Kyoto, Kinki, JapanHad a sleep in and then breakfast at the hotel before meeting our friend, Junko, who was going to show us around Kyoto for the day.
Caught the train out to an electronics store to look for a cheap SD card for our video camera before catching the bus out to the Golden Temple (Kinkaku-Ji).
We had lunch at a restaurant on the way to the temple before walking up the hill to the temple itself and the gardens. The temple was located beside a small lake which meant photos were great with the temple and its reflection in the lake.
We wandered around the gardens before catching the bus across to the Silver Pavilion (Ginkaku-Ji) which we found to be as good at the Golden Temple but with nicer gardens and great views over the gardens and pavilion to the city of Kyoto.
After walking around the gardens with their small waterfalls and natural springs we caught the bus back into the centre of the city to see the Imperial Palace.
We could not enter the Palace grounds as they are only open on the Emperor's birthday so we walked around the outside and took some photos of the entrance before catching the train around to Nijo Castle.
By this time the rain was quite heavy but we still spent time wandering around the castle grounds.
After leaving the castle we caught a crowded bus back to the Kyoto train station and back to our hotel where we rested for a while before wandering around the shopping centre located above the train station before Junko caught a train home.
We ate dinner at a restaurant in the station complex before returning to the hotel for the night.
2025-02-07