Kyoto Hills - trips to Ohara and Otsu on Lake Biwa

Kyoto Hills - trips to Ohara (North East hills of Kyoto) and Otsu (East of Kyoto on Lake Biwa)
Ohara is a rural town nestled in the mountains of northern Kyoto, about one hour from Kyoto Station, but still technically located within Kyoto's city limits. Ohara is best known for Sanzenin Temple and particularly popular in mid November during the autumn leaf season.
Sanzenin Temple is located part way up the forested mountains in the east of Ohara. The path from the town to the temple is lined with numerous small shops. One of the local specialties on sale are aisu kyuri, cucumbers pickled in seaweed-flavoured ice water and served on a stick. We also bought some very tasty home made miso.
From Kyoto Station, the fastest way to reach Ohara, which we did, is to take the Karasuma Subway Line to its terminal station Kokusaikaikan (20 minutes, 290 yen) and then Kyoto Bus number 19 to Ohara (20 minutes, 400 yen, every 20 minutes). Alternatively, Kyoto Bus number 17 provides a direct connection from Kyoto Station to Ohara (60 minutes, 630 yen, every 30 minutes) via Shijo-Kawaramachi (45 minutes, 590 yen).
Otsu - a town to the East of Kyoto is the main port of Lake Biwa, the largest lake in Japan. It is the capital city of Shiga Prefecture, and it briefly served as the capital of Japan during the Asuka period.
This large Heian Era temple in the foothills of the mountains between Kyoto and Shiga has beautiful views over Otsu City to Lake Biwa. Its formal name is Onjo-ji, but it is usually called Miidera, which means the temple of three wells. There is a building containing the scrolls of the entire Buddhist scriptures and a legendary bell.
Otsu is less than a 30 minute train ride from Kyoto station on the Tokaido-Sanyo Line.
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