Date: 2nd August 2016 - 30th October 2016Total Expenditure: SGD$1985.30 Transport: $789.10 (including one-way air-ticket from Spore to Osaka at $252 by Scoot) Insurance (MSIG): $320 (I bought a 1 year insurance because that's how long i planned to travel for) Food: $215.20 Necessities (phone card, laundry services, shampoo and other groceries): $128 Shopping: $151 (i needed to buy some clothes because it was getting cold) Accommodation: $85 Attractions: $66 Miscellaneous (gifts & donation): $155 WWOOF (World Wide Opportunity on Organic Farms) was first set up in England and now has connections with farms worldwide in 61 countries. It gives travelers a chance to learn about farming or related activities like organic cafes, art workshop, and hostel; and gives farm owners access to free labour. Ideally workers should work no more than 6 hours a day and have at least one day off a week. 1 year membership fee cost about SGD$76 for Wwoof Japan (that's right, it's by country and not international, unlike helpx or workaway). After you have registered, you will be able to access to the host listing, see description, pictures, and reviews about the place. Places I've wwoofed:
Places I've visited:Other Unqiue Experience:TOP SAVING TIPS
Favorite Places
The beautiful town is filled with so much history, culture, and scenic places. I’m so mesmerized by it.
I love the mixture of modern and tradition in this town.
I’m such a fan of waterfalls. There is much more about this city that is worth exploring. Most Memorable ExperiencesIt’s always the people that make a trip so amazing. It’s so hard to meet people that you can connect so well with, and I met a bunch of them when I was there. Simply said, it’s a life changing experience for me, life changing. The main reason why i chose to travel Japan when i actually prefer to travel to less-developed countries was because i found out about Kamikatsu, a zero waste town. I had the impression that Japanese pay a lot of attention to environmental issues and recycling, and i was interested to learn more about it.
Another reason was because i heard so much good things about wwoofing in Japan from my America friend. Ever since i started working at The Food Bank Singapore, i learned so much about how serious food waste situation is in Singapore. I think a lot of education needs to be done, and that people, especially the younger generation, need to get their hands dirty to truly understand the efforts it takes to have that bowl of rice on their table. Since that's what i believe, i wanted to be a role model, to act on it, to start experiencing farming, and wwoofing was the best way to do it. My 3 months wwoofing experience in Japan was amazing. I think it's the most value-adding trip that i had. I've gained a new perspective of the kind of life i want to lead and the things that i want to pursue. The thing is, once you realise the simplicity of life that brings true happiness, you will never go back to the lifestyle that you lead before. I believe that's a good thing. So I decided to extend my stay here in Japan instead of going to New Zealand for working holiday. As much as i would love to explore the land of gorgeous nature, i feel that i'll be able to learn so much more by staying in Japan. I'm currently volunteering at Kamikatsu, the zero-waste town, and i will be heading back to my previous wwoofing place at Ayagawa for work soon. It's hard to find a job that revolves around my interests, and more importantly, a boss that has very similar mindset as me about how we should lead our life. I'm very excited about what's coming up next and i'm very glad to share with you guys more about my adventure. I'll be writing about Kamikatsu soon. It's a very interesting town, i'm pretty sure you will be keen to find out more. Stay tuned. :)
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Click here if you would like to read an overview of my 3 months wwoofing experience in Japan I arrived at Kansai airport and immediately bought a phone card from the vending machine. It cost me SGD$72 for a 3GB 60days usgage, which was pretty expensive for me. But since i'll be there for a long time, i thought that it will be more convenient. However, it was only my third week when i finished up the data (because my first wwoofing accommodation didnt have wifi), and i found out that it will cost me another SGD$50 over just for a 1GB data for 1 month , so i decided against it. My friend connected me with her Osaka friend who was able to host me and my friend Watson, who happened to be in Japan, for a week. We were so grateful for her! She not only provided us a place to stay, but also prepared breakfast and dinner for us! So much kindness and generosity! Her house is at Nozaki, which was about half hour away from Osaka Station. From Kansai Airport, you can easily take the JR to Osaka. It cost me SGD$18 to Nozaki, so to Osaka should be a little less, maybe about SGD$15. Try googling it! Google is so amazing. Oh and you would want to purchase an IC card (which is their train card) from the train ticketing machine, for convenience sake. The deposit is 500 yen which you will be able to get it back at the end when you return the card to the counter (I have not done that yet, but i was told so). Due to the very efficient transport system in japan, you can easily explore kansai area in less than a week (depending on how much you want to explore). My itinerary was: Day 1 - Nara Day 2 - Osaka Day 3 - Hyogo & Kobe Day 4 - Kyoto I think staying at 1 location and do day trips was a right choice, because it's really tiring to keep packing and moving. I would love to spend another day in Kyoto but the transportation cost is way over my budget. NaraIt took us about 1hr 20mins from Osaka to Kintetsu-Nara Station, costing about 740yen. We explored Nara by foot. We went to Todai-ji Temple (SGD$6.50 entance fee), Yoshiki-en Garden, Nara Park and Kasuga Taisha. Pictures in sequence: We had a good time walking around, though it was freaking hot in Japan in August. OsakaI didnt really explore much of Osaka as i should have, but i think i have my fair-share of fun, given my tight budget. The main places we went to were Osaka Castle, Shitennoji Temple, Shinsekai and Dotonbori, and we did all this by foot. haha. Transportation fee is really expensive in Japan, so i try to walk as much as i can. We took a train to Ebisucho Station, walked around Shinsekai and then we checked out Shitennoji Temple. We continued our way to Dotonbori which is a famous food street and had Yakiniku for lunch. We then headed on to Osaka Castle. It was nice just walking around the castle, we didnt pay to enter because we wanted to save money. Afer which, we walked all the way to Tenjinbashi area to have dinner at a very small but homely Okonomiyaki (Osaka's famous fried cabbage cake) store that Watson discovered previously. We had a good time chatting with the shop owner. I can't remember the name of the store, but it's on the same street of a Japanese curry restaurant that i found on google map (530-0041 Osaka-fu, osaka-shi, kita-ku, tenjinbashi, 6 chome-5-3.) The picture above is a nice river that we passed by while walking from Osaka castle to Tenjinbashi. I love going on foot because there's always things to explore and see. Hyogo & KobeThe only reason why i went to Hyogo was for Himeiji Castle (entrance fee 1000yen), probably the most famous and gorgeous castle in Japan. It is pretty expensive to get there from Osaka, i was lucky that my Osaka friend's husband was going Hyogo that day for work, so i managed to get a lift. Otherwise i would have gotten myself a Kansai thru pass. Himeiji Castle was indeed pretty but it was very crowded at the time i was there. Well i'm still glad that i went there. I then took a train from Himeji to Kobe (970yen). Kobe felt like a very modern town to me. There is a waterfall (Nunobiki Falls) in Kobe that i wanted to check out because i'm such a fan of waterfalls, but i didn't because it was hard to get there and i didnt have enough time. There is also some sakae museum which caught my interest but it closed pretty early. So, i only managed to go to Meriken Park, walk around the Motomachidori (shopping district), and tried some Kobe pudding. One thing that i kinda regret is not trying the Kobe beef, because i love steak, but it was way too expensive. Do try it if you can and tell me how good is it. :) KyotoEveryone loves Kyoto because it's really so damn beautiful! It takes about 1hr 45mins from Osaka to Kyoto costing around 700 yen. My Dutch friend and I started off with Arashiyama. I bet you have already seen lots of instagram photos about that bamboo forest, i've been wanting to go there, and it's really gorgeous. We then took a train from Arashiyama to Fushimi Inari Taisha, another instagram worthy place. It takes about 1hr 15mins (yes, it's not that near, Arashiyama is pretty far off, that was why it was our first stop) and cost about 440yen. I really love how pretty that place is. We then headed to Kiyomizu-dera by train, 30mins, 210yen. Pretty temple and it was also nice walking around that area. Next was Gion Street where we had some fun spotting Geisha. There's so much more in Kyoto that is worth exploring. I definitely would want to go back there again if i have the chance to.
That's about it for Kansai area. ;) Click here if you would like to read an overview of my 3 months wwoofing experience in Japan Zousan cafe is about 1 hour drive from Hiroshima city. It's located at a small town with lots of warm and friendly farmers. Wwoofing there was tough yet extremely rewarding. I think I've grown so much from it. I did so many things that i have never done before. I had some difficulties when i was there though, mainly people issue, which i later concluded to be associated with culture difference and communication barriers. I almost wanted to leave earlier than I planned to. But i'm glad i didnt. "It's all in you mind", that's what I've learnt, you are the only one that can control your own happiness. Whatever tough situation you faced, as long as you keep the positive thinking and learn to stabilize your emotions, everything will work out just fine. And it did. I was there during a super busy period - 5 days straight of public holidays where we had event at the cafe every night. I worked from 8.30am to 11pm during those days. Then the following week, we started harvesting and mashing tea, which requires us to start work at 5am in the morning. But the owners of the cafe were really nice, they kept asking me to rest whenever i can. At times it was me who didnt want to because i know how short-handed they are. It's a big problem that japan is facing, shortage of farmers, that's why they need wwoofers like us. The interesting thing is that one of the staff is an astronomy professor, he had many telescope with him, so i got to see the moon from the telescope for the very first time. It was so amazing.! I saw many shooting stars too! It's pretty cool how he, an early 30s professor who used to worked for NASA, chose to live in the country-side with the hope to share information about astronomy with the country-side people through radio broadcasting. He also love hunting, so i got to try a lot of wild deer meat. There are simply too many deer in the country side and they are destroying the farmers' crops, that's why they have to hunt them. They also catch snakes sometimes to make snake wines. haha. So beside farming (harvesting tea, removing weeds), i also helped out at the cafe (making coffee, cutting vegetables, preparing food, serving, and lots of cleaning and washing). I like how the owner was proactively introducing me to the locals and his friends from Tokyo and Korea. He said it's a part of the experience, which i enjoy very much. He and his family took me out a couple of times - shopping, dinner, and even onsen. It's really nice of them. Besides cafe and farm, the owner recently started a fishing business. I went out to the sea to fish with them once. It was pretty cool. The accommodation there is pretty simple, futon style, it's not very clean but livable. There ain't wifi though, so i most of the time I would stay at the cafe till i'm about to sleep. The cafe is about 5mins drive from the accommodation place. So i usually tag along with the manager, who was also living there, to work and back home. If you decide to wwoof there, the owner will pick you up from Hiroshima Train Station, so no worries about getting there. During my off days (once a week), i visited Hiroshima city, Miyajima, and Hamada. Hamada weren't on my list at first, but because the manager had to go there to settle some stuff, i had the opportunity to visit that place. He took me to Iwami Tatamigaura and then we drove all the way to Izumo-taisha. Iwami Tatamigaura is so pretty! I just love being by the beach. I felt so rejuvenated! It's definitely a place worth going to. It takes about 2 hours drive from Hamada to Izumo-taisha, but it's a coastal highway, so it's really pretty. We passed by many rice fields too. I just love road trips so much! Izumo-taisha is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan, It's said to be oldest Shinto shrine in Japan. I can't believe i didn't know about it. So glad that my manager brought me there. Overall, wwoofing at Zousan cafe was pretty rewarding for me. The owner is a very funny and entertaining guy. I had lots of fun drinking, chating, and singing with the team. This is kinda like a place where people work extremely hard but play extremely hard too. haha.
Click here if you would like to read an overview of my 2 weeks vacation in Southen Taiwan HiroshimaI guess everyone who visit Hiroshima City would definitely not miss the Peace Memorial Museum. It's actually the reason why i chose to wwoof at Hiroshima. I've always been interested in History. But It wasn't as good as i expected it to be, probably because i went there at the wrong timing, it was so crowded that i had a hard time seeing the exhibts. The Peace Memorial Park is huge; pretty nice to walk around. But visiting places like this always bring one's mood down. Well, it's really about learning from history and not letting horrible things happen again. I also went to Hiroshima Castle. But honestly, it was alright... I guess after seeing Himeji Castle, other castles just look fine to me. haha. That's all i did at Hiroshima city actually. haha. I recently met a lady who live in Hiroshima and has a blog that is all about Hiroshima (attractions, food, events etc). I found out from her that there's a huge waste incineration plant there that is extremely informative. I wish i knew that earlier. So do check out her blog about Hiroshima if you are planning to go there. MiyajimaMiyajima is famous for it's "floating shrine", which is a World Heritage Site. There are many deers there wandering freely around the streets and parks, just like Nara, but the deers there seems much skinner compared to those at Nara. To get there, simply take a JR to Miyajimaguchi Station, and from there take the ferry to Miyajima (10mins, 170yen each way). Don't missed Itsukushima Shrine, I find it really pretty, but i heard it's even nicer when the tide is high. Miyajima is also famous for it's mountain top view at Mt Misen, which i didn't manage to go because i didn't have enough time. But I highly encourage you to do so, hiking is so rewarding. Simply walking around the island is good enough for me. It's a pretty island! Oh i had a super good but rather expensive ice cream (500 yen) when i was there! The ice cream cone is so delicious! It kinda taste like the 白色恋人cookie, which i love so much! You can find it in other parts of Japan too. Best ice cream i had so far. That's about it! Have fun!
Click here if you would like to read an overview of my 3 months wwoofing experience in Japan. This is where i had my best wwoofing experience out of all. It's also the only place that i didn't pre-plan. I got to know about this place from a taiwanese wwoofer that i met at my Hiroshima wwoofing place. When she told me how environmentally-friendly the owner of this place is, I had a very strong feeling that i will be able to click with the host very well. Which was true! :) Another reason for going there was because i really wanted to go to Kamikatsu, a zero waste town, but i had a hard time finding a way to get there (it's a very small town in quite a secluded area). I was secretly hoping that the owner of this place will take me there, since he is so environmentally conscious, he probably will be keen to visit a zero-waste town too. That's what i thought back then. haha. And yes, he did brought me there :D My Kagawa host is a musician who plays the Djembe and he's really good at it. He owns an event hall which he frequently hold concerts at; farm, and 2 guest houses. I got to experience so much during my 2 weeks there! The main tasks that were required includes feeding his animals (cats, dogs, goats, and chickens, rabbit), weeding his garden, harvesting food from his mini farm, making beer, and cleaning the house. One thing i like about him is that he will always try to give you tasks that you like to do. "What are you good at or what do you like to do?", that was what he asked me right at the beginning. I told him that i like photography so he assigned me to help him take pictures of his newly renovated guest houses. I was also assigned to do some art and craft, craving the guest house's signboard with my very novice skill. I helped out with 2 events during my stay there, a music event and a free food event where i shared about my working experience at The Food Bank Singapore. There were a couple of times that he had outside gigs to attend to, and most of the time he will take wwoofers along. It's really fun to be attending so many interesting events/concerts. He also organised regular drum workshops and the best thing is wwoofers can join in too! We also had an opportunity to perform with him once! It was so stressful but fun! I love how his place is filled with so much positive energy. He is extremely concern about the wellness of the people around him and emphasizes a lot about being happy. I met 3 other wwoofers when i was there and we had so much fun together! I like working with him so much that i'm actually heading back there soon to officially work for him. haha. Sooooo i hope to see you there! I'm sure you will have lots of fun especially with me around. HAHA. ;)
Click here if you would like to read an overview of my 3 months wwoofing experience in Japan Kagawa is famous for UDON! The udon there is so chewy and it cost only about 350 yen! Normally i can only buy food from the convenient store with 350yen, so it was really awesome to be able to sit down in a nice food store and enjoy a bowl of delicious udon. The best udon i had was a from a store called 吾里丸 located at 1 Chome-3-12 Miyawakicho, Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture 760-0005. Their famous butter udon is so tasty! Love it! I've been to Takamastsu a couple of times with my Kagawa wwoofing host, but in terms of sightseeing, i only spent an afternoon touring around. My wwoofer friend and I rented a bicycle from the underground bicycle rental station for just SGD$1.50. The best thing is that there are such stations everywhere in the city and you are allowed to return the bicycle to any other stations. This, plus the fact that there are bicycle tracks everywhere, makes cycling around Takamatsu really convenient and enjoyable. Besides riding around, we also window shopped at the shopping street located right outside Kataharamachi Station, and went to the famous Ritsurin Park (Entrance fee SGD$5.50). The garden was indeed huge and beautiful! I think it will be even prettier in Autumn or Spring with all the Autumn leaves and cherry blossoms. Damn i want to go back there! I wanted to go Mount Yashima too, i heard you'll find a very spentacular view from up there, but i didn't have enough time to do so. Well, i'm heading back to my Ayagawa wwwofing place soon; i'll definitely find a chance to get there and share with you guys more about it.
That's all i have for now. :) Click here if you would like to read an overview of my 3 months wwoofing experience in Japan. This is truly the warmest family i've seen and the most comfortable wwoofing place i've stayed. Wwoofer has their own mini apartment with a bedroom, kitchen, and living room, and it's super clean! They usually take in only 1 wwoofer each time though, but you won't feel bored at all with their 2 adorable kids around. The family owns a couple of Mikan (orange) and momo (peach) farms. So my main duties was farming related stuff like harvesting mikans, adding fertilizer to momo tree.. I also helped out with some craft work mainly lackering and painting wood. Work starts at 9am and ends at 5pm everyday, with 1 hour lunchbreak at 12pm. Sunday is off day for all of us. What i looked forward most to everday was dinner with their family. The host's wife is such a great cook! i probably did gained some weight when i was there. Sometimes after dinner, i will play board-games with their daughters or watch movies with them. Their house is located just beside the sea and the host love surfing, so you might get a chance to surf with him or even get him to teach you! The weather wasn't that good at the time i was there, it rains a lot and there was even typhoon. During raining days, we usually stay in the house to do some admin work (cutting and folding flyers etc). Their place is also not too far away from a famous beach in Shizuoka called Miho no Matsubara, which is known for it's magnificant view of Mount Fuji. I took the challenge to cycle there during one of my off day. It took me 3 whole hours to get there! But i didn't get to see mount fuji because it was too cloudy, such a pity. I did had a very good workout though. It has a pretty nice view at the top. After Miho no Matsubara, i continued cycling for another 1 hour to get to Kunōzan Tōshō-gū Shrine, one of the well-known shrine in that area. What i didn't expect was that i have to climb 1159 steps to get there. Hiking was the last thing i wanted do after 4hrs of cycling. But i did it anyway. For my other rest day, i joined the family to attend a once in a year town sport day event. It's so nice to witness the town member's effort in organising regular activities to encourage people to exercise and eat healthy. I really love such community involvement thing. I even join in to play some of the games, it was hilarious. Everyone in this family treated me like one of them. Even though the grandpa and grandma can't speak English, they still try their best to communicate with me through body language. The host used to be a wwoofer in New Zealand so he clearly understands the kind of experience wwoofers hope to get. He never once stop putting himself in my shoes, asking if i needed rest, or if i am bored doing the same task etc. He also helped me planned an superb transportation route to my next wwoofing place which enables me to visit Fujinomia on the way without costing me a bomb. This family inspired me so much on how i would like my future family to be like. I highly recommend anyone to wwoof at this place.
Click here if you would like to read an overview of my 3 months wwoofing experience in Japan. I'm a huge fan of waterfalls, so when i found out about how gorgeous Shiraito Falls is, i just had see it. From my host place (Shizouka Wwoofing) at Mochimune Station, i took a train to Fuji Station and then transfered to Fujinomiya Station. It took me 1hr 13mins, and cost about 970 yen. From Fujinomiya station, i took a bus to Shiraito Fall which cost about 620yen 1 way. There are lockers at Fujinomiya Station which cost about 500 yen each. The tourist information is right below the train station, opposite the bus station. You can get the staff there to tell you exactly where to catch the bus. It takes just about 20mins to get to Shiraito Falls. The first thing you will see when you arrive, and then.... The first massive waterfall, and then.... Japan being japan, there are nice pavements and stairs there; barricages too for safety reason. It feels so different from my waterfall adventure in Vietnam. haha. Yes, you can see Mount Fuji from there. I heard it's even nicer in Autumn, when the leaves turn orange and red. There is another place in Fujinomiya that i was very keen to go - Lake Tanuki, but i didn't have enough time. Fujinomiya is definitely a place worth exploring, i probably only touch the very surface of it. I hope you get the chance to explore around the area or even hike mount fuji ;)
Click here if you would like to read an overview of my 3 months wwoofing experience in Japan. Fujino is located just an hours by train from Tokyo (about SGD$17). I didn't know that it is a Transition Town till i was there. How fortunate that I had gotten myself into such an interesting town. The permaculture centre of Japan is also located there! I felt really lucky to be able to join a tour conducted by the Founder, Mr Kiyokazu Shidara himself, around the permaculture farm. If you would like to find out more about The Permaculture Centre of Japan, do visit my friend Olivia's blog, she wrote a very detailed entry about it. Being in a transition town and meeting Olivia, a fellow Singaporean and an environmental activist, who happened to be wwoofing there too, made me believe in the Law of nature and unity. This whole japan trip in fact, with the climax at Fujino, made me realised that we are all connected and that every action we make creates a ripple effect in the universe. Well i should probably share about it in another entry, let's get back to the main topic. Fujino club was my last wwoofing place and i stayed there for a month. The good thing about wwoofing there (besides it being located at a very interesting town) is that YOU ONLY HAVE TO WORK FOR 6HOURS! haha. That's the standard wwoofing regulation but most places requires wwoofer to work at least 8 hours. At Fujino Club, work starts at 9am and ends at 4pm (there were only a few occasion where i had to work longer than that due to some event functions). What's more, the owner of Fujino club provides 2 free onsen tickets per week to every wwoofer! The onsen is just 7mins walk away. How awesome?! The only not so good thing is that the wwoofer's accomodation is not that well-insulated, so it gets really cold especially in Winter. But i hope they are doing something about it now, it seems that they were planning to do something about it when i was there. A little more about the Job scope.. Fujino club has 3 main operations - Korean Restaurant, farm, and guest houses. We usually work at the farm on weekdays and restaurant on weekends and public holidays. At times we also had to clean the guest houses and wash and dry the bed sheets. The little green house where we helped with transplanting. Weeding... I also helped with harvesting, washing and packing produce. They grow their own tea leaves and sell them too. Here's a picture of one of their guest house, caravan style with a bbq pit. Many people from Tokyo comes to Fujino on weekends to get a breather. As for restaurant work, i usually helped prepare side dishes, pre-heat some of the pre-made meals, and of course lots of washing and cleaning. It gets extremely busy on sundays and public holidays, so it can be kinda tiring, but i love working in the kitchen, so it wasnt such a pain for me. Fujino club holds a Morning Marche event twice every month where farmers of the town come by to set up booths to sell their produce. It's their way of showing encouragment to the young farmers by offering them more opportunities to sell their food. Another interesting thing about this town is that there's a Steiner School there. That's also one of the main reason why many families, especially from Tokyo, decided to move to Fujino. '
The town is also well-known for it's artwork, you can find an art scupture every few kilometres there. Many artists live in Fujino and you can even get a chance to visit their art studio to learn some basic art skills from them. The people at Fujino Club are extremely warm and friendly and each one of them seems to have a very interesting story behind why they choose to move to this town and their dreams. If only i could understand Japanese, which i'm currently working very hard on. Hopefully one day i can get back there to have a deeper conversation with each of them. :) I definitely recommend you to wwoof at this town especially if you are interested in things like Transition town and Permaculture. Click here if you would like to read an overview of my 3 months wwoofing experience in Japan. I took the chance to visit Tokyo as well as Mount Takao while i was wwoofing at Fujino. TokyoTokyo is just about 1 hr train ride from Fujino. On my way from Fujino to Tokyo, i stopped by Showa Memorial Park. I took a train from Fujino station to Tachikawa Station which cost about 500 yen. I decided to visit that park because I read that it's very beautiful. Perhaps i was there at the wrong season, because it seems just alright for me.. But i do like the free art exhibition there. After spending just about an hour and the half there, i took a train to Yoyogi Station to see the Meiji Shrine Honden. What i like about this shrine is that you have to walk through a long walkway sounded by trees to get to the main shrine. A place filled with nature in a big city. I like it very much. From Meiji Shrine i walked about 20mins to Takeshita Street which is a famous street for teenagers. I then went on to Omotesando for more shopping. It was getting cold in Japan so i needed to buy more clothes. There were a lot more places in Tokyo that i wanted to explore and i thought i will be able to on the day before i fly off to Taiwan. But i was too overwhelmed by all the messages i was getting after my 10days of mediation retreat, so i ended up staying at the hostel instead. haha. But i'm pretty sure i'll get to explore Tokyo again someday. Mount Takao I was asking the Fujino Club staffs where i should visit during my off day and one of them suggested Mount Takao. She said it has a great view and i'm a sucker for pretty scenary. It had been awhile since i last exercise, so i thought that some hiking will be good. I took a train from Fujino Station to Takaosanguchi Station which cost me about 370yen. There are a couple of trails to get to Mount Takao and the most popular one is trail 1 because cable car and chair-lift are available after a short easy hike and there are a lot of resting place. But if you do not intend to take the cable car or chair-lift, i do not advise you to hike up from trail 1. Instead, try hiking up from trail 6 and down from trail 1, which was what i did. When i went down by trail 1 route, i realised how steep it was, and i met so many people who were going the opposite direction panting so badly. It must be really tiring. Trail 6 in my opinion, wasn't tough at all, and it's surrounded by trees, and runs along a stream. You can even see a small waterfall there and there's a part where you have to cross the stream, therefore getting your shoes just a little wet. But that's what real hiking is about isn't it? I highly reccommend you to try that route. It took me about 2hrs to hike up and another 2hrs down (including visiting some temples on the way down) Some kids i met on my way, they were having some kind of school trip. So adorable. Even kids can do it, so can you! This was the toughest part, but when you see this, it means you are reaching the top. Below are pictures taken on my way down: It was such a great hike for me! I highly recommend you to go there, especially if you love nature.
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