The way from the hostel to Mitakidera temple took us around 30-40 minutes by walking. Half of the way is pretty flat but the end of it is a good uphill towards the temple.
In February I could see this place with slightly snow on the top of the grass, buildings, sculptures, bushes and trees .. well it was so peaceful without a single person outside of me, beautiful and mesmerizing!
The place itself contains quite a few buildings and sculptures, some of them in very interesting pose to be honest.
In the small fish pond next to one of the old building in the crystal blue water a lot of colorful fish gathered together in one spot for a warm up party or maybe it was too early even for them.
Other times I went for the hiking trail which starts almost at the end of the temple with a few stairs.
Be prepared this hiking route is not the usual well build Japanese trail! After the first small part there is no stairs, only the forest but the path is clearly visible.
From the start of the trail it takes 40-60 minutes more to reach to the top and have the best view over Hiroshima in my opinion. You even can get a sneak peak from the other side of the mountain towards the other hills.
On the way up you need to keep straight and never turn left or right when it is possible. I really recommend to keep one piece of wood in front of yourself while going up to clear the spider nets. Trust me you wont like them on your face and hair and anywhere else!
Another recommendation is to wear a good pair of shoes preferably for hiking and not for the streets because most of the part it can be really slippery and falling is not that great I can confirm from experience! 😅
The way back to the hostel from the top takes around 1,5-2 hours, if you are with a bike then way more faster! One of the time I was running and sliding down half of the way which was fun but not the safest idea of the day.
I liked the place so much on the first visit that I have been there three times just to visit the temple itself and hiked the mountain twice so far but I might end up there once again during my stay.
The article is written by: Zsolt Stenger
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