April 8
A quiet night at the campground and no need to get up early. We are visiting three temples today, but they are all relatively close and the walk to them is flat. Glad to report that the wild pigs did not visit us last night. As we are leaving the park, we have to try out the large rope maze. I did not get too far up.
We walked past fields that just had their plants peeking out of the ground.
Not a weed to be found.
We were walking down a city street when a women rode up behind us on a bicycle and greeted us. We stopped and in her basket she had some ossetai for us.
We appreciated the bread, but we loved the little crocheted candy holders.
Temple 67 was ablaze with cherry blossoms. We walked thru the gate and did 360’s looking at all of the trees.
The bell tower had a rope hanging down from the log that you use to ring the bell. There were coins attached to the bottom of the rope giving an extra jingle when you rang the bell.
Convenient that some Japanese coins have holes in the center.
This sculpture stood out
As well as the cherry trees around the fish pond.
Nearby was a Shinto temple that had more steps than I could count. We kept going up, up and up.
Often there are animals guarding the gate at Shinto Temples..
Eventually made it to the top and looked over the sea.
One reason we climbed to the top was to check out the Famous sand sculpture below us.
From a distance it looks like a circle, but in reality it is an oval.
It is blocked to be able to get close to it, so looking at it from above is your only options. Volunteers go in occasionally to clean it up and straighten the lines. At night it is often lit. Apparently by looking at it one can ensure themselves good health, a long life and freedom from financial worry. We stared at it for a long time.
The next two temples share a space so it was easy to combine the two.
Once again cherry trees added to the temple grounds
Not all temples have the opportunity to buy food, but this one did and we were grateful for the strawberry ice cream.
The Temples share an office so it was easy to have our book signed.
The blue sky of the morning is becoming overcast so we decide it is time to head to our hotel. On the way we walk thru a park which has the familiar cherry lanterns by the sidewalk.
The raindrops are beginning to fall on the water.
Glad that our hotel is close. We are a little early, but our room is ready and the receptionist shows us to our room. It is in a great location in the middle of a park. She asks if we want to order dinner in their restaurant. Sounds like a great plan to us. There is only one other person eating when we got there. Let me say the food was delicious.
It is going to be hard to eat our one pot camp meals after this!
Accommodation Tabist Hotel
Miles walked 20