While it didnt take long to fall asleep, I woke up several times in the night. Once was to the fire alarm - not again?!!! We had kena the fire alarm several times during our holidays. It was a false alarm bcos there were only 2 short sirens. I was jolted awake and contemplated to wake Daddy Lim; the rest were dead asleep.
It was again an early morning bcos we had Mount Kongo to conquer! Mount Kongo is the tallest mountain in Osaka and about 1.5 hr travel away. We had a simple bfast (bcos there was only simple bfast in the hotel, haha) and packed water and food before heading to the train station.
Other than the complex transport system to navigate, it was mad difficult trying to find information in English. I spent lunches and hours researching on our itinerary but there were very limited information in English on some more exotic places and Mount Kongo was one of them. Zzzzz.
We knew that we had to take the train to Kawachinagano station and found that we had to take the Naikan line. However, we didnt know that the local and express train would make a great difference. We took the local train and the train stopped at almost every other station. Zzzz. Lesson learnt and a painful one.
This was us for the camera.
But how we really felt. Lol.
Luckily the train was fairly empty bcos the boy got bored.
Then, the girl got bored too.
After like forever, we made it alive to the station. According to the other blogs that we read up, we were supposed to head to the same exit for the taxi and take bus no. 8 or 11 from bus stop 3. This part was easy to follow.
The moment we exited the station, we saw bus no. 11 and started running for it. Suddenly, I had deju vu - didnt the same thing happened in HKg while we were going to Lido beach and we ended up taking the bus in the opposite direction? Fortunately, there was no mistake this time.
Again from the blogs, we knew that we had to alight at the 金刚登山口 bus stop and the bus trip will take about 35 mins. What we cannot figure out is whether the 金刚登山口 bus stop is the same one as the
金剛山ロープウェイ (Mount Kongo Ropeway) bus stop, which is the final stop. That kept Daddy Lim and I very much on the edge, watching the bus announcement carefully and even turning on google map to try to second guess the route.
So, for the many after us who wanted to attempt Mount Kongo hike, these are totally 2 different stops. The bus stop for the hike comes early and there is seriously no way of missing the stop bcos the announcement to inform the hikers to alight was made in Japanese, English and Chinese. Hohoho.
We alighted and found ourselves on an empty road. A few others alighted with us.
It took us a long time to orient ourselves. We found a direction board and saw that it was supposed to be an easy walk.
A few more steps from the map, we saw this whole flight of stairs. No!!!! That looked very different from what the map says and we were hestitant to start with the stairs.
After trying to look for an alternative way, we acknowledge that all roads lead to Rome and all stairways lead to Mount Kongo. We started our ascent but not before a victory jump shot.
Up, up and away!
It was steps and more steps. According to the blogs, there are a total of 10 stages and the 1st 2 are the tiring ones. We know why, just look at how huge those steps are!
Keep on climbing, climbing, climbing.
After a lot of huffing and puffing, the steps finally cleared and we came to some closed stalls and structure.
There was a small shrine too.
We continued on our way.
After a long time, the steps cleared again. I was guessing that it was station 5. I read that there are portable toilets and the ultraman structure. Tadah!
From the other bloggers' pictures, I had imagined the structure to be much bigger. They turned out to be really mini.
Checkpoint done - time to move on. We were more than half way done. I loved to see the dot moving to the end.
Along the way, I realised that these are the signs indicating the different stages. Yesh, we were at station 7.5 and I was starting to count down.
Finally, when our legs turned jelly, we arrived at the top. It wasnt like HKG mountain peaks but we could still see magnificient views far away.
We read that it would take about 90 mins to hike up Mount Kongo. Strava recorded that we had a moving time of 90 mins too. However, with all the many little breaks that we took, it was more than 2 hours before we made it to the top.
Then we saw this.
Apparently, one can sign up as a member and have their name on the 排行榜 if they climb Mount Kongo at least 50 times! We thought that it was something that was obsolete bcos the signboard looked quite ran down and empty. That was when we saw the other boards. This one show names of those who had climbed like few hundreds to thousands of times!
The champion?
Over freaking 10,000 times!!!! If a somebody is to climb Mount Kongo once a day, it would take like 30 years to achieve 10,000 times! Woohoo!!!
After we were done wowing with the amazing feat, we went in search for lunch. The little restuarant was so warm and cosy and even instant noodles taste like 10x better. It was so cold at the top, the thermometer was registering 1 degree.
We chomped down 3 cups easily and topped up with the rice balls/ triangle rices that we bought.
Whatever goes up have to come down but the kids protested about hiking down. They jumped at the opportunity to take the ropeway down. We also found that the ropeway was like 30 mins walk away.
On the way to the ropeway, we saw ice on the trees. It must have snowed at some point but we missed it. The kids were still very excited. Lol.
Enroute, we also came to a huge open area with playground. It is probably popular during the warmer seasons.
While the kids had zero energy to hike down, they were running around and playing at the playground. Win already.
The parents were just hibernating one corner. The can of hot chocolate from the vending machine acted as hand warmer. Bliss.. imaging korean drama scenario.
Finally, the ropeway.
Everything is vending machine in Japan.
We bought tickets for the adults and "小人". Haha.
Fortunately, we didnt have to wait long for the ropeway.
The ride was only 5 mins long and we had to catch the same bus back to the MRT station. The othe local passengers were rushing and it only make sense for us to follow suit. There was a super steep slope from the ropeway station. Just when we reached the gentler part, Zaky said that he needed to poo poo! Why??? It was an antagonising walk back up the super steep slope. Daddy Lim and Lil Shauna chose to wait for us instead. Totally good choice. They did get bored and started posing for pictures.
When we regrouped and reached the bus stop, we realised that it was an hourly bus and the other same ropeway passengers had already left. That must be the reason why they were rushing. For whoever who comes down from Mount Kongo in the future, follow the sign to the bus stop.
With more than 30 mins' wait, it was time to munch on the remaining snacks. Then we entertained the kids with leaves gathering and stick picking game.
We made it back to the same mrt very much alive. Before we entered the station, we saw this stall selling big ass siew mais. They were expensive but we were cold and tired and anything that is piping hot looks irresistible. It was calling our names... we must buy...
Chomp, chomp, chomp. All 8 big ass siew mais gone in mins.
Waiting for the train and totally nailing the train system by now.
Dinner was again at Dontoburi. We had our 1st experience ordering from the vending machine. We ordered, entered the restuarant, were shown our seats and then passed the order chit to the staff. Soon, our food was served. Super efficient.
The night had to end with more claw machine. The kids opted for some sure win this time.
Finally, we found the running man!
Dontoburi was uber crowded.
Daddy Lim wanted to buy a pair of Nike sneakers that wasnt available in Singapore. He had done his research. It was quite a walk. Just when we stepped foot into the shop and Daddy Lim spotted the design that he wanted, Zaky declared that he needed to pee and very urgently! Wah lau, 2x in a day. So zhun?!?!
Bcos I wasnt confident to walk back with the kids, we all had to head back to the hotel. To compensate for the no Nike, I at least got Daddy Lim an ice cream. Can? Lol.
Total steps clocked - 30,000!!! Power!
Before we turned in for the night, it was to double confirm the itinerary for tomorrow bcos it was Universal Studio Japan day. Yeah! Nothing must go wrong tomorrow.
Mummy Lim
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