Nikko Park Lodge…
…ROCKS! We came upon an awesome WWOOF host. It’s a small “budget lodge” in old town Nikko. I say old town because Nikko has recently expanded, due to the growing tourist industry. Nikko is an ancient mountain area, about 2 hours north of Tokyo. It has become a hot spot for urban Japanese, as well as foreigners, who want a glimpse of “real Japan”.
The lodge, as far as quality goes, is in between a hostel and a hotel. Meaning it is very nice, but not the Hilton. There are about 8 rooms and three dorm rooms. So far the guest have been mostly European. Ken, the owner is awesome. He is happy to take wwoofers around Nikko when we have time. He is way into western culture. He loves coffee, rock music, and drives a Tahoe (he brought from the states). He used to own a surf/skate shop in Los Angles; he told us Eric Clapton used to come in from time to time. (?)
The flip side of the Lodge, unfortunately, is not here. His partner is a Buddhist monk named Zenru. He teaches Yoga, and cooks STRICK Vegan meals for the staff. He typically runs the social aspect, and creates the image of the lodge, while Ken promotes the business from behind the scenes. Although this place, in many ways is far from our expectations, it is still a really great place to be. Fortunately, Melissa and I learned (about 2 months ago) not to put too much stock in “expectations”.
We have a lot of control as to what we do. Ken has given us (almost) full permission to do anything we can to make this place better. We wwoofers cook breakfast, and dinner on a rotation. In the middle of the day, we have been starting gardens, and planting trees. It is very rewarding to make a lasting mark, in a place that is already so rich in beauty. Being in the mountains it is also very important to have as much split wood as possible. Ken said that once it cools down they will actually have daily fires for about 6 months straight! So us men have been hard at work producing firewood.
Melissa and I are making plane to climb a mountain with a couple of our new friends here. We have our eyes on the big one. I think to the top is about 2500m. We currently are at about 550m, so it will be a good hike. We can’t wait.
Tags: Japan, Travel
Zach
Sounds like a winner, guys… seems like good things have a way of ending before you know it, so enjoy while you can!
My Visit to Lake Tahoe
It was just over a year ago when my wife surprised me with a trip to Lake Tahoe. She was watching TV one evening and the music group The Eagles was holding a concert on TV. She took a few minutes to look up where they would be playing and she noticed t…