33°C
feels like 43°C. Have you ever feel that weather? I have felt it in
Tokyo. I drank water so many times to protect my body from dehydration. That
condition made me think where was the location that I can find rain or the
colder weather in Japan. And I checked it in google and I found Hokkaido. I am
so happy when found it, but Hokkaido was too far from Tokyo since I just have 2
days at the weekend to go outside of Tokyo because I have class on Monday. Yaps
I joined the summer program at Meiji University, Tokyo.
Finally, I
didn’t go to Hokkaido, because I should need more time to stay in Hokkaido, but
gratefully my classmate Michaela asked me to join her to go to Nikko. Then I
checked it in the google how Nikko looks like and Nikko’s weather and after that,
I decided to join her to go to Nikko. She said it was just a one day trip. Yaps
perfect, I can go to another place in the next day I think.
The day has
come! We went to Nikko by train in the morning. By the way, we used the JRPass
and we’ve reserved for a seat the day before. We went there from Tokyo Station and
we transited in Utsunomiya station to change another train, the train is
covered by JRPass too, but we didn’t reserve the second train because it wasn’t
needed. The total travel time required to get to Nikko Station is 2 hours. It
was not that long, I enjoyed it, actually I just slept in the train Hahaha,
yaps I am serious when I said we went to Nikko in the morning.
Finally, we
arrived in Nikko after the long way. I was really surprised when I came. It was
a beautiful city and I like the weather not that hot like Tokyo. It even rained
there when we had lunch. I love it. It was a nice choice to joined Michaela in
here.
Nikko from Bus
Nikko is a
city located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. The Japanese saying “Never say
‘kekkō’ until you’ve seen Nikkō” (Lohn, Steve (11 September 1983).
“Shrine of the Shogun”. The New York Times) —kekkō meaning beautiful,
magnificent or “I am satisfied”—is a reflection of the beauty and
sites in Nikkō.
We took a bus
from Nikko Station. It was just 30 minutes from Nikko station. Along the road,
the view was very nice. I like the view because I like playing in nature. If I
can compare this view maybe you can imagine if you are in Tawangmangu,
Indonesia. And finally, we’ve arrived at the first stop. Here we were.
Futarasan Shrine
Futarasan Shrine
has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and is incorporated in the
“Shrines and Temples of Nikko” along with Nikko Toshogu and Nikkosan
Rinnoji. It was a big Shrine. When I was there I just imagined how beautiful
the shrine when winter comes. We went up and entered the temple by paying
JPY200. The shrine grounds were mostly free to enter except for a small paid
area to the left of the offering hall (haiden).
Futarasan Shrine
From “small paid area”
Rinnoji Temple
Taiyu-In Temple
Taiyu-In
Temple was near to Futarasan Shrine, we went there by walk. The bus stop was
near from Futarasan Shrine and Taiyu-In Temple, so you can choose which one you
will visit first.
The mausoleum
was listed among the Nikko UNESCO Heritage Temples and Shrines too. I was
stunned by the character of the temple. This temple is in the region of Rinnoji
temple. It was filled with gold, intricate engravings, and interesting statues.
We climbed so
many stairs to went to the topmost temple. The atmosphere was very natural. We
came in the morning so it was still very quiet, not many people came. I was
very amazed to be there. I can feel the serenity that blends with nature. The
temple location is among hundreds of tall and beautiful old cedar trees, it is
a place of rare splendor. I liked that atmosphere.
Old cedar trees..
Sanbutsudo
The way to Sanbutsudo
The
third-place that we visited was Sanbutsudo. Sanbutsudo is in the region of
Rinnoji Temple too. Sanbutsudo is the temple’s main building. It was not far
away from Taiyu-In Temple. We went there by walk in 15 minutes, but I am not
sure, because we enjoyed when we walk and took so much photo. In the road from
Taiyu-In Temple to the Sanbutsudo has a beautiful view, actually like photo
spot that intagramable Hahaha.
Sanbutsudo..
We went inside
the Sanbutsudo. We bought a canal ticket with Taiyu-In Temple. Unfortunately,
when we went there, Sanbutsudo was currently undergoing repairs but we were
still able to enter. When we were in Sanbutsudo, there were more visitors here
than at Tayuin Temple.
Shinkyo Bridge
We saw Shinkyo
Bridge when we were in a bus to went to Futarasan Shrine, but we decided to
went to Futarasan first because near from the bridge there was a lot of food
shop so we can lunch at there.
The bridge was
not that far away from Sanbutsudo. It took 15 minutes on foot, but you have to
be careful because the road is a bit slippery when it rains, because when we
through that road, it was raining.
The water in
the river was really clean. We entered the bridge by paying 300 Yen. If I may
suggest you better not go in because the bridge is better enjoyed outside the
paid area. But if you want to stay in, obviously it’s OK because in the paid
area there are also instagramable spots.
Outside the paid area..
Paid area
Lake Chuzenji
We went to Lake Chuzenji after we had lunch near in Shinkyo Bridge and the rain stopped. A trip to the lake took 1 hour by bus uphill and winding. My suggestion is please not to play cellphone while on the bus because even if you sit you still have to hold on to keep your position, especially if next to you another person, it will be awkward. The scenery during the trip is very beautiful.
Finally, we arrived at the
Chuzenji Onsen bus stop. Not far from the bus stop, just walked 5 minutes the
lake was visible. The air is so fresh, cool and comfortable even that was in
summer.
It was a really big lake, you can take a boat too to explore these lakes. I didn’t do it but Michela did. I just seated in the convenience store to enjoy the view and enjoyed a jelly drink while Michela rides a boat. I was falling in love with that view, actually with Nikko.
There was rain too in the lake. We enjoyed it while we took a photo Haha. Sorry, we took a lot of photos haha. There was a souvenirs shop near to the lake and sure we bought some souvenir too.
Kegon Waterfalls
Our last stop
was Kegon Waterfalls. Kegon Waterfalls was near to the bus stop. The direction
was opposite to Chuzenji lake and easy to find. Nikko is known as a city that
has many beautiful waterfalls. Kegon waterfalls were the most famous of Nikko’s
many beautiful waterfalls.
So sad, the elevator was closed..
Kegon
Waterfall has a height of almost 100 meters. We can go down to the deep of
waterfalls by elevator, but the saddest thing was the elevator has closed when
we arrived in the waterfalls. We found this waterfalls accidentally. We did
look for a waterfall in Nikko but never found it until we finally decided to
went to Chuzenji lake. After that when we decided to back to Nikko station, we
instead found the waterfall accidentally, but luck was not on our side, the
elevator was closed. We just saw the waterfalls from the top. Beautiful but we
still curious about the deep of the waterfalls.
Yeah, that was all our
destination in Nikko in one day trip. I just wanna say I am falling in love
with Nikko so much. I love the weather, the air, and the atmosphere. There are
still so many places I want to visit Nikko. When I have a chance again to go to
Japan, I am sure I will come to Nikko again.
“Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts. It even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully. You leave something good behind”, Anthony Bourdain
I hope that this blog could spread goodness and positiveness to people who read it. So please enjoy my blog and give me your feedback 🙂