| During
my sister's visit the weather wasn't great but we managed to fit in a
couple of short walks. Myoujin-ga-take is one of our favourite easy
one-day walks. It starts at an impressive temple, followed by a very
quiet path up the mountain, views from the top and a quick descent to
an onsen and transport home - all within an hour and a half of Kamakura. |
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| The temple is Daiyuzan Saijoji,
accessed from Daiyuzan station. Despite the remote location it's built
on a grand scale, with various sub-temples extending some way up the
hillside. |
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 Yes we had to go up all those stairs and more besides, braving the tengu guarding the way! |
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| After
a quiet walk up through the trees, the views from the top weren't as
clear as they might have been and Fuji-san was hard to spot. The descent down the other side was rather smaller than the climb. At the edge of the town of Miyagino at the bottom, we saw - or rather heard and then searched for - this bird which was later identified as a Chinese Hwamei or Melodious Laughingthrush. Not truly native but not all that rare either. |
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| The onsen is pretty good and we had some snacks before getting the bus and trains home. |
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