28 October 2012
Raincoat
When I woke up, it wasnt raining. Sunday morning everything is shut except starbucks, so that as always was my first stop.
Next up, Mount Takao, about an hours train out of the city, this time on the Keio line, by the time I got there it was raining.
It is an excellent place to go, and the rain made it better! There was hardly anyone there. The internet warned that on Sundays in particular theres thousands of people.
Whilst I saw a few, I only saw one single tour group and thankfully they were going in the other direction.
The path was not too difficult, about an hour in each direction, more dangerous going back down but I never ended up on my ass.
On the way up it seemed fairly flat until some steps at the end, I was almost jogging the entire way, never broke stride!
My first ever raincoat. I have a morbid fear of umbrellas and dont own a waterproof jacket of any kind.
To the convenience store!
They had 5 sizes, this is XXL. Its still too small.
It was perhaps overkill, once on the trail the tree cover kept most of the rain off anyway.
Theres a cable car to haul you up to the top if you come to the mountain to not climb it. Most people are going on the cable car.
Much of the path is tree root trip hazards such as this. Theres also signs warning about snakes and monkeys. I saw neither.
I didnt take as many photos as I might have liked, didnt want to get my camera wet.
About half way up the path became a waterfall. Amazingly I managed to keep my feet dry. I started to consider if finally my lack of preperation for hiking would take its toll.
The few other people I did see had professional looking water proof gear and boots, with extra bits to cover the boots up to the knee, like we wear in Australia to prevent from snake bite.
Predictably at the top, theres vending machines and noodle shops. I had an oolong tea from a machine.
The view towards Mount Fuji. Much like yesterday, there will be no seeing it today.
Tokyo is down there somewhere.
Its mountains in every direction. I dont really see any towns or cities on the horizon except for Tokyo. Which if you ask me is the way countries should be, a megaopolis of 20+ million people then wilderness.
I went back down on a different trail, and the fog set in to make it all the more exciting. I saw pokemons darting about in the woods but they left me alone.
A particularly tricky bit on the way down, with a sort of orange slippery clay.
And finally, my lunch, a bento box bought from the Odakyu convenience store. Looking a bit worse for wear as I walked back to my hotel with it before eating.
I give Mount Takao a strong recommendation. However there are better hiking areas near Taipei, Seoul, Osaka, Nanjing and Hangzhou, which means Tokyo comes only in 6th place for best mega city with mountains nearby.