Day 8 - Edo Wonderland

Early start today. I woke up at 6:30 and headed to Asakusa to get my train to Nikko, but I stopped over at Ueno station to get my Japan Rail pass, only to find that the exchange office was closed and only open from 9am to 7pm. This stressed me out. I had two options, either go to Ueno station the evening I got back from Nikko, or go the morning after that on my way to the bus to Kawaguchiko. Anyway, there was nothing I could do that morning, so I hopped on my train to Nikko, or more specifically, Kinugawa Onsen. From there I took a bus to Edo Wonderland, which was really cool. They've built a village in the style of the Edo period, and there were various ninja shows and choreographed fighting, and there were small children dressed up in kimonos or as ninjas. Very cute.

I managed to find a small group of kids on a school exchange from America that I hung out with for the day, and they were great fun.

I went to the ninja show, which was awesome, and we saw an outdoor show which was really cool - I especially liked seeing the female ninjas, they were just so badass :P

I headed to the station around quarter to 4, and outside the station was a mini onsen (hot spring), just for feet. It was so relaxing, and the best way to wait for a train after a day of walking around.

I got to the hostel around half 5 and immediately went fro a swim in the river. There was no one else around, and all I could hear were birds. It was amazing, so exhilarating. The water was crystal clear, sweet and really cold, and the surroundings were just...I have no words. I'm just glad I did it.

I dried off and got changed after a while, and started writing up this blog, when people started getting back to the hostel. There were 5 Australiand students, not all together, just by chance, and they were great fun. We stayed up late playing cards and having weird and wonderful conversations. It was just so much fun, and Scout made me a really good pizza. I went to bed late and slept really well, on a soft mattress for the first time in a while.