Mt. Takao

This past weekend I met up with some neighbors of mine and we took off to Mt. Takao, a town a little less than an hour drive from here. We walked over to a “Trick Art Museum”, but it didn't open until 10, and it was only 9:30. So we walked to the entrance of Mt. Takao park. We debated whether to take the chair lift or the cable car to the top. I voted cable car but everyone else said chair lift. So off we went! At first I was really scared, but after I was on, I felt better about it. I realized that when I snow ski I ride them over and over again and I'm never afraid. Going up the mountain was just breathtaking. My camera was acting up, (aka, I couldn't hold it still) so most of my pictures did not come out right, but I'll post what I can.

Once we were to the top of the mountain we walked a little ways and then we found the main event: the Monkey Park. Score! I was SO excited about this day trip to see the monkeys! There's just something about them that I've always adored. I love that each monkey has it's own personality and they are also so stinking cute. These monkey's had red behinds, and really cute faces. The largest monkey there wasn't as big as Cheyenne, so they were all pretty small. We never learned what kind of monkey's they were. There was a guide who went into the monkey's 'habitat' (aka, big glass enclosure) and he spoke in Japanese about the monkey's. There was a point where he asked a question. Some of the children raised their hands, so I did too... hoping he was calling for a volunteer. He pointed at me and everyone kind of laughed. I felt a little foolish. I have no idea what he was saying but if there was an off chance of a possibility I was going to get to hold a baby monkey, I was going to volunteer. :) They did sell a small box of monkey food for 100 yen, about $1. So of course, I purchased one. They looked like croutons, and felt like croutons. What they really were, only God knows. We got to toss them to the monkeys which was a lot of fun to watch them scramble after them. The highlight for me was when one of them caught, and I mean, stuck out his little monkey hand and CAUGHT my crouton. I was very proud of that monkey. Unfortunately, none of my friends were there to witness this. Here is a link to the park, and it'll give you an idea of the “English” we get here so often. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that they even have a website in English!!!

After the monkey park we walked/hiked through a very beautiful garden, with flowers growing everywhere. There were wooden planks to walk on as a path, I have a picture of them somewhere. We hiked a while more and by then we were so hot and sweaty we were ready for lunch. We found a restaurant at the top and sat in there in the nice air conditioning. We ordered, with just a bit of difficulty, got our food and chowed down. I had chicken and rice! It was served with a sweet and sour sauce that was more sweet than anything, one of the best things I've tasted so far in Japan. It was excellent! Then we heard “Hey Jude” come on the radio, not the actual Beatles version but a good try at a “muzak” Beatles song. There is little that makes me smile more than hearing a Beatles song in public, particularly in a foreign country! :)

After lunch we hiked up the mountain some more, climbing at least 1,000 stairs. My thighs are still burning, 3 days later. (and I've been running a lot lately). Anywho... we came across several shrines and/or temples. Each one was different than the last and every one was just beautiful. The details of each structure were just beautiful and I really enjoyed looking at them all. It was an experience I hadn't had yet and it was so interesting to watch as each person would go to the shrine, bow, maybe ring a bell, maybe clap their hand and whisper a little prayer. I said a prayer to my own God. It was moving and I hope to visit tons more shrines while I'm here! We hiked up and up, climbing hills and stairs as we went along. We finally reached a nice ending point, where after some research I realized it was probably where you could see Mt. Fuji, but the day wasn't clear enough so no more Fuji sightings since that first day. Bummer.

We made it back to the point where you take the chair lift of cable car back down. The cable car is the steepest one in Japan so we felt obligated to take it back down, so we were able to have both experiences, one of the chair lift and the other of the cable car. It was hot on the cable car and there was no where to sit, so we stood and made it down safely! When I originally heard cable car I imagined the cars like at Stone Mountain in GA, which I am not much of a fan of. I don't care to dangle in a car on a thread. But this one was attached to the mountain on a train track and besides the fact that it was steep, it wasn't so scary after all.

Once we were done with the park we walked back down to the “Trick Art Museum.” It was 1300 yen to get in, a rough $13. The tour guide at the beginning spoke English very well, and she taught us how to cover one eye then stare at the pictures painted on the wall and they would transform. I thought it was pretty neat. Each picture did something different, some better than others, but overall it was a neat experience, I'm glad we did it, even if it wasn't fabulous. Here are some of the pictures, my camera did something funny after I played with the settings on it and I didn't figure out how to fix it until after the museum.

George will be home in the next day or two from his trip to Okinawa/ the Philippines and I'll see if I can talk him into making a short blog about his trip. No promises though.

Can't wait to see what trip we'll take this coming weekend!

Here is a link to the park we went to. Enjoy looking at it!

http://www.takaotozan.co.jp/takaotozan_eng1/index.htm

Chelsea