After an hour of sleeping in riding the bus from downtown Nikko, we were greeted by this mountain in front of Chuzenji Onsen bus terminal.
It was so beautiful, and with its shape, it kinda reminded me of Mayon Volcano in the Philippines. We were talking of what mountain or probably a volcano this was, but my memory of our talk was nowhere to be found now. If you know the name of this mountain, let me know in the comments.
You might be wondering why we're here in Chuzenji Onsen area. Originally, we plan to spend the afternoon admiring Lake Chuzenji sipping coffee and tea while a friend will soak in the onsen. Coffee and tea didn't happen. But at least, we got to see one of the things we came here for - the waterfall.
One of the famous waterfalls in Nikko, the Kegon Waterfall (華厳の滝, read as Kegon No Taki) is one of Japan's most beautiful falls. I've been meaning to come here during autumn because of its incredible autumn colors but I came here with friends on winter instead. Honestly, I wasn't expecting anything because I didn't know what to see in this season.
The falls wasn't so clearly visible on the ground. It would be such a waste to end our journey here, so when my friends asked if we should take the paid elevator going to the observation platform on the base of the falls, I immediately said let's go!
The paid elevator fee was 600 yen for adults and 400 yen for kids. They're available from 9am~4:30pm. It's actually just a normal elevator going to the basement - 100 meters from the ground.
When the elevator door opened, we were in a tunnel. It's not a scary tunnel you see on Japanese films, just a small tunnel for people to walk in. The exit of that tunnel was the observation deck.
It was one of the best decisions we made that day ever. The views from the this observation platform was completely different from the ground. Here, you could see the waterfalls up close, without distractions.
Did I say we came here on a winter day? Even when it's not autumn, Kegon Waterfalls is looking so magnificent! It's so cold that parts of it froze. Actually, it's almost frozen! What a beautiful sight! Is this art?!
This waterfall is said to be 97 meters, so I understand now why we descended 100 meters from the ground.
There weren't benches to sit on the observation platform so we were standing the whole time admiring the ice shapes of the falls and the surrounding area.
There's a small souvenir shop too but we couldn't find something we like so after a while, we headed back to the ground level.
It was such a fantastic experience I could never forget. Even now when I'm closing my eyes, I could still see how impressive the waterfalls was. It's beauty is now imprinted in my core memory! It's one of Japan's beautiful waterfalls indeed. If you'll ask me if I would go back, I definitely would! I wouldn't mind seeing such a beauty again!
Thanks for reading!
See you around! じゃあ、またね！
With love,
All photos are taken using my phone unless stated otherwise.