During the Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi Golden Week holiday, I decided to go hiking in the Kansai area. I bought myself a pair of hiking shoes in Osaka and I was ready to go. My first hike (out of two) was on April 29. I left my home in Tsukaguchi and took a Hankyu Kobe line train to Ashiya-gawa Station where I began the hike. I planned to hike to Rokku Gaaden (ロックガーデン) in Kobe (Rock Garden in English). I first hiked on roads then eventually reached the entrance to Rokku Gaaden where the trail began. The climb was quite challenging but fun. I eventually reached the top which offers a view of Kobe and Osaka too on clear days. It was hazy that day so the the view was not so good but it was still nice. I then decided to walk on to the top of Mount Rokko. By chance, I saw a boar along the way. After getting it on video, I took a short lunch break then carried on. There were lots of people with people of all ages, including families. I eventually reached the top of Mount Rokko which offered more views. It was a bit chilly up there. I was tired but needed to keep moving to stay warm. To head back to Tsukaguchi, I had two choices: go back the same way I’d come (to Ashiya-gawa Station , 7.4 kilometres ) or take another trail to Arima Onsen (4.0 kilometres) where I could take a bus to the nearest Hankyu Railway station. I chose the latter. I hiked down to Arima Onsen from where I took trains back to Tsukaguchi.
Here’s a video on part of the hike. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2ajT9PjAsA
I’ll tell you about my second hike in my next blog! (^.^)
Derek
Leave a Reply