{"id":716,"date":"2018-10-15T13:21:18","date_gmt":"2018-10-15T12:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/?p=716"},"modified":"2018-10-15T13:21:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-15T12:21:18","slug":"a-trip-up-mount-kongo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/2018\/10\/15\/a-trip-up-mount-kongo\/","title":{"rendered":"A Trip Up Mount Kongo"},"content":{"rendered":"

I went on a walking trip up Mount Kongo. Mount Kongo is the highest peak in Osaka (although I think that technically it’s peak might lie in neighbouring Nara).<\/p>\n

Following what I normally do in the UK I wanted to get a map so that if I got lost I would be able to get out of trouble. Finding a map caused some problems. The commonly used Yama-to-Kogen maps were described as available in bookshops but I struggled to find any (and finding your way around a Japanese bookshop can be tricky when you don’t read or speak much Japanese). Eventually I found them in an outdoor shop. The maps aren’t as good as the UK’s Ordinance Survey maps but I suspect that they don’t need to be as most of the mountainous areas consists of two types of ground: “path” and “not path”. The paths on Mount Kongo are pretty well organised.<\/p>\n

Anyhow, I took the bus to the bottom of the mountain. The bus was full as quite a few people had decided to copy me. The assent consists or a large number of steps up the mountain.<\/p>\n

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It was quite hard going but not too bad provided you take some breaks. I actually took about 2 hours to get up (if I remember correctly). At the top there is a “restaurant” (read cafe), a campsite, an onsen, a temple and a shrine. There are also a lot of people wondering about enjoying the scenery. The top is quite accessible to non-walkers as there is a “ropeway” (read cable car). The shrine at the top is protected by this fearsome looking dude. I couldn’t get a very good picture of the shrine as it was only accessible from one direction and that pointed directly into the sun.<\/p>\n

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The top also allows good views out over Osaka. You can’t really make to much out from this image but Osaka is there amid the blurriness.<\/p>\n

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There is another shrine. This is the rather picturesque path that leads to it. I couldn’t take a photo of this shrine as people were praying.<\/p>\n

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I wandered across to the camp site which is near to the ropeway station. It looked like a nice place to stay. It is also right next to a viewing platform that gives a good view south to Koya (I think).<\/p>\n

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The walk down was less interesting. It was down a cement road rather that a forest path. There was a nice waterfall to the side of the road.<\/p>\n

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I also saw a man walking up the mountain with his cat on his shoulder. The cat had a lead attached, presumably so I would not run away, but it didn’t look like it had any intention of running off into the forest.<\/p>\n

Given that I have the map and it is quite close I will revisit and try some of the other paths. There’s something called the diamond route that takes in several peaks and takes seven hours. I might try that if I’m feeling particularly hardy. I also have a few other hikes that I want to do. I need more maps…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I went on a walking trip up Mount Kongo. Mount Kongo is the highest peak in Osaka (although I think that technically it’s peak might lie in neighbouring Nara). Following what I normally do in the UK I wanted to get a map so that if I got lost I would be able to get… <\/p>\n

Read More<\/i><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":738,"href":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716\/revisions\/738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imnotasaint.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}