Mount Mitake Scenery (Part II)

From the Mitakesan cable car station, we set on our hike, walking past a small village with small shops along the way.

We made a stop at Mitake Visitor Centre not so much to get information on Mount Mitake but for a toilet break. Do visit the Centre for the valuable information and hands-on exhibit here at Mitake Visitor Centre, with slide shows, craft workshops and nature programs. You can also obtain pamphlets describing hiking courses, as well as maps in English.

We used the centre for a break and ate our red bean "manju" bought at Mitakesan station earlier.

Passing through a village to get to Musashi Mitake shrine, we saw several houses (or was it inns?) with thatched roof. Only the thatched roofs look old, the house that supported the roof looked pretty new to me. I suppose the house owner kept the roof when they renovated/upgraded their houses.

On the way, we stopped and bought a candy for Raimie for 100yen.

There were plenty of shops here selling drinks, snacks and souvenirs (a foot hot bath too, if I'm not mistaken). A welcome respite after the steep walk, I bet. We didn't linger long here, because we were pretty excited in continuing our hike (and not wanting to spend more $$$. LOL)

The path from the village to Musahi Mitake shrine was a steep one, so you might get a little out of breath here. The old tree in the photo is Jindaikeyaki zelkova (a special national treasure); a sacred tree that stands at 23 meters tall and has a trunk 8.2 meters around. The tree is about 1,000 years' old.

After admiring the tree, and walking up the really, really steep road, off we went to Musashi Mitake Shrine and climb more stairs. Oooph!