View Ashiyagawa and Arima Onsen in a larger map. Exhibit A.

So back in early June or so, a couple of my friends and I decided that we all wanted to get out more, get a little exercise, and be able to hang out without spending money. So we gathered a few items, some good walking shoes and headed out to Ashiyagawa in Hyogo Prefecture. What ensued was the worse spur-of-the-moment hiking trip of all time.

A Hike from Ashiyagawa Station to Arima Onsen

The originator of this idea was the who I assumed (we all know what happens when you do that) had all the details down. We were going to take a short hike, not more than a few kilometers, through the forests near Mt. Rokko to Arima Onsen, where we would, upon arrival, enjoy a nice free foot bath. Simple enough. Where it gets complicated is where the trip planner gets fuzzy with the actual hiking directions/distances. So what was supposed to be a 3 or 4 kilometer hike, turned into an 11 km hike that will never be done again.

Now I've tried explaining this trip to a few different friends, but the thing is, unless you're extremely familiar with where Ashiyagawa and Arima Onsen are in relation to one another, you won't have a clear idea of how ridiculously long of a walk we took. Thus Exhibit A above. I've tried to plot out the few places we stopped (we stopped A LOT), but you can get the general idea from the blue markers.


I won't lie, I enjoyed the first 3 or 4 hours. I took a ton of photos and video with my nice camera for that walk up the first mountain. But really, once you've climbed one mountain, you've climbed them all, am I right??
A nice view from one of our earlier summits. The city laid out below is Ashiya, which is where many rich Japanese people live. All the cars we passed on our way to the trail were Mercedes Benz, BMW, or other luxury vehicles. But the best part was the houses. Unlike standard homes built off of one basic model, almost every home had it's own design aesthetic! If for some reason I was never allowed to leave Japan, I would demand to live in one of those homes. Those photos are on my nice camera though, so I'll save them for another post. For now, use your imagination..!


A little further along, we made it to this nice jumble of rocks. And me, somewhat posessive of an adventurer's heart, couldn't resist a small climb. The view from the top of the rock was great, but no one else made the climb. I guess it's true what they say about it being a little lonely there on the top, am I right?!

I don't know if I can stop doing that. I'll try though.















And then I encountered this little guy on the trail. I'm usually quite impartial towards insect, but this one reminded me of one of the little slugs eaten by Timone from The Lion King so much that I had to snap a photo and share it! 

I didn't eat it though.









And then we made it to Kazefukiiwa (風吹岩） which, I learned from the Google, is just considered a somewhat large hill. Thank you internet for belittling my tiny hiking accomplishments. Anyway, there were quite a few families up there (with very small children, 2-3 years old), stopping for lunch before going back down I suppose. FYI. There is nothing really kid friendly about this hiking course. At some parts, it requires more rock climbing which put much fear into my heart when I saw a mother pushing her little 3-year-old up the mountain face. Not recommended. The poor babe could hardly balance on his own two feet let alone a slippery, rocky path.


From here, I do believe you can see all the way to Osaka. But it's all just buildings to me.
Do I look tired in this photo? That's really too bad seeing as this isn't quite the halfway point.
As we were leaving Kazefukiiwa, we walked by this huuuge piece of mountain protruding from the ground. This photo doesn't really do it justice since there's no human to compare it with, but trust me. It was huge (and that is what she said).
A shot of some of the flowers growing in the forests. While I did read that there are special varieties of flowers that grow within the forests, the names are lost to me now. Perhaps, if they pop up in a photo later, I can do a quick translation. Anyway, this flower reminds me of something a little fairy would be hiding in (overacting imagination set to ON).
 Here's a nice example of what a lot of the trails look like. Some have small manmade steps to help with small climbs, but a lot of the time, it's just a rocky path. You really have to be careful which rocky path you choose too because there are quite a few and they all run in many different directions (some to Mt. Rokko, some to Arima Onsen, etc.).
It was by the time we reached this dam that I grew sick of photo snapping, all the trails began to look similar and in the back of my mind I thought that we might not make it out. And I also wished I had a machete on hand (best weapon for any situation). If you check the Google Map, I've labeled the dam, and you can see how much is left until Arima Onsen.

3-4 Hours Later
We made it to Arima right as the sun was getting ready to set. And much to our chagrin, the foot bath was full of people (mostly children), so we couldn't get a spot. At least we got to walk around Arima? You have to look for the bright spots after a wandering the forest for the better part of 7 or 8 hours. After we found the express bus station with a one way ride to Osaka, we hopped on that and just headed home.
We do plan on going back to actually get into the onsen. Sometime. By that bus. From Osaka.

Until then, I suppose we always have the memories.

And I that's the story of how I will never go hiking again.

An update to life post coming soon! :)

★Peaces★

This sign is located 1/3 of the way up the mountain.

Now, I know what you're thinking. What's this air temple? Did the Japanese formerly worship the air or something??
..No.. this is just my fandom slowly try to creep it's out from my imagination... but I can't help it. It's Saturday, and new episode of The Legend of Korra  should be released. And since Game of Thrones is already over.. I NEED this. (I don't, but I'll keep saying I do).

But all silliness aside, I'm loving this new Avatar series against my will, and this adventure out on Mt. Ikoma in Nara Prefecture only increased my enthusiasm for.. air. :x

See that in the background? That's Ikoma. Now climb it.

A trip out to Mt. Ikoma is also a great retreat for the less monetarily inclined i.e. me, and costs nothing to climb and explore

 It's really close to Osaka City (about 17 minutes from Osaka Uehonmachi Sta.), and awesome for those times when you want to get away from the noise, pollution and random stabbings (though we did go here before the stabbing occurred).
Osaka is still totally safe, but sometimes, you just gotta wonder and then get out for a few hours.


Access:
Ikoma Station is located on the Kintetsu railway system and the Osaka Municipal subway system via the Nara Line (Kintetsu) and the Chuo Line (subway). After exiting the train station, the cable car for riding up the mountain is immediately visible and pretty easy to get to as it's also connected to the train station. Or, if you're hardcore, you'll just walk your way to the top.

We were feeling frisky, and in need of exercise, so we decided to walk to the top. We didn't really research how to get there, so we just started walking in the general direction of the mountain and taking whatever roads lead in that direction.

For the most part, it is easy to follow, but there's no direct root from the station to the mountain. You have to follow roads with tiny sidewalks and hair-pin turns. So be careful and look both ways. Twice.
This shot is probably about.. a quarter of the way, almost a third. By this point, we were drenched in sweat, but we were also grossly overdressed for hiking, so I guess that was our bad.

The view was lovely though.




After making it to the 'Welcome to Ikoma' sign, you'll encounter your first collection of shops. It was pretty quiet though, even for a Sunday, so we didn't try anything out.

 Unfortunately, this path leads no where near the more historical Ikoma Shrine that dates back to the 5th Century. I would have totally loved to visit that, but that must be saved for a different train stop and trip. :<



 Here is, opposed to Ikoma Shrine, the lovely entrance to Houzan Temple (Houzanji) which would roughly translate to 'treasured mountain' I guess.

Fun fact: they produce a rather famous brand of incense here that I used to sell at my old part-time job back in D.C. What a small world. Sort of. :D



This temple is pretty huge, and extends far into the forests of the mountain. We probably spent a good hour or so, just checking out all the smaller temples and paths. Tons of fun, and awesome refuge from the sun.

I really wanted to find a path to that Buddha in the mountain. There's a small temple next to it, so it seems reachable. Maybe it's one of those things that's for monks only, but I really want to ask when we visit again :x

If I were an airbender, I could just air bend my way to the temple D':




I've been to quite a few temples throughout Western and Eastern Japan, and I have to admit, this is one of my faves. The architecture is what really drew me in the most. And what can I say, it was my first time seeing a Buddha carved into a mountain (or at least placed into one) in person.

Also, I just read that this tmeple used to be a training place for monks. Completely validated my Western Air Temple theory. All it needs is a few flying bison or winged lemurs :3 *end of fandom. maybe*

And to top it all off, there's an amusement park located on the top of the mountain. How quaint :D. Aang would love that~

It's only a children's amusement park, but the restaurants do serve beer, which would make for an awesome-yet-counter-productive celebratory beverage after hiking up a mountain all afternoon.

Oh, and the view is pretty damn cool.


This view. This is the one. My favorite one really. I'm sure I just sat there and stared for a good 15 minutes. That and checked my phone for messages, but all part of the relaxation process.

Osaka is there, off somewhere in the distance. Probably where the large gathering of skyscrapers is. It makes you realize how small you really are, until you remember how small Japan is, and then how insignificant the Earth amongst the billions of trillions of stars and systems.Still love this view though :D

Anyway, it was a great little trip. I loved being outdoors, not near some sort of shopping center. I'm sure Nara is full of hundreds more ancient temples, and I probably won't get to them. But at least I can say I've been to Hozanji, that means treasured mountain which obviously means it's the best one in Japan. Yup.

Check it out sometime! :3

★Peaces★