JAPAN MEETS TWILIGHT ZONE

So, there is a big difference between living in a foreign country and living the active and ever-changing adventure mode of the traveler. Here in Japan, I am very much set in the "I live here and so want to do nothing but relax on my weekends" mode. I really like to spend my weekends in bed, emerging mid-morning to eat my favorite Japanese 'Curry Pan' (basically, a curry filled donut which I go 2 metro stops to get) maybe do a few errands, go sit by my temple, etc. And there is no one to stop me from spending my weekends this way. Well, except for the little traveler inside me going "you can do so much better than this. You are in Japan. Seek out adventure." So, in the name of my traveler-self, I sometimes push myself to seek out some little form of adventure. Last weekend I went above and beyond and did what while traveling would be quite normal. I heard someone talk about a place called Nikko a few hours outside of Tokyo, went online, found the cheapest hostel in this "touristy" mountain town outside of the city, made a reservation and decided to go.

I arrived in Nikko on a Friday evening and got right on my bus to the hostel. But what I didn't know was that my hostel was ON THE TOP of a mountain. Literally. I didn't quite know what was meant when the English voice recording in the bus loudly boomed, "take careful. bus sways. hold on to children." Ummm, ok?!?!? Literally, the bus drove alongside the edge of this mountain, going in upward circles with the destination: the lake. Can someone who is good at science please explain how there can be a decent-sized lake on top of a mountain? (I was left out in the cold bus stop... the wrong bus stop... half bewildered by this, half scared that I would be lost forever.) I finally found my hostel, 'Hotel Asian Garden: Classic Indian Accommodations.' I enter and they hand me a piece of paper with my name and reservation info on it. Magic... they know me? Then, they bring me into the 23-bedded room and, oh, not a single bed is taken. "Just me?" I ask them. "No, no no! One other person is coming." Great. Me, and all these hostel men. And one "other person." They all took me to the Japanese onsen, so I could know where to bathe naked. My thoughts exactly- I need to get out of here NOW. I leave, ready to take in the nightlife. I stroll down the street and what do you know... not only am I the only guest at the hostel- I am the only person in the whole freaking town! Everything was closed-- no, more like deserted-- except a few restaurants, with bored looking waiters. I walk in the nicest looking place, opting for a classy meal as a distraction from the fact that this could be the sketchiest place in all of Japan and what is my response, "uhhh, sorry, no... only for guest."
Three more restaurants, same response. They won't serve me because I don't stay at their corresponding hotel. And they know I don't stay at their corresponding hotel because they, too, have memorized the people (if any!) staying with them. Does this make any sense? I walked out on the dock of the lake and realized how eerie this place was. It was 6 o'clock on a Friday night but it literally felt like 2am, me all alone on this rickety dock, not a person in sight, the moon shining bright, wind blowing in my face. It was so eerie, total Twilight Zone material. Guess I am going to spend my evening at the Indian $16 buffet (their only option... therefore my only option.) Just as I walk in I meet eyes with the other traveler who has just shown up. The next chapter of my weekend: we meet Sophie. 25. English. Solo traveler for a year. Me likey. She runs up to me, "This place is so scary, I was about to call my mum and cry!"... we clung to each other while chatting all night, through to the next morning, and I will be meeting up with her soon when she comes to Tokyo and is forced to be my first house guest.


I must say, after all this madness, the next day I went back down the mountain and saw the most amazing temples and gardens. The temples of Nikko were constructed by "the warlord who took control of all Japan and established the shogunate that ruled for more than 250 years, until the Meiji Restoration ended the feudal era." (Lonely Planet, thanks). Basically, everything was covered in gold and bronze and elaborately lavished with anything screaming THIS WAS BUILT WITH MONEY. Plus, the 5-story pagoda was amazing. I was standing still at one of these temples, crowds of people swarming around me to get closer (at these moments I usually just stop and pretend to be a statue as people rush around me) and suddenly a Japanese woman with a purple flag passes me SPEAKING SPANISH, followed by about 20 people from Espana. Well, could anything have made me happier? I followed them in the back and understood what I could. It was the first encounter with Spanish I have had in 2 months, and it made me really happy.

To top this all off, on Sunday I met up with the Prin abroad group. It was so amazing to see people from camp. As Andrew said afterward, "I forgot what its like to talk for so long and be understood and
not constantly have to explain to people why what I just said was funny." Too true, too true. Shoutout to all you wonderful people who gave me my most social day in Japan yet!