Trekking on Takao
Konbanwa!
Today marks one month since I've arrived in Japan. While my first two weeks here seemed to drag a bit, the past two have flown by. I'm settling into my rhythm at work, getting to know my frequent students, and becoming a regular patron of several coffee shops. However, there are still so many parts of Tokyo I haven't even ventured into yet that every day (or day off, at least) remains an adventure.
I worked overtime yesterday, so today was my one and only day off this week and I certainly didn't want it to go to waste. I had initially been thinking of heading into Harajuku or Shibuya, two very famous areas of Tokyo that I still haven't managed to hit up. However, my friend Adelle needed a break from the lights, people, beer, and money that define Tokyo. Instead of heading into the city, we took the train the opposite direction, to Takaosanguchi, the end of the line.
I'd heard from several students and teachers that Takaosanguchi was a very pleasant little town with a mildly famous mountain that we could climb or take a cable car up. Despite being less than an hour from Tokyo, Mt. Takao feels like being a world away (kind of like Chichibu). It's rather heavily forested and home several touristy trinket shops and myriads of Buddhist statues and temples. Having arrived at the base, Adelle and I decided to take the main path up to the top. However, after only a few hundred feet, the trail started to get a little more rugged and considerably steeper. After about a half hour of walking we reached a bend in the path where the way up became steeper yet. Admitting defeat, we cut our losses and headed back down to the base to pick up the cable car.
While considerably faster, the cable car was definitely the scarier way of getting up the mountain. It moves at quite the incline. Anyhoo, we got to the top safely. Or at least what we thought was the top. Turns out, the cable car only takes you part way. So we set out for summit on foot.
Along the way we discovered several of the temples I mentioned earlier. I really need to learn more about the Buddhist tradition. The buildings and figures were so beautiful, yet I'm clueless as to what they symbolize. There was one that reminded me very much of the Madonna and Child (only there were three babies).
After a couple of hours of wandering along trails and over suspension bridges (eek!), we decided that today might not be the day we make it all the way to the top of Mt. Takao. We had planned on at least hiking down, but the sun was starting to set and the sky ominously cloudy, so we took the treacherous cable car back to the base as well. Good thing too, as it started raining as soon as we got down. We were both starving, but the restaurants in Takao are nastily expensive, so we headed back to Fuchu for some ramen and gyoza. Mmmm.
So now my legs are tired, but the memory card on my camera phone is filled with good stuff (as is my tummy).
Today marks one month since I've arrived in Japan. While my first two weeks here seemed to drag a bit, the past two have flown by. I'm settling into my rhythm at work, getting to know my frequent students, and becoming a regular patron of several coffee shops. However, there are still so many parts of Tokyo I haven't even ventured into yet that every day (or day off, at least) remains an adventure.
I worked overtime yesterday, so today was my one and only day off this week and I certainly didn't want it to go to waste. I had initially been thinking of heading into Harajuku or Shibuya, two very famous areas of Tokyo that I still haven't managed to hit up. However, my friend Adelle needed a break from the lights, people, beer, and money that define Tokyo. Instead of heading into the city, we took the train the opposite direction, to Takaosanguchi, the end of the line.
I'd heard from several students and teachers that Takaosanguchi was a very pleasant little town with a mildly famous mountain that we could climb or take a cable car up. Despite being less than an hour from Tokyo, Mt. Takao feels like being a world away (kind of like Chichibu). It's rather heavily forested and home several touristy trinket shops and myriads of Buddhist statues and temples. Having arrived at the base, Adelle and I decided to take the main path up to the top. However, after only a few hundred feet, the trail started to get a little more rugged and considerably steeper. After about a half hour of walking we reached a bend in the path where the way up became steeper yet. Admitting defeat, we cut our losses and headed back down to the base to pick up the cable car.
While considerably faster, the cable car was definitely the scarier way of getting up the mountain. It moves at quite the incline. Anyhoo, we got to the top safely. Or at least what we thought was the top. Turns out, the cable car only takes you part way. So we set out for summit on foot.
Along the way we discovered several of the temples I mentioned earlier. I really need to learn more about the Buddhist tradition. The buildings and figures were so beautiful, yet I'm clueless as to what they symbolize. There was one that reminded me very much of the Madonna and Child (only there were three babies).
After a couple of hours of wandering along trails and over suspension bridges (eek!), we decided that today might not be the day we make it all the way to the top of Mt. Takao. We had planned on at least hiking down, but the sun was starting to set and the sky ominously cloudy, so we took the treacherous cable car back to the base as well. Good thing too, as it started raining as soon as we got down. We were both starving, but the restaurants in Takao are nastily expensive, so we headed back to Fuchu for some ramen and gyoza. Mmmm.
So now my legs are tired, but the memory card on my camera phone is filled with good stuff (as is my tummy).
posted by Jen @ 7:27 AM
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