Climbing down from the top of Mount Ikoma (start reading with part 1)
After a nice rest, I started to climb down from Mount Ikoma on the Ikoma city (Nara) side. I did not want to take the easy way down, so I looked for a little path. After a short climb down, I passed a very atmospheric old temple high up the mountain. I think its name is Kyutsururin temple (旧鶴林寺).
Next, I came to a farming village on the side of Mount Ikoma with beautiful paddy fields (給田) build in the slope. The view over the paddies build in the mountains is one of the most beautiful sights in Japan for me. Especially in late summer, just before the harvest. Maybe I should come back at that time, it will be even more beautiful!
I kept climbing down. From the village, I took the wrong road which became a wood workers path and then became a small trail before it stopped completely. So I went on through the bush, but finally I could get down to a road just over Ichibu. Because of getting lost on the way, I decided that I did not have the time to visit Les at his Smith’s school of English in Ikoma, even though the Kintetsu Ichibu station it is only two stops till his school near Kintetsu Ikoma station. I changed trains there and went straight back to Smith’s school of English in Fuse. It was a fantastic climb.
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