After a traditional breakfast I ventured out – first making my way up Mt.Kinkeizan, a sacred hill that sits just between the two most important temple sites and which was used as a sutra mound. After my “descend” I continued to the Chuson-Ji site. From the parking lot it was uphill and into the forest with a few view points, as well as several smaller temples and shrines along the way. Eventually the temples turned bigger and I had reached Chuson-Ji. Clear highlight here was Konjiki-do, a small building covered in golden leaf, with its three altars each featuring a Buddha statue (Amitabha) with further statues around – of course all covered by gold – simply amazing.

After a quick lunch stop I made my way over to the other “main” attraction – Motsu-Ji. This one features another Buddhist temple, along with a massive garden incl. a pond – and the ruins of two older temples. This place becomes really “grand”  as one – with a bit of fantasy – recreates how this must have been, when the site was still complete … a true Buddhist Pureland.

I spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the other places around town. Though there was less to see here, as there are essentially just ruins left. Nevertheless the city has done a great job to indicate the outlines of buildings and there are also illustrations and 3D animations available of how things may have looked like. After a long day with loads of walking (and a celebratory red bean soft ice) it  was time to hit the onsen – followed by another well presented dinner.