Train for Hiking - Mount Takao

In order to prepare for the hiking trip on Obon Holidays, we went to one of the nearest Mountains for hiking training. Departing from Shinjuku, there is the Semi-limited Express Train by Keio Line which goes directly to Takaosanguchi Station(高尾山口駅). It took almost an hour to arrive Takaosanguchi Staion. As my husband is carrying Yuki Chan, we took the cable car to facilitate our ascend to the peak.

On the cable car (6 minutes ride)

Hence, we hiked for around 45 minutes to reach the peak. Along the way, there is a temple (Yakuoin) and statues of the mountain gods (Tengu). Basically, there are plenty of staircases during the hike.

Yakuoin 薬王院

Tengu with long nose (left) and crow beak (right)

Takao San is about 600 metres tall

After having lunch at one of the restaurants at the peak, we took the longest trail to descend (about 2 hours). The descend was slippery and muddy on some parts. However, we enjoyed the nature with sounds of cicadas. There is a small shop near the train station which sells delicious soft cream. Though the shop seems to be famous for their Sake Manju 酒饅頭, the Sake Manju there is not our cup of tea. The day after the hike, we both got muscle pain on our calf. It was a long time since we last hiked so we felt superb!

City View

All set with Hiking Baby Carrier and Trekking Poles. 

Embracing the nature 😆

Do you like mountain too？Yuki Chan... ><

Treats after hiking. Chestnut Flavor Soft Cream. Yum!

Yuki’s first trip - Enoshima

Yuki is 6-month-old in a blink of eye and here comes his first trip ever. Mountain Baby Carrier is being used for this trip (Osprey - Poco Plus Child Carrier). We departed from Shinjuku and got on Odakyu RomanceCar which goes to Enoshima. My husband bought four tickets for three of us so that we could turn over the two seats in front of us and enjoy our own area. As usual we enjoyed our Bento in the train. 

On Odakyu RomanceCar

It was raining when we arrived Enoshima, so we used a taxi (by phone call) to go to the hotel. As the hotel is located along the Nakamise Shopping Street, the taxi just fetch us until entrance of the street. 

The hotel that we stayed at is called Iwamotoro with 150 years of history 😱.

We put our luggage at the hotel and depart again. We first went to Enoshima Shrine with plenty of staircases. However, there is the paid escalators for us to skip the staircases. We used it half way towards the top. We have also visited an Observation Deck which called SeaCandle. 

Tori Gate of Enoshima Shrine

         View from SeaCandle 

For refreshment, we went to a cafe and the Cold Matcha Zenzai was so palatable. After that, we went to Iwaya Cave which we queued for around 10 minutes before entering. We also have a baby milk break before heading to the famous Cafe for French Toast. Again, it was so yummy especially with the ice-cream 😍.

Cold Matcha Zenzai 

Iwaya Cave

Outside of Iwaya Cave

Milk Break    

 

Freach Toast at LONCAFE

Finally, we checked-in to our hotel and relax. There are two types of Onsen but we went for only the famous Iwamotoro Roman Bath and forwent the Cave Bath.

We had dinner in our room and it was a feast. 

Dinner at our room

Turban Shell and Shrimp

Here comes the second day. As usual, Yuki Chan woke up around 5 or 6am and slept again til the morning call for breakfast at 8.30am. Our Futon is being kept after we are back to the room from breakfast. After checking out, we took a taxi to Enoshima Station and put our luggage in a locker before renting electric bike. It was a self-service rental bike port called COGICOGI. There was only a bicycle with full battery and the second highest one was only 40%. However, we rented and rode along the coast to Kamakura for the Great Buddha Statue.

Breakfast with Japanese Horse Mackerel

Riding along the coast

Reaching the Great Buddha of Kamakura

Baby sitting on the staircase ><

After visiting the Great Buddha Statue, it was raining so we ran in to a cafe for Affogato and Chocolate Cake. Then we decided to return the bike at a port in Kamakura and take Enoden to go back to Enoshima. Before taking Enoden, we had our lunch at a random Soba Restaurant. The Cha Soba Noodles was delicious but the tempura was under expectations. After claiming our luggage from the locker, we got on RomanceCar to go back to Shinjuku.

Chocolate Cake with Ice-Cream

Cha Soba with Tempura (Tenzaru)

Enoden

Overall, it was a fun and adventurous trip for us even though we got sunburn on our arms due to the bicycle ride. We can't wait for our next trip.