A trip to Yamanaka Onsen

The girls have moved on and I took a trip to the south of Ishikawa Prefecture: to Yamanaka Onsen. As the name suggests, there are hot springs here. The name 'Yamanaka' means 'in the middle of mountains' and that's true. The place is located in a valley through which a small river flows. Along this river, there is a 1.3 km long hiking trail that is super beautiful. In the middle, you can sip green tea under red umbrellas and enjoy the scenery. The trees are also starting to change color slowly :) Unfortunately, I didn't have time for the onsen because I wanted to continue to Natadera Temple and the bus connections are poor by Japanese standards ;)

I only accidentally found out about Natadera Temple. They don't really advertise (despite having an English website), but it can easily compete with the ones in Kyoto. It might even be better. Hidden in the forest, there is the temple complex of Natadera. It is dedicated to the eleven-headed, thousand-armed Kannon. This year, the temple is celebrating its 1300th anniversary. The complex has a temple and several shrines, as well as rock-cut tombs/caves. And I even saw a gecko inside the shrine and a praying mantis outside! And there are also frogs :) Simply beautiful! :3