Nikko: Don’t say kekko till you see Nikko!

 

Nikko: Don’t say kekko till you see Nikko!

Disclaimer: Some part of this blog has naughty and mischievous material. Reader’s discrimination is warranted!

I included Nikko in my itinerary for two reasons. One, its astounding natural beauty and its mention in P L Deshpande’s travelogue,’Purvarang’! As the caption suggests it really stands true for its reputation. Second, I myself have used Nikko in my novel, ‘Nine points and beyond’, so had desire to visit it in real!

The staff of Hotel Classic was more than courteous. When she realized that I am hard of hearing especially when spoken with mask on, petite front-desk girl not only conversed without mask, in good English but accompanied me to ATM when I could not find one in the vicinity. It so happened that the baker next door to the hotel refused to accept card but insisted on serving me only on paying the cash and I had none. I came to hotel for assistance. And leaving her desk she accompanied me to show ATM machine rather far away from the hotel.

While parting, she reminded me of the common bath at the hotel with the timings, 12 noon to 12 midnight. I had rented a deluxe single room which had nice bath tub in the bathroom. So I did not understand the propriety of her reminder. It is said curiosity killed the cat so just to explore, I visited the common bath after I finished my late, late lunch at the baker. I would not say I had shock of my life as I had heard about this part of Japanese culture before. A father and son duo was prancing around, they were having their fun of life [they were playing hide and seek], wearing absolutely nothing! Son was almost ten and father did not have any reservation about being stark naked in front of his grown up son! I don’t know what were my inner thoughts then but I decided to have at least one bath there just for the heck of it, one may call it experience!

After a good sleep the next day I set out to visit Okunikko part of Nikko in mountains. You get two days’ unlimited travel bus pass to move around in Nikko but certain areas it does not cover. I was told that JR pass too can be used but I could not.

The first spot I had decided to visit was Kegon falls. It’s one of the most famous waterfalls in entire Japan. The bus from the Tobu-Nikko station, it’s a private railway station that does not belong to JR group, takes you to Chuzenji bus terminal. A walk of just few minutes takes you to the falls. Weather was more than good. At the right temperature it was not too cold but slightly chilly to the correct level so you could enjoy your overcoat!

On the way to falls

Commercialization or consumerism but there are multiple platforms to enjoy the fall from different angles. At small cost you can climb down to a platform to be nearer to the falls. It may not be Niagara or Iguaçu because the streams are rather weak but there are so many of them and they fall at so many levels that the beauty unfolds in itself!

Falls at multiple levels

Falls : slender like a nubile lass

Chezunji Lake

It’s the only outlet for Lake Chuzenji. Also known as ‘Sea of Happiness’. The River Yukawa is principal source of water that drains into Lake Chuzenji . Lake is quite a big one at that height. I took another bus for Yumoto Onsen to do  Lake Cruise. Unfortunately it operates only from April through October so I could not enjoy one. Further ahead same bus takes you to another fall Ryuzu and Onsen Yumoto. About this ‘Onsen’ mystery later in the blog!

All the tourist spots in Japan are open only in office hours and close by 4 PM in winter months. It was still March and summer had not started officially so I had to take bus back to Tobu Nikko station to visit Toshogu shrine.

Toshogu shrine is a complex of many shrines and you have to pay entrance fees separately for each one of them. After paying Y 1350 in cash, only for Toshogu, again no acceptance of Credit card,[ that’s very notorious of Japan, Western credit cards , CITI and SCB, are flatly refused as if it’s a prestige issue but eastern credit card like HSBC too is not accepted universally.] I joined half of Japan to enter the temple; it was so crowded, almost like bonnet to bumper traffic on a busy thoroughfare! In place of vehicles here humans fought for the vacant space!

Flood of Umbrellas

With continuous drizzle there was deluge of umbrellas, my hotel had given me one to use. And to save one from the push and pull tussle, one had to consider it as a task, the war supreme! Complex has more than dozen buildings each embellished more lavishly than the other. Considering the simplicity of Japan, it seemed garish. It has both the religious elements, Shinto and Buddhism. The lavishness is so profound contrary to other simpler shrines of Japan that it stands out, glaringly.

One of the shrines at Toshogu

Toshogu Shrine

Pavilion 

Five storied Pagoda

Decorations in wooden carving and use of humongous number of gold leaves makes one wonder whether it’s a temple or a palace. Although, architecturally it’s feast to the eyes. The five storied pagoda at the entrance was not open for the public. Had it been open it would have come crashing down by the weight of sheer number of crowd!

Bhaldar-Chopdar

Dog or Lion Guard at the entrance!

Decorations on the doors and walls

After passing through the main gate there are umpteen number of structures, with names difficult to pronounce for Indian tongue, so I left it at that! To mention a few, there is a hall named a Honjido hall which has painting of crying Dragon on the ceiling! Dragon and crying? Contradictory! On the left of the main shrine there is carving of sleeping cat on the gate known as Sakashitamon.

Before you enter the main shrine you have to remove your shoes and outfits for the rain. There were hundreds of shoe racks. Every visitor was religiously removing the shoes and keeping the umbrellas in the storage. The first thought  came to my mind whether I’ll get my umbrella back or not, shoes was not the problem because of size, fitting etc,etc, but umbrellas?, all looked alike.

Actual shrine is so simple that it contradicted razzle- dazzle of the exterior in 360 degree turn about. It is that simple. After bowing to the gods, whether Shinto or Buddhist, I did not bother, I returned to get my shoes and umbrella. Shoes were easy to get but umbrella had not moved an inch from, as I had kept it!  No comments and there were really thousands of visitors!

It was about 3.30 - 4 PM and temple authorities stared vacating the premises.

I had plans to visit public bath in the evening so before rushing to the hotel I had sumptuous meal of Udon at a local Japanese restaurant. The previous day at 8 PM I had to go without proper dinner as not a single food joint was open then, so I advanced the dinner timings.

Udon is a specialty of Japan mostly when it is made by hands and at home. In Ramen they use eggs while Udon is totally vegan made from refined wheat flour. I went for tempura laced, ham Udon in a soup made of various ingredients. From Rice vinegar to Dark Soya sauce to Sesame oil. It also had Mirin, a Japanese rice wine. The decoction was extremely tasty, only problem was; one has to devour it fast otherwise Udon goes soggy. So it has to be slurped as fast as one could and I could not!

At the hotel a totally, what should I call it, hilarious, funny, outrageous experience awaited me.

I was told to carry my own towels, a small one and a big one to the common bath.  Holding them like precious possessions I entered the bath with anxiety about what to expect.

Some primary information. There are two types of common public baths in Japan. One is known as Onsen while the other one, as Sento. Onsen is essentially built around a hot spring mostly in mountainous areas using naturally hot spring water, coming from the volcanic sources. It mostly is open from three sides so you can enjoy the surrounding nature just by relaxing in the common pool. May be like being a part of nature.  While Sento is mostly a communal bath built in or around residential areas. In olden times they were mostly built for families who did not have proper bathing facilities in their own homes. Here normal tap water is used which is heated using natural gas or other such fuel. One at the Hotel Classic was Sento.

When I entered the Sento, three men were already having bath. Of different ages, different shapes and different attitudes. There are pre-laid manners and etiquette to be observed prior to entering the common pool. The first and foremost is, you have to be completely naked. Even swimming costume in any form is strictly No No! I was aware of such few but not all. So to be sure I asked one young man about the rest. While doing so I stole glances around. It happened naturally without any intention, [It’s scientifically proved that at such places men do exchange glances to ascertain where they stand! ....other blah blah okay, okay, okay no justifications ,I looked at them all .....period!], To my utter surprise, all the lions were timidly hiding behind their thick bushes! I am a clean person so in that ugly bushy jungle I felt lost, rather unhygienic. No one was well endowed. None had muscular torso. On both the fronts I was rather better off! The one who was explaining the details to me; a youth in his mid twenties was standing in front me stark naked. He was standing as if he was buying a cigarette from the kiosk, he was that casual. Other elderly gentleman in the far corner was drying himself with his tummy almost touching the ground, and muscles of the arms making Brownian dance with every movement. Third one was so busy cleaning himself that he was not bothered about the surroundings. And it is expected as that’s the ‘area’ which spreads most of the germs and dirt. Utmost cleanliness and the hygiene is the first motto of any Sento! So that’s allowed! I did not have guts to have another glance in that direction.

After completing his blah blah about the rules he asked me to go naked. Completely. I was not in two but in hundred minds. Right from my youth I always had fewer inhibitions, in clothing, manners and general social etiquette and dictum. When I was in my late twenties I had pranced on the beach of Mahabalipuram sans any clothes, even the G string around the waist was not there! I had danced to my heart’s contents, to be one with the nature in most natural form. And it had elated me the most, I was absolutely happy with myself. Totally with the nature in absolutely natural avatar was exhilarating.

But somehow that mental status totally lacked now. I myself found a vast difference in ‘that’ me and ‘this’ me. I had loosened the ‘Nada’ of my pajama but did not have daring to go beyond that! Sheepishly I tied it again and mumbled my inability to go stark naked in front of three men though they already had reached their nirvana! In Mahabalipuram I was alone! May be that was the reason!

I collected my towels, wore all the clothes and returned to the room like a dog, putting his tail in the hind legs. In the land of Khajuraho, Konark Surya Mandir or even Jain temple at Ranakpur in Rajasthan, Why Indian goes coward [including me] when nudity pounces upon him? Human figure looks most beautiful in its natural avatar without the artificial embellishments…but…..So it be!

I came back to my room. Filled the tub up to the brim with bubbles and immersed myself in it, in Sento style. I made my own private Sento. With a can of beer, it was most luxurious experience of my life! Of course I took care of not to be Shridevi!