Japan
February, 24 th 2019
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Suma Alps. My flatmates Angel and me were horribly late in the morning. I don’t know 
how, but somehow we managed to clean up all our mess in the kitchen within seconds, so we arrived in time at train station and meeting point. As always, while hanging out with Angel we talked a lot and so I missed out something very important. Spring has slightly come to Osaka. But more on that later. I’m very happy that from the organising point of view the hikes become more and more routine and we are growing a team. The support means a lot to me. There is Sayaka, who is joining almost every week and besides that she is likely the only one who
take care about the trail in advance, she always guides us through train system. Actually this helps me a lot and removes a lot of stress (because I’m always stressed in the 
morning to get up and being in time). Today, we met one half of the group at Osaka station, while the other half awaited us at Nishidai station. We got off the subway and I was very surprised. It was warm and sunny. It was hard to imagine that only one week ago, it was one of the coldest hike I did in Japan so far. Now, I was walking only in a long shirt while I could feel the warm sun laying on my shoulders like smooth blanket. We passed through a residential area and entered a park with a nice view of 
Kobe on the summit of Mt. Takatori. We continued and had to climb down to enter a residential area again. At this time I was very disappointed of the trail. This trail was kind of borrowed or stolen by Tomal, which did it two weeks ago with another group. It was almost lunch time and some of us, especially me, were starving. Luckily we decided to climb to the next view point instead of taking a break at the little children’s playground. We climbed steep stairs and almost everybody of us was 
suffering. But it was worth! After the last flight of stairs we had an amazing 360° view of Kobe, Suma Alps and the Ocean. It was the perfect place to enjoy our lunch. And this time 
was the very first time we could really enjoy our lunch while sitting in the warming sun and enjoy this breathtaking scenery. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of clear air. There was no place on this planet I would rather be right now. After a long and joyful break we continued to climb the next mountain which looked amazing from the viewpoint. We hiked along a horseback made of rough yellow stones. It was just amazing. Everybody got a little bit nervous by this exciting trail and view and we took 
millions of pictures. It seemed like that nobody wanted to leave this amazing place and so we continued very slowly. We hiked through a forest and arrived at a residential area 
again. There was still one mountain we had to climb. The sound began to be become golden. We were close to the ocean and at summit it was breathtaking. There it was. Calm, clear and blue. The Ocean. In this moment I realised how much I missed the Ocean. I couldn’t get my view away. The Ocean is essential for me, even more than the mountains. It calms me down and gives me a deep feeling of happiness. I could have watched it for hours. The golden light of the sun made this moment perfect. We had 
an amazing view of Awaji Island, a small island within Seto Inland sea which connects the main island of Honshu with Shikoku through a long bridge on each end. Angel is the biggest Pokemon fan I ever met and it is amazing. Pokemon and its areas are deeply related to Japan’s countryside. Parts of Kansai belongs to Johto area, which you explore in the second generation of Pokemon games. Awaji Island is Whirl Island in the game, where you can meet legendary Lugia! Maybe you remember that you
need to learn a special attack, which allows you to pass the whirlpool. These whirlpools also exists and I have been there: it’s Naruto’s whirlpools between Shikoku and Awaji! That’s amazing. While the sun slightly disappeared into the ocean we climbed down to get to the train station. This time we had dinner in an Indian restaurant altogether. I really enjoy our weekly dinners after the hike and I was happy that everybody was joining. Tired, full of oyshii food and happy I went back home with Angel. We went to take a hot bath and after it I felt like newborn and fall asleep immediately.
Tales of trails 