Day 5: Suspending the Day at Hoshi no Buranko Bridge at Hoshida Park

It was the day I was looking forward to, with trepidation though. I had read that Hoshi no Buranko was the best place to be for the autumn foliage so I allocated one day just for this Bridge.

We were slated to be on our way at 7am, but as usual, only non-humans could wake up in the light of a heavenly weather so we set off at 11am, again! 

 We had our brunch at the train station and it was a fusion restaurant with Amercian influence. Beef on rice was on a hot plate. 'Tasty' was my verdict.

The internet users suggest visitors to take a train to Kisaichi Station and walk 30 minutes to the Park but Googlemap took us on a route that included a bus ride from Kawachi-Iwafune Station.

We had to change our strategies so we alighted at Kawachi-Iwafune and hopped on a cab for 1330 yen to Hoshida Park. On our way there, we saw people who looked like they were walking to Hoshida Park and it was indeed a long way! We were relieved we took a cab instead.

People were coming down the Park while we were making our way up. Didn't have time to scrutinise the map!

The rock climbing structure at the entrance

Visitors gathering at the foot of the mountain park

Refreshment shop 

There was quite a lot of climbing! My mother and I had to stop to rest whenever we could. Whoever said this was a 'pleasant', 'lovely' ... etc climb ought to be shot! We almost died! Some of the slopes were quite steep and we were huffing and panting as we took each laborious step!

The slopes were all ascending and it was a challenge to walk up. I was clutching to the promise of a magnificent view of the autumn foliage as I made my way up. My mother and I were glad that we bought a pair of walking shoes just the previous night. I would not have survived the climb in my leather shoes!

We finally reached the bridge!

According to the internet users, it was a 30-minute walk to the bridge from the entrance of the Park, but why did it take us one hour?!!

The climb must go on! People said the view at the observatory was not to be missed and it was supposed to be just 10 minutes away!

Your head! 

But I must admit, the most difficult part of the journey was completed. The climb to the observatory was not as challenging although my mother almost wanted to give up. She said,"I'll wait here for you while you continue." I said no. It's only a little bit more to go. And she trudged on. 

Finally!

"Huh? Only like this ah? This is 'lovely', 'not to be missed'???"

Well, maybe it is for some, but it didn't look THAT 'not to be missed' to me.

I later learnt that it would take another two weeks for the foliage at Hoshida Park to turn red and yellow. Sigh! Too early for the foliage.

I read that it was windy and the bridge could shake.

Bull shit. Please don't believe it. This is Japan. Every life counts. And things are made with quality. The bridge is as sturdy as could be. It is held by steel-like ropes and there was no wind. We were so warm we had to take off our jackets! Should have worn a nice skirt or dress!

The bridge closed at 4.30pm. We were the last to leave the place and the old park ranger told us,"No ride!" to urge us to leave to catch the bus.

On our way down, we enquired about the bus ride and another old park ranger told us that the next bus would arrive in 7 minutes. We quickly made our way out of the park and waited at the bus stop with a line of people.

The bus travelled for about 30 minutes before reaching Keihan Station and we paid the fare to the driver on alighting.

Then we took train/s back to Umeda. All in all, we spent about 2 hours travelling back from Hoshida Park.

Note to self: must do research and planning before embarking on a trip!

The JR Pass counter

At Osaka Station, I urged William to change his e-tickets for our JR Passes bought on Klook since we would be using them the next day. It seemed to be quite a complicated process so we were relieved to have a staff helped us handle everything.

We were tired so we wanted to have our dinner near our hotel and go back to rest quickly.

Horror of horrors! Every decent restaurant had a long line of good food scavengers! We could not wait so we just went into any restaurant that did not have a queue!

 The food was decent, as was the service, but it was nothing to shout about. 

For this trip, I did not shortlist any 'must-eat-at' restaurant as good food in Japan is in abundance! There are so many suggestions on where to eat that I gave up trying to find the best. 'Just eat anywhere lah. Any food is good in Japan.' was my mantra.