Shomyo Falls

The next day, I tried to get in as much rest as I could in the morning but I had to move.

One, I need food. And two, I had to get some medicine. Three, I had to go see Japan's tallest waterfall: Shomyo Falls.

The first pharmacy near my place was still closed so I went to Takaoka Station's FamilyMart to get some breakfast and got some medicine at the nearby pharmacy, Kusuri no Aoki.

I had some time to kill before the next train to Toyama. From there, a trip to Tateyama where I got a bowl of Udon. Checked out the Tateyama Caldera Sabo Museum which was pretty interesting and took a sip at Kumao Spring which was said to be blessed by Tateyama Gongen, a drink from this pool would ensure his protection which was definitely something I needed at that time.

The bus took us towards Shomyo Falls, where we had to do a kilometer hike which takes around 20 - 30 minutes. It was brutal for me, my body was still weak, and the cold air rasped at my throat. But the show had to go on.

I dragged myself one step at a time and I gotta say, it was worth it. Shomyo Falls was majestic from afar and even more up close. There were different platform levels for viewing though the best ones were near the bridge.

Making my way back to the bus stop was easier as it was downhill though the trip back to Takaoka was still difficult, my body just felt too fatigued.

Still, I had to check out Takaoka's Great Buddha, one of the Three Great Buddha statues in Japan, including the ones at Nara and Kamakura.

It was again, a depiction of Amitabha Buddha with exactly the same mudra as the one in Kamakura. Yet, what makes this one unique is the giant halo around the head. The interior had a lot of interesting thangkas and mandalas. The original head that was left unscathed from the fire was in the inner central chamber, colored black. I definitely prayed for some strength to do the hike the next day.

Finally, with the day's bucket list all checked off, I went back to my hostel to eat dinner where I first met Mae. She spoke pretty good English, so I assumed she wasn't from here but turns out she was Japanese and spent a couple of years in Dubai.

The guy manning the hostel also told me that it had started to snow, I didn't think too much of it at that time as I was still expecting to see some autumn colors but just like Nikko, I was going to be in for a doozy.

It was fun to talk to Mae and we had some good talks but I was too tired and too out of it, so I went back to try and get some rest, halfway through the night, my body started to feel better and stronger. I felt like I could definitely do the hike at this rate.Weiterlesen