Before I started trekking Mt Fuji I decided to trek a small hill by the name Mt. Oyama also known as Mount Afuri or Mount Kunimi which was located near to Isehara in Kanagawa Prefecture. It was at a height of 4108 ft. To reach the point I had to take Odakyu line to reach Isehara from where we, my friend and his two Japanese colleagues from Nissan, took Bus #4 (around 300 – 400 yen) to reach the base of Mount Oyama. The bus travels through the peaceful and calm villages which is great sight of view. Upon reaching the Oyama cable car station, one has to decide if it is hiking or cable car to reach the Shrine on the top of the mountain. Since we reached before 10 AM we decided to hike had it been after 10 AM we would have chosen to take the cable car. The cost of cable car is somewhere around 400 – 500 yens.
There are two trails Woman’s and Men’s, that will ascend past Oyama Temple and continue to the Oyama Afuri Shrine. By the by the Men’s Trail is a lot steeper. The Women’s trail features the seven wonders and a small power spots with magical properties as per the believers. To the left of the shrine there was a way to reach to the top of the summit. Since we were not hungry yet we just stopped by the shrine to gasp some air and drank water to continue our way up to reach the summit by Noon. The path was a little difficult for me and my friend. But our Japanese friends were quick to climb as most of the Japanese love trekking and hiking and they do it often.
Somehow we managed to reach to the top, The Summit. The view was spectacular. I could see some more mountains which were nearby and were termed as sisters of Mount Oyama. We enjoyed the view. It was the first in my life I have ever climbed a height of 4108 feet and I could not believe I have done it. Then I & my friend started to capture the moments to remember the spectacular moment. Later we had our Lunch which was homemade and we shared it with the Japs and they liked the taste of the food. After spending an hour or so on the top we decided to descend.
We walked all the way down to the Shrine the same route. We visited the shrine and it was very peace of mind there. Sake (Rice Wine) is offered to the worshipers by the priests for about 100 yen as offering. On the way back to the base we chose to take Women’s trail to reduce our pain in the knees. As it was mentioned to me and my friend by the Jap the trail is indeed felt like seven wonders. I was full of green and colorful flowers which obviously was resembling the beautiful women of this planet Earth.
We then took same Bus #4 to reach back to the Isehara station. By now my leg were terrible and was very much eager to visit my hotel room and say hi to my bed. By 5 PM in the evening I reached my hotel room and slept the whole night.
It was wonderful first adventurous journey of my life in Japan which I would never ever forget.