Day 5 Nikko

My first full day off! I caught a train, or two, to Nikko with two of my new teacher friends. Last night we headed to do some more souvenir shopping and dinner, then got some early shut-eye for today's trip.
While waiting for the expres train we walked around a market area, and I have to tell you the coolest thing happened! A few young girls were staring at me and whispering, which we're told is nothing to be concerned with, but pretty soon they were pointing and giggling out loud. So I kept my eye on them and smiled a few times, just in case. Then they started following me! At this point I decided to turn around and wait for them because we have also been told that sometimes they want to try to communicate with Americans. That was it, the second I stopped they literally ran up to me, giggling and laughing, which drew quite a few glances. The bravest of them introduced herself and proudly pointed to the words she was reading from out of her notebook. She wanted to practice her english with me! We shared our names, ages, and why we were there. She also asked me to sign my name in her book and if she had my permission to take our picture together. I was more than honored! Afterwards I gave her my school pen and thanked her for speaking with me. Then she ran back to more of her friends, most of which had been watching from a distance, and showed off her new keepsake! I can't get her brave little smile out of my head. She was 11.
It was about a 2 hour ride out into the countryside of Japan, which was a breath of fresh air from Tokyo, literally. Nikko was once the capital of Japan and it has some pretty famous sites to visit.
We spent most of our time walking around more temples and shrines but the changing leaves made everything even more impressive. The size of some of the structures were just mind-boggling. How did they get them so huge so long ago?!
I hope some of my pictures do them justice!