l piece of land. Still, some nature remains even in the close vicinity of the city. The most popular destination for excursions is Mount Takao. I have not yet had the chance to visit, but it seems a little on the overrun side with masses of schoolkids and families going there all year round. This weekend I went hiking on a mountain in the very West of Tokyo, Mount Mitake. We were four expats lacing up our hiking boots and taking the Chuo line in direction of Tokyo`s outlayer. It takes about 1.5 hours from Shinjuku to get to the final train station. We had a little lunch right in front of the station. A local farmer was selling sandwiches and cucumbers with miso paste and chatted cheerfully with us. He also had some local bugs in a box, I was not quite sure whether they were supposed to be eaten as well... Then we took the bus and a mountain railway up to the top of Mount Mitake.
We did a beautiful round tour on Mitake that takes you through the little village,
the large pilgrim`s temple and a lot of forrest area. I just love the look of the Japanese forrests and we were lucky to pick a good day for hiking, cool but not raining. My friends Andrew, Michael and Jim were trailing a bit as they constantly stopped to take pictures of mushrooms. They have grown very fond of growing and collecting mushrooms here in Japan. Not that I want to suggest it has something to do with the very strict anti-drug policy in Japan... There were two nice waterfalls in the forrest to which we climbed down. Climbing them up again was definitely better than any stepmaster in the gym. The guys freaked out a little bit because I drank water from the river. It`s supposed to be full of little bugs and their fecals here and cause of serious diarrea. But I was simply thirsty and the wasabi that I ate later probably cleaned up my stomach quite well, I d
idn`t face any problems later.
A lovely stonegarden was also hidden in the forrest. The atmosphere was just beautiful and it felt very far from Tokyo. Due to the clouds you could not even see the city either. People we met on the way were unusually friendly. It`s only hikers who greet each other with "Konnichi wa" here. (Other than that they just scream "Irrashaimaseeeee" (welcome) in every store - because they have to...). The hikers were of course superbly equipped as usually in Japan, with expensive and a little over the top (for such an easy hike) mountain gear. Strangely enough you don`t see those Japanese in sandals and shorts trying to climb serious mountains here in Japan. How often we
laughed about them... They must all exile to Switzerland, seriously, you don`t meet them in their home territory.
After the hike we had a dinner break before heading back to the city. We found a lovely oldfashioned soba place on top of Mitake, managed by two elderly ladies. We had some cool beer and soba noodles. They served us some extra free goodies on the side which was actually clever. They were so good we all ended up buying them from the little store the ladies have as well. We were really tired (more from lack of sleep than from the hike) and felt like lying down right away on the tatami mats in the restaurant. Instead we had to do the 2-hour trip back to Tokyo and started snoring on the train, twisting our necks painfully.
We did a beautiful round tour on Mitake that takes you through the little village,
the large pilgrim`s temple and a lot of forrest area. I just love the look of the Japanese forrests and we were lucky to pick a good day for hiking, cool but not raining. My friends Andrew, Michael and Jim were trailing a bit as they constantly stopped to take pictures of mushrooms. They have grown very fond of growing and collecting mushrooms here in Japan. Not that I want to suggest it has something to do with the very strict anti-drug policy in Japan... There were two nice waterfalls in the forrest to which we climbed down. Climbing them up again was definitely better than any stepmaster in the gym. The guys freaked out a little bit because I drank water from the river. It`s supposed to be full of little bugs and their fecals here and cause of serious diarrea. But I was simply thirsty and the wasabi that I ate later probably cleaned up my stomach quite well, I d
idn`t face any problems later.A lovely stonegarden was also hidden in the forrest. The atmosphere was just beautiful and it felt very far from Tokyo. Due to the clouds you could not even see the city either. People we met on the way were unusually friendly. It`s only hikers who greet each other with "Konnichi wa" here. (Other than that they just scream "Irrashaimaseeeee" (welcome) in every store - because they have to...). The hikers were of course superbly equipped as usually in Japan, with expensive and a little over the top (for such an easy hike) mountain gear. Strangely enough you don`t see those Japanese in sandals and shorts trying to climb serious mountains here in Japan. How often we
laughed about them... They must all exile to Switzerland, seriously, you don`t meet them in their home territory.After the hike we had a dinner break before heading back to the city. We found a lovely oldfashioned soba place on top of Mitake, managed by two elderly ladies. We had some cool beer and soba noodles. They served us some extra free goodies on the side which was actually clever. They were so good we all ended up buying them from the little store the ladies have as well. We were really tired (more from lack of sleep than from the hike) and felt like lying down right away on the tatami mats in the restaurant. Instead we had to do the 2-hour trip back to Tokyo and started snoring on the train, twisting our necks painfully.
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