Takatoriyama Hike, Tsubosakayama, Nara, 02.02.2008

The first IOC hike in February led to the summit of Takatoriyama mountain in Nara prefecture. A pretty big group of IOC members met at 10:00am at Hankyu Tsubosakayama station and went off to climb this nice mountain with nice forests and beautiful views. On the summit, amidst the ruins of old Takatoriyama castle (one of the three best mountain castles in Japan) we had a lunch break with delicious oden (or outdoor chicken for those who did not like Japanese food) and loads of chocolate and cookies as a second course (it is important to regain energy after climbing a mountain).
On the way down we saw some ancient Buddha figures carved into the rocks and an army of not so ancient but due to their number still impressive little Buddha statues, a good photo opportunity. Further down the mountain we passed by a big temple complex with two huge Buddha statues. A great view.
Back in Osaka, most of the group hit the Montbell shop and have a look at new outdoor stuff (even available for dogs!) before we had an enjoyable dinner at Yak & Yeti Nepali restaurant.

Keiko's pictures - back

5198	5199_Have_a_break	5200	5201	5202
5205	5207_Fire_alarm	5208	5209	5211
5214	5215_Viewpoint	5216	5217	5222
5223_Takatoriyama_castle	5225	5226	5227_Fumie_Peter	5228_Lunch
5229_That's_oden	5231_Oishii_oden	5232_Keiko_Fumie	5233_Mauricio's_Jetboil	5234_Food_for_Brazilians
5235_Laura	5237_Chokazue	5238	5239	5240_Little_Mauricio
5242_Evil	5243	5244_Leaving	5245_Rock_Buddhas	5248_Rock_Buddhas
5249_Donations	5250_Buddhas	5251_Buddhas	5252_Buddhas	5253_Buddhas
5254_Buddhalisa	5255_Group_Buddhas	5256_Buddhas	5257_Buddhas	5258
5259_Rabbit_rescue	5261_Mountain_temple	5266	5270_Big_Buddha	5271_Big_Buddha
5276_Big_Buddha	5277_Big_Buddha	5279_Temple	5282_Temple	5285_Big_Buddha
5286_Little_Buddhas	5290	5291	5292	5293_Cabbage_flowers
5294_Outdoor_dog	5295_Indoor_dog