edit, edit: Photos are uploaded 😊
Greatings! It's a new day, the sun is bright and temperature is mild. What can I ask more for?
*Crickets chirping in the background*
I guess some company would be nice. Currently I am back at Narita Airport, yes the same airport where we all arrived. But fear not it does not mean I have abandoned my pilgrimage prematurely. No instead, I have decided to separate ways from my friends to instead change my party members to those I have grown up with, my siblings Peter and LiHong. Suffice to say I do miss the company of my friends but I must go along with the hijackers of my grad trip out of my family obligations.
But before I begin my week long venture with my family, let me recount the events of yesterday.
For you see, on our last full day of our Tokyo Part 1 stay, we decided as a group to let us all individually decide on what we each want to do. Some of us went to play some video games in arcades, while others pursued satisfying their fanboyism with a certain character-themed café and yet others tried to satiate their hunger for a good meal worthy of a vegetarian.
I on the other hand decided to instead to climb a mountain. Mt. Takao to be exact.
Seeing how it was the originator of the Takao name, which one of my favourite warships and kantai collection characters were named after. Naturally I would want to visit it.
Located in near center Tokyo, the mountain was just a hour and half train ride away from our airbnb house. With my trusty phone and google maps, I believed I would be able to reach the mountain easily. Which was true, I only took the wrong train twice trying to get there. Who cares if it was the same incorrect train on both accounts, who's keeping track anyways? 😅
Upon arriving at the station at last, I can see the evidence of Golden Week in full effect. Golden Week should be considered to be equivalent to Spring Break or March Break, where essentially the entire country goes on holidays.The mountain itself has one main trail that the majority of visitors go on. Its the easiest to traverse, the most friendly to large groups and the fastest/shortest way to the top. Naturally I took one of the side trails that is longer, harder and more dangerous. What can I say I like them suspension bridges.
The trail branched off of the main trail at roughly the halfway point. Just after a resting station. At the station was a Monkey Park, a park where one can interact with local monkeys. Random right? But I decided to keep my money and passed on the park. The trail I took was pretty narrow, at its widest, two average size people can squeeze past each other. There was a few wooden posts laid down for grip at steep points but otherwise it was all natural path that was made through people traffic.
The trail itself ended up being 4 kms in total with the midpoint being landmarked by a suspension bridge the spanned across a valley in the mountain. I was a bit disappointed to see that it was a wood plank suspension bridge and not one of those rope bridges you see in those classic adventure movies.
I wanted to have my random suspension bridge effect with a local 😋
After squeezing my way through Trail 4. I found myself back on the main trail and almost to the
summit of Mount Takao. And was greeted by a view overlooking the entire city of Tokyo. Can I say it was great? Too bad the top was also filled with tourists 😅
The girl ruined my shot of the Summit Marker 😕
Apparently one can see Mount Fuji from the top of Takao on a clear day, but by the time I got to the top the sky had become overcast.
After taking a few photos, I rested a bit before taking my track back down the mountain. This time taking the main trail instead.
Roughly a quarter of the way down I came upon one of the main reasons people trek up Takao, the Yakuo-in Shrine.
The shrine itself was built for worship of the Tengu and the deity Izuna Daigongen. Izuna Daigongen was known as a protector deity and was known to bring happiness and security to people.
By the time I got home, it was already 6 pm. Tracking up a mountain takes time and effort. But more importantly it made me famished, I had not eaten since the morning. But thankfully I bought some souvenir pastries and shared it with the others. I would say the hike up was worth it despite leaving me nursing some tired muscles.
Anyways, that's the end of yesterday's adventure. I'll leave it at that as I continue to wait for the arrival of my siblings. I'll be visiting some traditional Tokyo landmarks with them and have been covered in our last pilgrimages here. Look forward to Colin's blog as the rest of them are currently enjoying a relaxing stay at a Ryokan near Mt. Fuji.
P.S.
apparently the hike was only 20k steps and 11kms, was expecting a bit more 😑
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