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 lunchstop 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 – albeit there is less to see here, as there are essentially just ruins left. Though the city has done a great job to indicate the outlines of buildings and there also illustrations available of how things may have looked like. After a long day with loads of walking (and a red bean soft ice) it  was time to hit the onsen – and for another well presented dinner.