-Nikko

First out-of-country

We went on a pre-wedding trip to Tokyo and stayed at our friends' place before they return to Manila. We had indefinite plans, except to just explore the side streets of the city and to visit Nikko to supposedly experience my first snow.

The Asakusa area was our jump-off point to Nikko. It was beside a river making the district windy and chillier than the rest of the city.

To reach Nikko, we had to travel by train for more than 2 hours.

What was left when we visited were only melted patches of snow. The higher altitude portions of Nikko had the snow-covered mountains. We only went to the low-lying areas.

At the lower portions of the town, near the train station, was the UNESCO heritage site. There were clusters of well-preserved temples and shrines, which have been around for centuries.

At the base of the heritage site was the Shinkyo Bridge. It connected the old world Nikko to the suburban side of the town. From there, one can walk back to the station and see the street lined with a number of commercial stalls.