"I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some." - Herbert Rappaport

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Japan trip
Day 14 - 19th June - Chuzenji Ko, Kegon Falls; Nikko (Part 4)

The bus deposited me at Chuzenji Ko (Lake Chuzenji).


Me and torii, Me and lake


Lake. This and the next were unstitchable. Oh well.




I don't know where the shrine is


Mt Nantai


Area map


"You can learn about Nature, History, or anything else you want." - I want to learn linear algebra
Museum map: in a nod to inter-disciplinarity, there's a Humanities section in this Natural Science museum!


Welcome to Nikko National Park. There's even a sign in Bahasa.

In the area was also the Kegon Falls - one of 48 in Nikko, and one of Japan's 3 best waterfalls.

Here's an incomprehensible suicide note from an 18-year old high school student who killed himself by flinging himself into it:

"Calmness of sky, loneliness of modern and ancient, 5 feet small body attempts to figure this serious issue out. Philosophy of Horatio is nothing to deal with any authorities. Truth of universe is outspoken in only this way, "Incomprehensible." I decided to commit a suicide with bitter feeling. I have no anxiety even I've already stood on the rocky cliff. The great disappointment known for the first time, it will be unified with great optimism finally."

It's no wonder he killed himself.


Kegon Falls

The other side was nice too. Here's the valley through the trees:




Falls


Me and little kid with falls


Too late, I sighted a huge horde heading for the entrance to the falls (you can view them from free from above, but you need to pay to descend an elevator (which has been there since 1930) to view them from a better angle).

I increased my pace, but didn't manage to beat it to the elevator. They were the first schoolkids I'd seen with Bata-style white shoes. Some of them (a few boys but mostly girls) were wearing sanitary pads masks on their faces which looked like pads; if you can't breathe clean air in the Japanese mountains, where do you need to go?!


Kegon Falls information. "Today's amount of the falling water 4 ton(s) (per second)"


Autumn and Spring views. Summer and Winter weren't as nice.


Falls


Rapids


Falls


Me. I asked the teacher to help me take this.


Falls


Rock wall


Valley after the falls


Landslide


All ACBC - 100% of them are V-signing (or on the way to doing so). It's disgusting.


This wall niche was in the tunnel from the elevator to the lower viewing platform. Even the waterfall has a god?

There's an "Italy Embassy Memorial Park". Wth. (I think I saw a sign for it somewhere).

I still had some time to kill, and the bus/train timings worked out, so I looked for an onsen again. I was pointed to Nikko Lakeside Hotel by Tourist Information (and given a 10% discount coupon - I think it's a kickbacks scheme), which had one attached. It had a couple more minerals than the artificial one, and smelled much worse.

Although the basic cost wasn't that bad, there were hidden charges: small lockers were Y100 and big ones Y300, and drinks from the vending machines had a 25-33% markup. The small towel, soap and shampoo were free though.


There was only one bath (in my ~30-45mins there only one other guy came in); Funaoka Onsen takes the cake for variety.


Statistics of the onsen

I was wondering what all these onsens were doing to my hair; I should've brought something to bun my hair up with.

Despite some hydration, after 20 minutes my head and other body parts started to feel light, and when I got out I radiated heat for a while, so I guessed that was long enough.


Path to the onsen (it's separated from the main hotel). And there's a phone to call reception uhh.

When I came out the fog had descended, lending the place an eerie feeling.


Misty Mountain


The most reasonably priced item in the hotel - Y300 for 130ml of Vanilla Ice Cream (with milk from Nikko cows?)

I was surpised by how dead the town around Chuzenji (Oku-Nikko [Inner Nikko]) was. Even at 4+ everything was closed. There was some life from schoolkids but few people were walking around.


Milk biscuits from Hiroshima I'd been lugging around (bought at the restaurant where I'd noodles the first night)

There was some drink called "From Aqua". But then even sewer sludge is from aqua.


Disgusting socks. Look at the furthest man: his socks are short and white with a blue fringe. Blue lines (and one red one) run down his socks from their fringe.


More anti-smoking/courtesy posters

On the Shinkansen back to Tokyo I looked at the shopping catalogue ("trainshop"). Naturally there was lots of crap inside:


Corn, log, screw, burger and books-shaped stool


Foot bandage (?), thumb-toe separator (?)


Makeup to cover up thinning hair


Stomach torture device (this looks like it goes in a Medieval Torture Instrument museum)


How to cheat when kneeling


Shoe ventilator


Key-locator


Canned bread (?)


Cat scarer for gardens


Cement to cover ground with (?)


Bust-enhancement bra (?)


Pseudo-socks (?)

By the time I arrived back in Tokyo it was quite late, so I had dinner.


This looked interesting, and unfortunately I sprang for it.


Their menu: quite cheap!


My dinner. Not only was it somewhat spicy, it also tasted weird (the noodles were a bit alkali - but not as alkali as my second day in Hiroshima; so that was two strikes). I have no idea what the mayo was doing there.


Poster announcing the opening of *yet another* new Tokyo subway line