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| A day at Daigoji temple in Kyoto |
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| Above is one of the temples at the base of the mountain. Inside are a numbe of ancient statutes of Buddha and other artifacts. The right shows us drinking the delicious mountain stream water as we take a break half way up the mountain. The water at Daigoji is famous for its purity and supposed healing qualities. |
| Daigoji is a temple complex that is spread over a mountain in Yamashina, Kyoto. Climbing the mountain itself took us about 1 hour and 20 minutes each way. We had a picnic at the top and enjoyed the late blooming (due to the altitude) cherry blossoms. You can see Kohsei (all 12 kgs) on my back. |
| This is one of the worlds oldest wooden structures and is about 1000 years old. The whole thing is massive and was built without nails or screws, just joints. |
| Just by luck we happened to visit Daigoji on the 3rd Sunday of April on which this cherry blossom viewing parade is held every year. Watching these preists walk in procession like this was very impressive. |
| This photo only hints at how beautiful this structure with surrounding lake and garden is. Just looking at it really does give a sense of serenity and well being (even if you haven't just spent the last 3 hours stumbling up and down mountains). Inside the lower temple complex was another garden which was even more exquisite than this. Really worth a look |
| Here Hitomi is throwing water over a row of statutes of different forms of Buddha. These statutes are built for this purpose and casting water over them is a form of worship (apparently) and pretty good fun. |