To see beautiful cherry blossoms you can head to Yoshinoyama, in Nara.
The many different sakura trees here bloom at different times in the spring because of differences in temperature as you progress up the mountain. Sakura won't bloom if it's too cold, so trees at higher altitudes bloom later in the year than those at lower levels. The result is a wave of sakura blossoms, traveling up the mountain. I think if someone took time-lapse video of "Yoshino in the Spring", the resulting footage would be beautiful.
Besides the trek up the mountain toward the various shrines there, there are numerous shops selling tourist items and food. Some of the treats you can find include this kind of mochi (I think called kuzumochi)...
...and also many different products making use of sakura (sake, youkan, etc). As an omiyage, I bought some small candies made of powdered sugar, and shaped like flowers and leaves. I have unfortunately forgotten the name!
Wear comfortable shoes, because you will be walking for quite a while, and up some steep inclines. Step lively; you don't want any of the many elderly who also visit to show you up, do you?! (Really, I was surprised by the strength of these seniors. They were trekking.)
So much too see, and good exercise too. By the by, the inn that we stayed at had this framed on the wall. The gigantic hand prints? They belong to Sumou wrestlers.
No comments:
Post a Comment