Yoshimine temple

Last Saturday I went to Yoshimine shrine with a group of friends. To get there you have to walk up a very steep hill but when you get near the top the sight of the sun streaming through the gate helps you take the last few steps.

We were very lucky as some of the trees had already started to change colour. You can see on the photo below that the tips of the trees were beautiful shades of red and orange. I can imagine that in two weeks time this place will look amazing.

The guide suggests that it takes about 40 minutes to walk around but it took us one and a half hours! Well can you blame us, look at the amazing views of Kyoto! Of course we all had to keep stopping to take photos!

The photo below is of Yuryu-no-Matsu, The Playing Dragon tree. I know, it doesn`t really look much like a tree, more like a bush! But it is in fact a pine tree supported to help it grow horizontally for 54 metres! It is 600 years old and designated as a natural monument.