Kobe trip- Mount Rokko

Day 2!!

Since we did not manage to buy the Arima-Rokko Pass (which was supposed to cost 2300yen for a day pass), we would have to spend quite a lot to get up to Mount Rokko. But since we are already paid the air fare all the way to Osaka, so why not just pay little more to get to Mount Rokko where we would get magnificent views of the city and port.

From Minamikata to Rokko via Hankyu only costs 310yen for a 30min trip. As we planned to spend the night in Kobe,we left out luggages in the small coin locker in Rokko station (150yen).

According to most travel books or online resources, we were supposed to take bus 26/16 from Hankyu Rokko station to Rokko cable shita to take the cable car up.  But when we were there, the bus had departed. When we asked a local, they pointed us towards another bus parked at the side of the station. These were Hankyu buses that go directly to Mount Rokko/Arima/Maya and costs 740yen which would be cheaper than our initial planned route.

The bus ride was a good move because we did get a good view of the city and port. However, it's not suitable for those who get car sick easily. The poor little boy seated behind us who was on an outing with his friends vomited.

The ride was quite scary at some part where there's only 1 lane at the side of the mountain.

However, due to my blurness I didn't know that we had to get off at some junction to catch the Rokko Sanjo bus to the garden terrace  which was our destination. Hence we had to change bus twice to get there. Now that I checked the route map properly again, we could have just gotten down at Rokko Sanjo station to catch the Rokko Sanjo bus to the garden terrace instead. Oh well.....at least now I know. Still~ at least we wouldn't have to wait for the bus in the cold!!!

Luckily there were some vending machines at the bus stop.

Another hot drink to save my life~

Bus route and timetable.

We got off wrong buss at the Rokkosan pasture when we first found out that we had to change bus.

Bus to garden terrace costs 230yen. However our transit bus costs us 240yen. hahaha......

Buses in Japan are different from Malaysia. You enter a bus, ride to your destination and pay before you exit. So you have to be honest about when you boarded the bus to arrive at your destination because the amount you pay is directly proportional to the distance traveled. So make sure you check the charts properly to ensure that you are paying the right amount.

If you have no small change, fear not......because the buses will have a change machine in them for you to get small change.

Garden Terrace

The Rokko Sanjo bus.

Off to Rokko-Shidare Observatory (http://www.rokkosan.com/view/)!

Entry to the observatory costs 300yen.

View from above. This is the terraced reservoir which collects water/ ice during winter.

The observatory was designed by Hiroshi Sambuichi, whose inspiration comes from earth and its element such as wind, water and air. The dome itself lights up at night and is powered by wind and solar energy.

Temperature outside

Temperature inside

The outside dome is covered in numerous hexagon frames, inspired by the image of leaves. During winter, they will attract frost to give the image of a frosted leaf.

This artistic shot and probably some others that you will see in the blog were snapped by cuzzie because she is an architect and hence is interested in structures and buildings. I, on the other hand, snaps everything that I think looks nice.

:P

The ventilation shaft

The entrance to the wind room

The corridors

The ice from the terraced reservoir will then be placed into air tight compartments under the benches in the wind room.

This is the wind room, built almost entirely form hinoki wood. In summer, you can feel cool air from the ice room when you are seated on the bench.

So this explains why there is a pool of water on the floor (from the ice that has melted), which will eventually be evaporated.

Such a genius design~!!!

To read more about it, http://www.arcspace.com/features/sambuichi-architects/rokko-shidare-observatory/

You can get very nice of Rokkosan from the observatory as well as the city. However the city and the port doesn't show up very well in these pictures as it was quite foggy when we were there.

Such an interesting structure

For lunch, we ate at a nearby restaurant. This is the gengis buta don that I had and cuzzie's kare don. The inside of the restaurant was packed so we ate outside.

It was freezing cold but at least we had a nice view.

But our food did get cold really quickly. After a minutes, I was eating cold buta don and drinking cold miso soup :(

Next, we had to take the Rokko Sanjo bus (250yen) back to the Rokko Sanjo station to take the cable car down to Rokko cable shita station. One ticket costs 570yen. 

So back to Garden Terrace we go

Some views from up the tower. Kobe port in the background!!

Hehe....was trying to snap my cousin in this pic.....

.....from up here.

A cute little gift shop

A very steep ride down~

Finally at cable shita station

From there, we took another bus (200yen) back to Hankyu Rokko station. However, I didn't see the station and hence over shot one stop. Well, at least we did have nice views while walking back.

What a nice little fountain in front of the apartment

Can you believe this is an elementary school?

Weather was great and there were sakura trees all along the road. :)

Next up, is the harbour~