Kyoto

Sunday, April 09, 2017
Kyōto-shi, Kyōto-fu, Japan
We awoke to more rain but the weather forecast promised it would clear by about 10am so we got ready for a day of exploring Kyoto.

True to the forecast, the rain eased and we jumped on a bus to Ginkaku-ji Temple, the first of many temples we would see in our travels today . It is a Zen temple known as the silver pavilion, though it isn't silver! Within the grounds, there was a Zen garden, including a sand garden representative of Mt Fuji - at least we can say we saw this one!!

After leaving the temple and garden, we followed the Philosopher's Path, named after one of Japan's famous philosophers who used to walk this path when contemplating and meditating! The path follows a canal and is lined with hundreds of cherry blossom trees. Although busy, it was beautiful and there were many women dressed in traditional Japanese dress to celebrate the Sakura season.

After a few more smaller temples, we arrived at Chionin Temple, a Buddhist temple with the main gate, Sanmon, built in 1619 which is the largest of its kind in Japan. We also managed to get a free can of Monster each from the promo people in their truck. This certainly helped with the 13.5kms we walked today.

From here we walked to Gion, Kyoto's most famous geisha district . We failed to see any geishas, but we did see lots of very expensive restaurants that serve Kyoto style kaiseki ryori (Japanese haute cuisine). Suffice to say we gave it a miss as meals are around ¥10000-20000 per person. As we walked through the shopping district, we saw a bag from Ichiran, the ramen restaurant we had been to in Tokyo! A quick google map search and we found the Kyoto franchise and had a late lunch (and only had to wait about 30 minutes)!

We walked through Teramachi Street and the Nishiki Market - very impressive but nothing like the food markets in Vietnam, Cambodia or even Barcelona. There was a variety of meat, seafood and vegetable products for sale and lots and lots of people!

Our afternoon was spent at the laundromat - a necessary part of every holiday with limited clothing and underwear!

A few other things we have noticed here in Japan/Kyoto:
* They continue to love lining up . There are formal lines at bus stops and even for crossing the road.
* Bike riding is very popular here in Kyoto - most of the city is flat so it makes sense.
* It's very hard to get a good cup of coffee (apparently).
* Toilets are hard to find and have more buttons than you can imagine. All seats are heated - this has been quite nice! The toilets play sounds of running water as soon as you sit down!
* Buses are packed all the time, all day - you get on the bus at the rear and off at the front. So every time someone needs to get off the bus, they have to walk past everyone! Or should I say, squeeze past everyone!
* No one really says "konichiwa". And there are way too many ways to say "arigatou" that I've just about given up.
* Bins are also really hard to find. And once you find a bin, you usually have to separate your rubbish, including tipping out any liquids, taking off lids etc.
* Prices of clothes and shoes are fairly comparable with Sydney so we haven't bought anything. I did try and convince Dylan that shopping tax free at Tiffany would be a bargain but he didn't agree.
* I cannot find a bell to save my life. They have snow globes, shot glasses, magnets and the like, but no bells!!!

Another day of exploring Kyoto tomorrow! And looking for a bell to add to my collection!

Love Dylan and Lisa x

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2025-02-07

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