On top of the world

Now anyone who read my blog knows how much I like the woods so you can imagine how much I was dying to get among the trees in Japan. Just near our house was Mount Daimonji and you could walk through the forest to get to the top. 

Up and up and up we went. It's the same as at home - people may not greet each other in the street but everyone says hello when they are out hiking so we got to practice our 'Konnichiwa's'!

I liked the different leaves underfoot

and the shrines tucked in the undergrowth,

but I'm glad we didn't run into any of these guys!

We got very high up pretty fast and from the top we could see the whole of Kyoto laid out in front of us. It was a good way to get our bearings.

(all the following photos by Natalie)

Apparently lots of people make a daily pilgrimage up to the top  

 to visit the shrine, 

or perhaps just to get their daily exercise!

I love this photo of Natalies. He was listening to his portable radio and keeping his eye of the time.We had to watch the time too because Beth was coming to call for us. Back down the mountain and to a florist we spotted on the way to buy a bunch of flowers for her. 

We had so much to thank Beth for as we had both got so much out of her e-courses Hello Soul, Hello Business, and the Art & Business of Surface Pattern, not to mention her warm Kyoto welcome. I wish  we had a picture of the lovely florist lady who arranged our flowers (she said she was too old for pictures) AND I wish we had a picture of Beth on her purple push bike with her her big bunch of flowers balanced precariously in her basket riding through the Kyoto streets with me and Natalie wobbling behind her trying to keep up. Even though Natalie hadn't ridden a bike for 30 years and me for a few, getting the bikes was the beginning of a new sense of freedom. We loved them and they were about to take us on many adventures and make Kyoto Kyoto!