Rinnoji, Futarasan, and Our Hotel

The complex that held Toshogu also held two other very beautiful shrines/temples. With the pass that we bought we were able to visit Rinnoji and Futarasan, and it was a lot of fun. One of them had three giant Buddhist statues that were very old and interesting looking. I always wonder how they are able to preserve things for so long at these places. After we looked around for quite some time, Soojeong and I headed back to the train station for to check the time of our next train and to get something to drink at a cute little cafe right next the the station.

We finally boarded the train to take us to Kinugawa Onsen where our hotel was. The snow kept falling heavy all day, blanketing the entire landscape with a thick white coat. Once we arrived at our destination, we found our way to the convenience store where we bought some of the old snacks and drinks we used to enjoy while we lived in Matsumoto. Just thinking about that beer makes me thirsty right now... Our hotel was very pretty and our room was very nice. Dinner and breakfast were included in the price and it was nice to be able to sit down for a meal and conversation at the end of our day. The hotel had a couple of indoor and outdoor hotsprings that made the aches of the day disappear. We got plenty of rest and prepared for our journey to Kamakura the next day.