A few more World Heritage Sites

It's time for another batch of pictures. I haven't got much news to share; there's still no news on the (possible) job. So I spend my time with more sightseeing, going to concerts, and generally having a blast.

The recent trip include one to the Daigo-Ji temple, this one being in central Kyoto.

Your friendly neighborhood police officer

A five-story pagoda at the Daigo-Ji temple. This is the oldest building in Kyoto.

This temple is another World Heritage site. The most impressive sight in this temple was a collection of Buddha-statues. Taking photos of these statues was not allowed, so you'll have to go and take a look yourself if you want to see them :)

2x16 leaf chrysanthemum, at a gate in the Daigo-ji temple

Another view of the five-story pagoda in Daigo-ji temple.

Recent trips also include one to Uji, a small town a bit outside Kyoto. Uji is known for three things: its production of green tea, and for two temples - both of them World Heritage sites. I spent a day in Uji, seeing the temples and drinking a lot of green tea.

Uji struck me as being a more pleasant city, compared to Nara, another popular destination outside. Uji is a smaller, and it seemed less crowded - though the torrential downpour could be to blame for that.

A newly rebuilt tree-bridge. I think the lady sitting on the stone is Murasaki Shikibu, the author of The Tale of Genji.

Give a coin, roll a prayer

Part of the Ujigami shrine, in Uji. Full image here.

Me in the torrential downpour. I'm on my way up a Mt. Daikichi, a small hill of some 124 meters.

A view over Uji, from Mt. Daikichi. Full image here.

There were carps in the fire cistern. I think there's a joke to be made here, about a fire yielding broiled fish. I'll leave that joke to be made, as an exercise to the reader :)

A bell at Kosho-ji temple

Finely detailed handiwork, at the Kosho-ji temple.

Slippers...

I also went a bit outside the trodden path, and went to a dam a half-hour walk outside Uji. Saw a dam, not much else.

Amagasegawa dam, outside Uji

Amagasegawa dam

Man, helping mother nature since ... whenever

A river runs through Uji

Byodo-in temple, a World Heritage site. Another marvelous temple. This temple is depicted on the 10-yen coin.

The Byodo-In temple. Full image here.

A bell near Byodo-in temple

Happy me, on a bridge in Uji

The Kosho-ji temple, in Uji. Not a World Heritage site, but incredibly beautiful nonetheless. The picture really doesn't do it justice. This may very well be my favorite temple :)

I climbed Mount Atago a few days ago. Mount Atago is, with it's 924 meters, the second-tallest mountain in the Kyoto region. I went there with Andy, a friend from Denmark, who's visiting Japan (again, I might add: it's his seventh time here).

A picture taken at the Hozukyo train stop, the stop nearest to Mt. Atago. The station located on a bridge crossing this ravine.

Taking a break on the way up.

One of the easier passages on the way up.

On the way to the temple on top of Mt. Atago.

The last stretch of stairs before we reached the temple at the top of Mt. Atago

The temple at the top of the mountain was relatively new - less than 10 years old, I  would guess, but the artwork was still fantastic.

It was freezing by a few degrees at the top of the mountain - it is the first frost I've felt this winter!

Andy rescuing a bird

Stairs down.

 The city at the bottom of the mountains may be Kyoto, or one of the cities in the built-up corridor between Kyoto and Osaka.

Another look at the view from the top of the mountain. 

Another distinctive roof, in a village at the base of Mt. Atago, and other nearby mountains.

There was an old shrine near the above-mentioned village. An old emperor (Emperor Seiwa, reigned 858-876) is buried here. The man on the picture is Andy.

On the way home: the famed light at the end of the tunnel.

Not much else to report, I'm afraid - so just enjoy the pictures!