Up to the top of Mt.Hiei

We were given high generosity from my friend's host family to take us up Mt.Hiei 比叡山, a mountain just right behind my house on her car. Mama (that is how I call her) brought us to Enryaku-ji 延暦寺 for the first stop, then to Garden Musuem before making our way back into Kyoto for beautiful dinner (which I will talk about on later occasion ;-)).

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First for now, let me share with you what Mt.Hiei is all about. I shall take a part of the mountain and temple explanation from the brochure given upon the entrance to the temple. I just like it.


'Hiei, the sacred mountain known as the mother of Japanese Buddhism, has emitted the light of Dharma for the world for over 1200 years.

.... There is no particular temple building named 'Enryaku-ji' on Mt. Hiei. Rather, the moutain as a whole is a temple called 'Enryaku-ji'. Nature, the temple complexes scattered around the moutain, those doing ascetic practives, the visitors, all together compose the Buddhist community at Mount Hiei. As Buddha taught that everything on earth has buddha nature, here, religion, the natural environment, culture, and human beings are all integrated into an indivisible unity.....'



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Then, we went up to Garden Musuem. I meant for it to be my redo for the Garden Musuem tour since the last time I went it was already to cold which means all the flowers had gone dead. Now that it is a summer time, I was picturing it be gorgeously beautiful. But it turned out to be just a so-so impression. Some of the flowers were indeed beautiful though. But since the weather was very nice and the company was great, those were what made the day so beautiful :)