Day 54 – Nikko
Last night at the Hostel Sleping Nikko Inari, we met a few more people. We all decided to travel together, which made the trip more fun. We all took a early bus to Lake Yunoko, which is pretty much the end of the bus line. Up here, the were some natural hot springs along the lake.
Lake Yunoko
The lake looks stunning again, thanks to all the leaves that are changing colours. We took the trail around the lake which actually can go all the way back to the tourist information centre. This place was super pretty, with even the walking tracks themselves being postcard worthy.
Ryuzu Falls
The path made its way past waterfalls, rivers and open grasslands. One of the more famous waterfalls was Ryuzu Falls, which also looked amazing, enhanced by the trees around it.
We then caught the bus down to the town. We could see the downhill road that the bus was taking down today. It was an awesome road, and we saw a Silvia caught in the traffic =( . I felt the drivers pain, as we went down some amazing roads to drive on (minus the traffic).
Shinkyo Bridge
Close to town, we all got off the bus and went towards the temple area, which led us past ancient Shinkyo Bridge (you must pay to cross the bridge). The Temples of Nikko are actually world heritage listed but the main reason we were there was for the annual autumn festival that started today and finished tomorrow, which happened to coincide with our trip!
Toshogu Shrine Autumn Grand Festival
The festival had lots of locals and tourists gather to watch the horse back archery. Each rider shot several arrows down the field. It was so impressive and was finished so fast. The skills are so impressive.
After the show, we decided not to go to the temples as everyone from the shows had the same idea. Instead we decided to check out a shrine, that would require some hiking up the mountain side along the Takino’o Path. There were various shrines along the way to the top and near the end was a Sake shrine, apparently used by Sake Brewers to wish them luck amongst other shrines.
Kanman-ga-fuchi Abyss
After this we met up with another person who happened to be a Japanese tour guide (an amazing one at that). She was scoping the area for an upcoming trip she would be doing. We all ended up doing the Kanma-ga-fuchi Abyss. The Abyss path is surrounded by statues that have all been decorated.
We got a little lost on the way back doing this trek, but otherwise its a relatively easy path. The Abyss took us until sunset, after which we headed back home.