Up and Down

I took one look at the relief map of Unpenji and decided that climbing up that mountain was just not in the best interest of my sore foot even if I did cut a huge chunk of my shoe out to give my sore toe more room. I also love riding up mountains in cable cars and I just couldn't resist the urge to take the Unpenji Ropeway and save myself a really long walk. It was a fabulous idea too because I got up there very early in the morning and there was practically no one else there. The place is fantastic with dozens of beautiful statutes everywhere and of course the usual extraordinary gardens. I spent quite a bit of time exploring before I began my long trek down the mountain to temple 67.

The trail down was beautiful and around every corner was a huge azalea tree in full bloom. The trail was rather steep so even though it was all downhill I had to be really careful. I've already had two very nasty falls and sure didn't want another one on this fairly deserted mountain trail. My shoes have almost no tread left at all so they want to slip at any chance.

It seemed to take eternity to finally reach Daikoji. The signs kept saying it was so close but around every corner was just another corner. It was well hidden at the top of yet another incredibly long flight of rock stairs. I was beginning to wonder if it existed at all for a while there.

After that I walked mostly through narrow village streets and finally into the city to the two temples, 68 and 69 which share the same spot. I was not quite sure which buildings belonged to which temple because they all seemed to be together. They even shared the same temple office. The grounds were beautiful gardens with a lovely koi pond. I enjoyed a nice little rest there.

I had time to go in to the next temple but my hotel was about halfway between the ones where I was and the next one. So I decided to just go for the hotel and visit Motoyamaji in the morning. I would need to walk back to it to get back on the trail anyway so that seemed like the best plan. I was really exhausted anyway. It seemed like an unusually long day but in reality it was no longer than most have been. I was probably tired from the very long careful descent down from Unpenji.

My toe hardly bothered me at all so I am glad I made the decision to perform last night's surgical procedure on my shoe. It was a very good idea.