Kyoto, Japan: Daigo-ji Inside One of Many Walls

The building of Daigoji began in 874 on the mountain top and over time with help from the temples devoted followers (a few emperors, mainly) the temple was able to expand build the other important buildings you will find today.

Imagine these leaves in Red, Orange and Yellow. Can you imagine it? If you can't then that means you need to come here in Autumn, because this whole wooded area would be Red, Orange and Yellow.

This pagoda is one of the oldest buildings left in Kyoto.

For those of you who enjoy hiking you will like this temple. If you continue along this path to the back gate you will come to the base of the mountain. From there (you have to pay a fee) you can climb to the top to visit Kami Daigo area where the first temple was built. From what I have heard and read it is a steep climb and it takes time, but the view is worth it. I didn't know about this before visiting and so was not wearing appropriate clothing or footwear for such a climb. So, my mother and I decided not to take part in this part of the temple grounds.

This is the Kondo Hall built around 926 in the Shimo Daigo area. Inside you will find many Buddhist statues and you can donate a coin (or two) into the prayer box and say a prayer to them.

Just some random fungi. Just to show how close to nature you will be at this temple. Also a forewarning, for those of you who have a fear of spiders there were lots of spiders in the trees. I personally was a little freaked out by the sheer size of some of them (okay, I may be exaggerating, but for people with a fear of spiders they will seem enormous). I'm just saying don't go walking through the branches and to shake off your clothes after climbing the mountain in case you accidentally take a new friend home. (Happy Hiking!)