forgotten Yamadera

A long time ago, back before Christmas and the New Year, all the way back to November I took a train ride with 3 pals to Yamadera. Yama means mountain, and dera means temple. I was going to see a temple on a mountain!

We managed to catch a glimpse of the autumn leaves before they completely disappeared for the year. The area is famous for its cherry blossoms so I hope to come back in spring.

A beautiful soba shop we ate in after walking back down the mountain.

Wishes written on gold and white paper, tied to branches, dotted the path all the way to the top.

The 1000 step path. Beautiful, meandering and not at all strenuous.

Half-way up there was a sweet garden tended to by hard-working, sure-footed monks.

The view from the top.

By the time we got down the sun was setting and everything was the most wonderful shade of pink.