Oushuu33Kannon Temples 11-12-13 Part 18

I followed Ian through the gate and discovered that he was already on his way up another flight of stairs, headed for a fairly large building.I turned to my right and found the usual bell tower,which we both eventually climbed into and rang the bell.
The building that Ian had gone up to was quite old looking, well weathered to say the least. On the stairs, you can see Ian's backpack that he left there while he explored. I noticed that the area under the eaves had some interesting decoration, so I went up the temple stairs to investigate.
In the center, over the gongs that you right before chanting (we did not chant during this trip, since there is no single chant that is appropriate for every temple, and in any case we still feel quite self conscious because our chanting is so poor). I assume that the dragon is there to keep evil out of the temple.
At each end of the lintel there was another dragon. Also notice the interesting design of the decoration carved into the front face of the lintel. It looks like a vine of some sort.