The posts and summary for the whole trip, can be found here
♥November 23rd Saturday♥
A year ago, I saw a Hong Kong friend posted his beautiful Kansai photos (during autumn season) on FB and one of the places he went to was Takao 高雄. Some research later, we found that Takao is one of the best places to view autumn leaves, so it was on our to-go list.
After checking the weather forecast in the morning, reporting clear and sunny weather, we decided to go that day. We took a bus near Sakura, stopped a few stops away to change bus, got lost looking for the bus stop to take the bus bound for Takao (it was our 2nd day in Kyoto, still not familiar with bus system, but after taking the bus a couple of times, with the bus map on hand, it wasn't that difficult to map out route and know what bus to take etc), thank goodness for kind Japanese, we managed to find the bus stop, and even got prompted to board the bus when it arrived.
50 minutes later, we reached Takao at lunch time.
We saw some stalls selling roasted sweet potato, mochi, and this, deep fried maple leaves. We didn't know what they would taste like, but you can't go wrong with anything deep fried right? So we just bought a pack to snack on.
￥500 for a pack, not cheap, but it was good. Its batter is sweetened, and mixed with some sesame seeds, crunchy, sweetish, they were really delicious.
Since we spotted these stalls, we thought it was going to be like Nara, with shops lined streets along the way. We bought a couple mochi, a roast potato, and thought we'll snack on these, do some walking first, and then have late lunch.
With no map to guide us (1st time), we didn't know we actually went on the Tokai Nature Trail 東海自然步道, as there were lots of people heading there, we just followed the crowd, not knowing we would be embarking on a 4.5hrs walk covering almost 8km with no proper lunch!
The consolation is, the view we got on this walk, was spectacular!
This part of the Tokai Nature Trail 東海自然步道 is along the Kiyotakigawa 清滝川 (Kiyotaki River), and at the banks of certain part of the river, people stopped to have picnics, sip tea, while enjoying nature. There were some tea shops set up next to the river too at the beginning of the trail.
Zaria disrupted the tranquility by tossing pebbles into the river.
This was the last restaurant we saw on the trail, and because they were charging a lot for lunch, we thought we would push on.
From then on, it was just a walking trail with stunning view.
We came across a wide open space. A big group was there having a hot pot lunch. We only had some Kit Kat (since that was the only thing we brought along and some water). Bad planning on our part (but none of my guidebooks nor Japan Guide talked about this trail!).
Some part of the trail is a bit tougher, but Zaria enjoyed these the most, taking the lead all the time.
Most part of the trail is easy and runs parallel to the river, probably because it was a weekend, lots of elderly people were walking on this trail too.
The water from Kiyotakigawa was blue and clear.
There were sign boards along the trails, stating the distant to the next main stop, and we were heading to Kiyotaki 清滝.
Arriving at Kiyotaki, a small village, we thought we could find a place to eat, but there was nothing near the trail.
We saw more people having picnics or just a rest next to the river.
Checking some signboards posted at Kiyotaki, reading words in Kanji, I managed to decipher the notices (or so I thought). I discussed with the hubs that we could either take a bus from Kiyotaki 清滝 to Arashiyama 嵐山, then back to Kyoto or continue walking to Saga Toriimoto 嵯峨鳥居本 to take the bus.
We decided to go to Saga Toriimoto.
(I think we took the wrong way). After walking about 0.5km, we couldn't see any sign boards pointing to Torrimoto, so we walked back to Kiyotaki again to reread the notice. It was mentioned in the map that there's a view point at Ochiai 落合. We decided to walk to Ochiai just to check out the view point, and if we couldn't find Torrimoto, we would walk back to Kiyotaki to take the bus.
We knew we were on the right track when we arrived at Ochiai tunnel 落合隧道.
After the tunnel it was the viewpoint, from which we could see the Hozukyo Gorge 保津峡.
We saw some boats were sailing by, and realised later that this is the Hozugawa-Kudari 保津川下り or Huzugawa boat ride, a world famous sightseeing experience which covers a 16km boat journey from Tanba-Kameoka to Arashiyama.
We couldn't find any more walking trail after this point, but just a tar road, with occasional cars or cyclist going passed.
It was then decision time again, to walk back to Kiyotaki, or continue walking on the tar road? But to where? There was no signage.
We then saw 2 Caucasian men coming out from the tunnel, walking towards us. We asked them where they were going, and one of them said to a JR station. We couldn't believe there's a JR station out in this wilderness. The man said we could decide to walk to the JR station, or go back to Kiyotaki to take the bus, but JR train would be more frequent than bus, and also it would be tar road leading all the way to the station.
Since they knew exactly what they were doing, we followed them.
And yes, half an hour of walking later, we saw the station, i.e. JR Hozukyo Station JR保津峡.
One last look at the view, before we finally got to rest our butts on the train and headed towards Kyoto.
That day, we walked for 4.5hrs from 12:30pm to 5pm（with lots of photo stops), covering more than 7km with no lunch!; The distance of the trails :
from Takao 高雄 to Kiyotaki 清淹 (3.8km);
then from Kiyotaki to Ochiai 落合 (~2km);
and then to JR Hozukyo Station JR 保津峡 (~1.5km).
This was what we covered.
View Takao to JR Hozukyo Walking Trail in a larger map
We were truly amazed with the girls! They just walked on and on! There were times when Zaria complained about being tired, but when she saw another rough and tough path, she would brighten and then take the lead going through those sections first. Zara would occasionally mentioned she's really hungry, and I would whip out another Kit Kat to fuel her. They really did well.
When we arrived back at Kyoto Station, it was rush hour at full swing!
We were all so keen in having something hot to eat, we chose the restaurant at the station with the shortest waiting queue!
♥November 23rd Saturday♥
A year ago, I saw a Hong Kong friend posted his beautiful Kansai photos (during autumn season) on FB and one of the places he went to was Takao 高雄. Some research later, we found that Takao is one of the best places to view autumn leaves, so it was on our to-go list.
After checking the weather forecast in the morning, reporting clear and sunny weather, we decided to go that day. We took a bus near Sakura, stopped a few stops away to change bus, got lost looking for the bus stop to take the bus bound for Takao (it was our 2nd day in Kyoto, still not familiar with bus system, but after taking the bus a couple of times, with the bus map on hand, it wasn't that difficult to map out route and know what bus to take etc), thank goodness for kind Japanese, we managed to find the bus stop, and even got prompted to board the bus when it arrived.
50 minutes later, we reached Takao at lunch time.
We saw some stalls selling roasted sweet potato, mochi, and this, deep fried maple leaves. We didn't know what they would taste like, but you can't go wrong with anything deep fried right? So we just bought a pack to snack on.
￥500 for a pack, not cheap, but it was good. Its batter is sweetened, and mixed with some sesame seeds, crunchy, sweetish, they were really delicious.
Since we spotted these stalls, we thought it was going to be like Nara, with shops lined streets along the way. We bought a couple mochi, a roast potato, and thought we'll snack on these, do some walking first, and then have late lunch.
With no map to guide us (1st time), we didn't know we actually went on the Tokai Nature Trail 東海自然步道, as there were lots of people heading there, we just followed the crowd, not knowing we would be embarking on a 4.5hrs walk covering almost 8km with no proper lunch!
The consolation is, the view we got on this walk, was spectacular!
Autumn colours at its best
This part of the Tokai Nature Trail 東海自然步道 is along the Kiyotakigawa 清滝川 (Kiyotaki River), and at the banks of certain part of the river, people stopped to have picnics, sip tea, while enjoying nature. There were some tea shops set up next to the river too at the beginning of the trail.
Zaria disrupted the tranquility by tossing pebbles into the river.
This was the last restaurant we saw on the trail, and because they were charging a lot for lunch, we thought we would push on.
From then on, it was just a walking trail with stunning view.
We came across a wide open space. A big group was there having a hot pot lunch. We only had some Kit Kat (since that was the only thing we brought along and some water). Bad planning on our part (but none of my guidebooks nor Japan Guide talked about this trail!).
Some part of the trail is a bit tougher, but Zaria enjoyed these the most, taking the lead all the time.
Most part of the trail is easy and runs parallel to the river, probably because it was a weekend, lots of elderly people were walking on this trail too.
The water from Kiyotakigawa was blue and clear.
There were sign boards along the trails, stating the distant to the next main stop, and we were heading to Kiyotaki 清滝.
Arriving at Kiyotaki, a small village, we thought we could find a place to eat, but there was nothing near the trail.
We saw more people having picnics or just a rest next to the river.
Checking some signboards posted at Kiyotaki, reading words in Kanji, I managed to decipher the notices (or so I thought). I discussed with the hubs that we could either take a bus from Kiyotaki 清滝 to Arashiyama 嵐山, then back to Kyoto or continue walking to Saga Toriimoto 嵯峨鳥居本 to take the bus.
We decided to go to Saga Toriimoto.
(I think we took the wrong way). After walking about 0.5km, we couldn't see any sign boards pointing to Torrimoto, so we walked back to Kiyotaki again to reread the notice. It was mentioned in the map that there's a view point at Ochiai 落合. We decided to walk to Ochiai just to check out the view point, and if we couldn't find Torrimoto, we would walk back to Kiyotaki to take the bus.
We knew we were on the right track when we arrived at Ochiai tunnel 落合隧道.
After the tunnel it was the viewpoint, from which we could see the Hozukyo Gorge 保津峡.
We saw some boats were sailing by, and realised later that this is the Hozugawa-Kudari 保津川下り or Huzugawa boat ride, a world famous sightseeing experience which covers a 16km boat journey from Tanba-Kameoka to Arashiyama.
We couldn't find any more walking trail after this point, but just a tar road, with occasional cars or cyclist going passed.
It was then decision time again, to walk back to Kiyotaki, or continue walking on the tar road? But to where? There was no signage.
We then saw 2 Caucasian men coming out from the tunnel, walking towards us. We asked them where they were going, and one of them said to a JR station. We couldn't believe there's a JR station out in this wilderness. The man said we could decide to walk to the JR station, or go back to Kiyotaki to take the bus, but JR train would be more frequent than bus, and also it would be tar road leading all the way to the station.
Since they knew exactly what they were doing, we followed them.
And yes, half an hour of walking later, we saw the station, i.e. JR Hozukyo Station JR保津峡.
One last look at the view, before we finally got to rest our butts on the train and headed towards Kyoto.
That day, we walked for 4.5hrs from 12:30pm to 5pm（with lots of photo stops), covering more than 7km with no lunch!; The distance of the trails :
from Takao 高雄 to Kiyotaki 清淹 (3.8km);
then from Kiyotaki to Ochiai 落合 (~2km);
and then to JR Hozukyo Station JR 保津峡 (~1.5km).
This was what we covered.
View Takao to JR Hozukyo Walking Trail in a larger mapWe were truly amazed with the girls! They just walked on and on! There were times when Zaria complained about being tired, but when she saw another rough and tough path, she would brighten and then take the lead going through those sections first. Zara would occasionally mentioned she's really hungry, and I would whip out another Kit Kat to fuel her. They really did well.
When we arrived back at Kyoto Station, it was rush hour at full swing!
We were all so keen in having something hot to eat, we chose the restaurant at the station with the shortest waiting queue!
