We started off Day 3 with a very fulfilling Japanese-style breakfast at the ryokan (Japanese inn). The meals at the ryokan were so superb and the service so impeccable that we would really have liked to stay longer.
Our plan for the day included a half-day visit to Mount Rokko 六甲山 before journeying to Kyoto. After checking out of our room and leaving our luggage with the ryokan staff, we took the free shuttle to the Rokko-Arima Ropeway station. Later, on our return, we would phone the ryokan, and their staff would bring our luggage and pick us up at the Ropeway station, and would drive us to the Arima Onsen train station.  |
| Rokko-Arima Ropeway |
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| Probably it wasn't in the peak tourist season, with not many people taking the scenic ropeway. |
At the top of Mount Rokko, a most distinctive structure is the
Rokko-Shidare Observatory, with an intricate mesh of metallic frame spreading over a 'chimney' in the shape of an inverted funnel. The Observatory is a sustainable architecture, with natural ventilation thanks to the chimney effect. Cooling in the summer is provided by ice harvested in the winter and stored underneath the Observatory.
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| Rokko-Shidare Observatory 自然體驗館 |
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| Rokko-Shidare Observatory 自然體驗館 |
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| Looking up the 'chimney' of Rokko-Shidare Observatory 自然體驗館 |
Across the road is the Mount Rokko Garden Terrace. There happened to be a British Fair at the Garden Terrace, featuring Peter Rabbit and his companions.
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| Garden Terrace featuring Peter Rabbit |
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| Peter Rabbit at Mount Rokko |
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| Mount Rokko Garden Terrace |
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| Panoramic lookout, with a view of Kobe and Osaka Bay |
Another attraction on Mount Rokko is the Country House, which is a park with a nice rose garden and a pond with foot-powered paddle boats. The Country House can be reached by taking a chairlift adjacent to the Rokko-Shidare Observatory.
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| Chairlift to the Country House |
More friends of Peter Rabbit could be seen in the Rose Garden.
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| Peter Rabbit at Rose Garden |
One can easily spend a whole day at Mount Rokko. As we had to make our way to Kyoto, we made our way back in the mid-afternoon. Staff at the ryokan picked us up at the Ropeway station on the Arima Onsen side, bringing our luggage, and drove us to the train station.
We arrived in Kyoto in the late afternoon. The hotel where we would be staying for the next four nights was conveniently located just across Kyoto Station. After settling in the hotel, we went back across the street to the Tourist Information centre at Kyoto Station to pick up some maps of the local attractions and to check the bus routes. We then took a bus to Kawaramachi
河原町, in time to take a view of the Kamo River
鴨川, before sunset.
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| Dusk at Kamogawa (or Kamo River) 鴨川 , Kyoto. |
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