Maybe because of that I didn't prepare quite as thoroughly as I normally would, just checked very quickly where the trail starts from and approximately how it'll proceed. Things went fine enough, but got a bit exciting in the end... ^^;
Setting off. As I said, Hieizan is nextdoor, pretty much.
I took the Kirara-oka trail. Luckily I'd read online that the first part of it is the hardest, or I might have been quite discouraged...
Wasn't quite sure if I was walking on the trail or just in a tiny dry riverbed (probably both). It was pretty difficult terrain, and steeper than it seems in the photos. At times the path divided and there were no signs, but I always headed upwards which turned out to be the correct way. (Kind of obvious, I guess.)
The way got easier after a while, though there were at times some little obstacles.
Funny cuts in the tree. To make it easier to get over?
It was quite a windy day, and the trees made a lot of creaking noises. At first I wondered if there were some animals up there. Apparently you can sometimes see wild monkeys on the mountain. I didn't see any... which might just be a good thing.
Had some nice views on the way. When I was at the summit, it had got pretty cloudy so you couldn't see much.
I don't know who or what this is, but I liked the statue. Asked for a safe hike, and got what I asked for (with some good luck toward the end).
I had planned to go first to the summit, then check how to get back down, and then head to the temples, but although I headed to the direction of the peak I somehow ended up going to the temples first. Not sure how that happened...
Paused to have an onigiri on these stairs. They seemed never-ending...
And... snow! There was some snow up there! (Yes, I'm suffering of chronic snow deficiency....)
Snow up there too! Not sure what peak that is, though.
Random old stone pillars with stones piled on them on the way...
Alright. Coming to the temples. Hieizan Enryakuji is one of UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage sites. There is no temple by that name, but the mountain itself represents Enryakuji, and it includes all of it: the nature and all the temples there are. It's divided into three stupa areas, of which I visited two. The third one was too far away.
Coming there my first problem was to decided whether to head to the To-do or Sai-to area. Decided on the first, which was the main area as it is, but it would have worked better to go first to Sai-to. Ended up walking back and forth quite a lot.
Entrance to To-do (and snow):
I can't get over how cute these hand-knit things are. That hat too!
Close-up, just because:
Kaidan-in. My favorite of the temple buildings over there. Originally built in 822. It was in this temple that Mahayana Buddhism officially declared its independence from Nara and Hinayana Buddhism in Japan.
With my luck, of course the main temple of the area, Konpon Chu-do, was undergoing renovation, all covered up and you couldn't even get near to it. So, here is Amida-do instead, the training hall of Tendai Tantric Buddhism, which was destroyed in an attack by Oda Nobunaga and restored in 1987.
I was going to head to Sai-to next, when right after exiting the To-do area I noticed a sign pointing upward, 30 min to the summit. So I went there instead. (Again, should have went to Sai-to first, but whatever...) It was actually a nice walk up there, but at times a bit tricky, especially as there was some ice on the path. Also tricky for foreigners, all the signs were only in Japanese, "山頂".
But what do you know, I found the summit. xD Almost went by it, that random little hill among the trees, but there was this tempting path up there, and you know me and little paths....
Up there I considered a moment which way to go, but as I wasn't quite sure of the other directions, I decided to trace my steps back and go to Sai-to. (Wish I'd have taken a better look at the map I got at To-do and headed to check out the bus stop instead...)
Anyway, Sai-to. More stairs to climb. Going there, downward, and I was really hoping I wouldn't need to get them up again. Well, of course I had to do that, in the end.
Jodo-in, the mausoleum of Dengyo Daishi, who died in 822 and was entombed at this location. The priest protecting this mausoleum is referred to as Jishin, and he makes a pledge to stay 12 years on the mountain.
Something going on there:
And had this beautiful bell, in which I think must be the oldest bell tower on the mountain.... <3
Okay... and then it was time to try to figure out how to get back. Checked the Sai-to bus stop, as I now was there, but there weren't anymore any buses coming. (mind you, it wasn't late. Just after 4 pm.) Decided to follow my original plan, which was to take the cable car on the way down. Made my way there, hiking up and down for a few kilometers, only to find out that the cable car doesn't operate during winter. (There could have been some mention of this on the signs pointing toward it, if you ask me....)
Went to the next bus stop, but nope, no more buses after 4:30 pm. I was now again close to the summit (if I'd went there straight from the summit to check the buses - I had been thinking to do that at some point - I'd have been able to catch one.) Also, I now found this place with great views, but it was getting all cloudy....
There's lake Biwa in the pic below! See? Eh... me neither, really. At least I could see it in reality. You can sort of figure out its coastline there.....
Alright. So there I am, at the top of Mt. Hiei with no transport down, and it'd start getting dark within one hour. I figured I could get back to the temples and ask people there how to get down (or, if there'd be a place for the night for a tired pilgrim... xD) but there were a few cars on the parking lot up there, and I noticed someone sitting in one. Went to ask him, and he confirmed it, yep, no buses or anything this "late" during winter. And then offered me a ride (which I had kind of been hoping). I had to wait a short while, as he was someone working in the area and was waiting for his coworkers to come to give them some stuff.
What was incredibly lucky here, I think, was that of all possible places, he actually lived in Shugakuin, quite close to my dorm. So, all went quite fine in the end. He was a really nice guy, and I got a chance to (try to) talk some Japanese. Would have been nicer if I hadn't felt like a baka gaijin, but whatever. 😅
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