Although it was raining pretty heavily today, we didn’t really felt like spending or day in the mosquito infested apartment, so we headed for the sacred mountain Oyama, some 1300 meters high, where, at the top, we could potentially see mount Fuji from a distance. A short train ride to Isehara and an half hour bus ride we where 15 minutes from the cable car entrance which could take us halfway up the mountain. Although, that was what I was thinking. I made the mistake to get us out at Oyama station, which was not really the end point. Far from it, to be honest, as it was a uphill walk of at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile it was still pouring rain like never before, which didn’t exactly lift our spirit. Finally we arrived at the starting point, 15 minutes of climbing stairs away from the cable car.
The way to go!What? Are you kidding? Maintenance! GrrrrYup, seems like it's in maintenance alright. What should we do? Climb even more steps or go back in our cockroach room?We choose the stairs! Yeaaahhh! Araldo loves it, he's so happy he could fly!I hate stairs so let my cry a bit...On our way up, we saw lots of little cemeteries like this, coins of 1 yen, glasses and little bottles of sake (nope we didn't drink it because we are that respectful).Lots of cute little budas carved in stone during the trip, with 1 yen coins again. Don't ask why.One of his buddies.And a happy one with a hammer and a ball. Probably a croquet player.These were especially cute, with the red bibs and all.And than: some more stairs.The first temple was kind of abandoned.View of the temple obscured a little by Sanne.Of course I had to rattle the thingy. To scare away evil spirits. Or whatever.The inside of the temple.It reminds us of someone we know really well.And he is with his friends.And of course: even more stairs, leading, finally to the main sub temple.You have to rise your hands via an elaborate procedure, to rinse body and mind before appearing before the deity.Oyama ji, literally big mountain temple.
Let's make some noise 🙂 Some interesting stuff could be found around the temple, like this mini pagode.
And a frog on which people tried to throw money on: because you can.Of course plenty of budas around.Beautiful wood carvings could be found all around the temple.Going up further the path became increasingly difficult.Which lead to the main temple. Which was a little bit too perfect and had much less charm than the less maintained ones.Going home again, we where treated on a little waterfall with big hungry carpers.
Although it looked like a disaster at first, it turned out to be one of the best experiences in Japan: a nice quiet hike in what felt like ancient history. And, actually, the rain only helped to create the mysterious atmosphere.
wow… traantjes waren gauw weg denk ik na het beklimmen van de trap! als ik de foto’s bekijk een mooie ervaring
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