Today we do take the alternative road we received, since the bike rental company warned us that the original route is closed because of snow on the road, and there aren't any real alternatives around the closed road. So we have to skip on the falls, but instead get to visit an old copper mine.
The copper mine was closed in 1976, but had been in use for many centuries until then. So now the part that is open to the public has been used to display the ways copper was being mined during that time. From hammer and chisel, right up to dynamite and jack-hammers, the displays are very nice to see, although a bit harder to photograph in the low light conditions. The trip through the mine ends in the inevitable souvenir shop, which seems the universal way in Japan to indicate you have reached the end of an attraction.
Because the new route is somewhat shorter than the original one, we arrive in Nikko with enough time to visit the temples, although to see all five of them, we have about 15 minutes for each temple. So using the Japanese method of taking lots of pictures, while marching along the attractions, we manage to see all buildings with a couple of minutes to spare before the buildings close.
Tonight is the last time in a ryokan, as well as the last soak in an onsen for this trip to Japan. We'll have to make the best of it.