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Gongen Falls is a sequence of 6 waterfalls
that cascade down the side of a nearby mountain. Only a couple
of kilometers from our home, individually each waterfall may
not be as impressive as some of the larger ones in the area,
but together they fall over 200 meters.
Each falls has a pool at their base that are perfect for skinny-dipping,
and the reason they are so private is that it takes a little
effort to reach them.
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After parking the car its
about a 2 kilometer walk. The first 1500 meters is along a fairly
wide track, but the last 500 meters entails clambering over
a rock filled gorge and its impossible to do without getting
your feet wet.
My favorite pool is below the fourth falls. The pool is only
a few meters wide, but 3 to 4 meters deep.
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The rock around the pool
is colored red, and the local legend has it that this was caused
by the blood of a dragon.
A long time ago, the water stopped running down to the village
downstream. Unable to flood their paddies and grow rice, the villagers
became worried, so one man went up to the falls to see what was
wrong.
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He shot an arrow into the
deep pool and the water erupted as a screaming dragon burst out
of the water and flew away dripping blood. Since then the water
has never stopped running.
Below the sixth falls are
a couple of larger pools that are not so deep.
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Above the final falls, at the
top of the mountain , stands a huge, ancient oak tree girdled with
a shimenawa marking it at a sacred tree. |
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