Saturday 22 June 2013

Nikko: Fairy-tale town

Sunday, October 28, 2012 

I woke up to
a light drizzle next morning, checked my backpack and camera and headed to
Tokyo central station. I proceeded to make my reservation; shinkansen upto
Utsunomiya and from there a JR line to Nikko. Nikko welcomed me with a cold
rain and warm hospitality.
 I was told that I would have just enough time to go
upto Chuzengi lake and Kegon waterfall. Boarded the bus  and as we headed through Nikko town, I

started to wonder how it would be to spend a lifetime in such a beautiful
place. I had a bad vantage point for my camera from the bus
 cruising through
more than a drizzle but along beautiful slopes of yellow autumn colours. As I
alighted from the bus, I could see a steady flow of people towards a particular
direction and I followed.
 As I drifted with the crowd, I noticed a middle aged
Japanese gentleman with a camera. Noticing that it was an old camera with a
film roll, I queried him in English. He acknowledged “film roll”. But then
subconsciously I think the pair of us clicked. As we went to the waterfall, I
clicked photos of him with his camera and he did the same for me. Not a word
spoken between us for want of common language, we helped each other in
solitude. I thanked him as he pointed his finger and said onsen, by the bending
forward gesture. He smiled and disappeared in the crowd.

I then
headed for Chuzengi lake
 , spent an hour strolling around; may be cursing the
weather subconsciously, fearing to blink lest I lose a moments sight of the
awesome view around. Reluctantly I boarded the bus and headed back to Nikko. As
the bus headed back to Nikko town square, I noticed the main street lined by
small shops, wood carvings and antiques. I got down at the town square and
walked back up the street window shopping, striking a conversation with anyone
who smiled at me. As the lights started failing, I started to wonder why I had
still not started back for Tokyo. Nikko was magnetic. Unable to find out a
boarding point for the bus back to JR Nikko station, I walked all the way back.
I traced my way back to Utsunomiya and to Tokyo. This time I didn’t lose the
way from the subways to the hotel.

0 comments:

Post a Comment