Travel: Quick getaway from Tokyo

03 สิงหาคม 2560

It is a simple day-trip, taking a train to hike a mountain, visiting a peaceful temple and enjoying grilled chicken in a garden โ€“ quite different from the typical trip to Tokyo.

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This is the opening of a longer travel story in our Lifestyle section today. You can read the full story here:http://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/tourists-and-expats/1299007/far-from-the-madding-crowd

Far from the madding crowd

Peerawat Jariyasombat

It is raining in Shinjuku, one of the busiest districts in Tokyo, Japan. To avoid the strong wind, my guide Yuji "Dave" Otsuka decides to lead me into an underground walkway.

"Keep close to me, we are about to walk through a number of pedestrians that flood out of the railway stations," Dave explains.

I try to walk fast while looking around at the crowd. The underground walkway is like a small town beneath the city. It is busy and confusing. On both sides, there are hundreds of shops, entrances to shopping malls, restaurants, businesses, kiosks and a tourist information centre. Intersections lead to bus terminals and subway stations on different lines. Every single minute, hundreds of people walk through.

"Even Tokyo residents find it quite complicated. I cannot find any locality map or it would be easier," says Dave.

Yakuoin Temple houses the Izuna Gongen god from Mahayana Buddhism. The statue is kept inside the pavilion, behind a door, but worshippers can come in contact with the god by holding ropes leading to the statue inside.

After getting to the right station, we get on a crowded outbound train on the Keio Line, a heavily-used commuter service, with more than a million passengers a day. Some 30 minutes later, passengers gradually get off the crowded car. There are empty seats now and the atmosphere is more relaxing. I look around and find myself in the countryside. This is peaceful Tokyo, a place tourists may overlook.

From Takaosanguchi Station at the end of the line, we switch to a mountain train, which slowly makes its way through a forest to the mountaintop.

Ukai Toriyama Restaurant is very impressive. It can fascinate diners with a stunning Japanese garden set on both sides of a crystal clear stream. Every detail is delicately decorated in traditional Japanese style. Grilled chicken becomes a very special dish when served here.

Mount Takao or Takaosan is 599m-high and is surrounded by an old forest and a view of cities in the distance. When the weather allows, Mount Fuji can be seen, too. This is an escape for many Tokyo residents who love hiking. This trip comes with a meal package offered by the Keio line and adds to the off-the-beaten track experience for foreign visitors.