Day 53 – Nikko

Today we were happy to explore the beautiful town of Nikko. From the hostel Sleping Nikko Inari it was a short walk, and then a bus trip up the mountain ranges towards Nikko National Park. Since we were using the Nikko Pass provided by Tobu all the buses were included. The pass also included a ferry along the lake and a cable car (known as a rope way).

Lake Chuzenji

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The bus took a very steep and curvy road up to the main stop, where everyone got of. From here, we walked towards the clear waters of Lake Chuzenji. The surrounding mountains were quiet spectacular, with the change of colours season in full effect, with red, yellow and green leaves in every direction coming together to create an amazing scene.

We got on the ferry, which does a loop around the lake, with announcements in a island resort’s calming voice about the history of the lake and town explained. It was very nice, especially due to the autumn colours and I recommend the ferry ride if you have time.

Akechidaira Ropeway

We found out that the bus only passes the included ropeway on the way up the mountain. Therefore, we had two choices, go all the way back to town and then catch another bus up again, which would take around 90 minutes or walk 20 minutes down to the Ropeway.

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We decided to walk and after we started we were a bit nervous as the roads were narrow with plenty of blind corners and there was no separate footpath. So cautiously we walked down until we came to a massive tunnel. Inside the tunnel there was finally a footpath. For some reason, walking down the tunnel was really cool with all the cars flying past.

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Once we emerged from the other end, it felt like we had warped to a different place, as the mountains were covered in thick fog. This wasn’t ideal as it did wreck the views from the ropeway. We didn’t end up staying there long, before going back down. The one way travel time is only 3 minutes, so its not a long length, and unless it was included, we would probably not have done it.

Kegon Falls

Unfortunately the fog decided to follow us up the mountain, as we took the bus to Kegon Falls. There is a Observation Deck where you are right in front of the falls and it honestly took us way too long to find the falls in amongst the fog.

British Embassy Memorial Park

With a bit of time to kill, we decided to walk around Lake Chuzenji, towards Bandoohako Nikkoyama Chuzenji Temple, which looked closed as we got near. Therefore we kept walking towards the former Italian and British Embassy’s which had been converted to museums called Villa Memorial Parks.

The view of the lake at sunset from the British Villa Memorial Park was beautiful, with even staff members coming outside to take photos. The Embassy was closing when we arrived so we couldn’t check the inside out. The British Embassy was built in 1896. Due to losing sunlight we decided not to check out the Italian Embassy.

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With the light fading, we went back to find a bus. After it arrived the sun had set and we rode down the mountain in darkness.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Travelled mid October 2018.