Monday, May 05, 2008

Golden Week


We had a beautiful Golden Week this year. Golden Week is between the first week of May and the last week of April in Japan; it is a time when many companies give their employees a holiday and domestic and international travel is very popular.

"Many Japanese take paid time off on the intervening work days, but some companies also closed down completely and give their employees time off. Golden week is the longest vacation period of the year for many Japanese jobs. Two other holidays may also be observed for most or all of a week: Oshōgatsu in January and Obon in August. Golden Week is an extremely popular time to travel. Flights, trains, and hotels are often fully booked despite significantly higher rates at this time. Popular foreign destinations in Asia, Guam, Saipan, Hawaii, and major cities on the west coast of the U.S., such as Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco, as well as in Europe, are affected during these seasons by huge numbers of Japanese tourists." Wikipedia

We went to a cabin in Kirifuri, Nikko and spent the days relaxing, reading books and doing exercise videos. Sunday morning we were lucky enough to see 13 monkeys climbing all over our cabin and in the forest. A mother and a baby monkey took a nap on our deck. We didn't take any photos as to not disturb them.

Reluctantly we left the cabin, met a mild traffic jam but made it home to enjoy delicious Butter Chicken and hot buttered nan for dinner.

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