Day 8 - Kyoto - Temple Run!

Moshi Moshi! With the weather clearing up today (although that's not what we've heard it's like in Brisbane at the moment), we were able to get out and about and do a bit more stuff, specifically, check out Kiyomizu-dera and Ginkaku-ji, both temples in Kyoto.

We slept in a little bit this morning, and didn't get out of bed until after 9. Adelaide had a bit of a bad sleep so she was slow to rise, although I was keen to get back out and about. Because we were still waiting to see what the sky was doing today, we waited till we were showered before checking the weather report and concreting our plans. 

Because it was supposedly clear, we figured we'd check out Kiyomizu-dera, a temple precinct which had a nice pagoda, and some spectacular views of the city [in clear weather]. We also aimed to make it to Ginkaku-ji, but we weren't sure about the commute times so it was tentative depending on how long we took with our first destination.
We left for Kiyomizu-dera, which was across the river and south, about 20-30 minutes walk. The river was quite nice at this time of the morning, and we saw a fair amount of people jogging, as well as a few seagulls swimming against the current. When we began to head south-east towards the temple, we stopped off in Gion (a popular shopping district) for breakfast when we spotted a place that did coffee (Adelaide needed her fix!). Among other things, their pizza toast looked especially enticing, so we got a plate each. Sitting next to the window, we saw many tourist groups go past, and the occasional pair of girls in Kimonos (this was the area where Adelaide had gotten made up last time).

Looking south down the river

And back west from where we crossed

More places should do Pizza-toast!

Leaving our cafe, we had spotted Yasaka Shrine on our way down the street, with three large orange gates out the front - and for a while had confused it with Kiyomizu-dera - so we decided to take a detour to check it out. As we crossed the street into the main entrance, we were stopped by a group of local school kids who asked us some basic English questions (what are our names, where were from, if we loved japan), to which we replied. They were a lovely bunch and each gave us a paper crane as thanks for our time. Entry to Yasaka shrine was free, and despite the grounds were lovely, we wandered through it but continued south towards our intended destination.

The paper cranes we received, with their messages attached.

One of the gargoyles just inside the gate

Inside Yasaka

We kept to the main road making our way there, until we stopped at a side street intersection to read a confusing street map in Tamazucho (main reason being it was oriented south - it made the geographer in me cry), which would take us down one of the main side streets which lead up to a pagoda, and eventually around to Kiyomizu-dera. It was nice to be lost in the web of alleyways on our way there, and the sound of cars and the city soon dropped off once we went in. We eventually emerged back out with the large crowds of the tourist destination.

What happens when you look left when walking down the main road

A teeny tiny bridge!

At the start of our climb up the hill - ominous weather in the distance.

The road leading up to Kiyomizu-dera is deceptive on a map as the elevation increase isn't really shown, but in reality its a little bit of a climb through a shop-laden street to get to the temple. Entry was 500 Yen, and the view was amazing. As an active temple, Kiyomizu-dera is set on the side of a hill overlooking the Kyoto sprawl, and is busy among many who are visiting it for it's religious purposes. Some of the surrounding buildings were under repair which was a shame but Addy noted that they were being fixed the last time she had come.

Busy!

The entrance gate

Looking back down from it

The route took us through the main temple, across a secondary, smaller one which looked straight out to the city, before snaking back down towards the hill. An orange pagoda could be spotted on the hill opposite the main temple, but we weren't able to walk up towards it.  Heading back down, we stopped at a water-feature which had three streams. There were metal buckets on poles available so you could sip the water for good luck. Apparently, each of the three streams represented a certain fortune (Happiness, Health or Wealth... we think), and you were meant to sip from one, don't be greedy now! Adelaide chose the far right, while I chose the far left. What our fortune will be is up to the gods (cha-ching).

The descent part of the route

One of the smaller temples

Kyoto and main building

Urban sprawl

Getting all arty-farty

Adelaide picking her stream

No, that guy isn't looking at me in disgust.

After that the temple precinct kind of just... ended, and via a garden path eventually returned to before the front entrance. We stopped off at some of the tourist-trap souvenir shops, before I had crepe-craving. Adelaide didn't see one she liked, so she opted for an ice cream, despite the 5 degree weather. Encumbered by gifts, we decided to stop off at the hotel to drop them off before getting lunch and tossing up about Ginkaku-ji.

Making our way back around

Another crepe photo...

The walk to the subway station was along one of the main arterial roads of Kyoto, so it was less appealing than our walk there. The subway wizzed us two stops back to sanjo station, where we got off just across the river from our accommodation. We walked past it in search of lunch, and returned to the place we'd been to the night before for an actual meal. I had Statsudon (garlic pork), while Adelaide had curry (with pork too), with sides of Gyoza, salad, rice and miso soup. For only 1300 Yen, it defeated both of us, and even I wasn't able to consume all the rice they had provided, let alone the miso.

So... filling...

We'd been a little affected by the cold, and with full bellies, the warmth the hotel brought was welcome. We stopped stopped off to drop our gifts, research our transit to Ginkaku-ji, and a quick snooze. When we saw that it was around 3.30, we figured we should leave, before Ginkaku-ji started to close at 4.30pm. Today marked our first experience with buses in Japan, and it's a little different to home.

Instead of boarding via the front door, you had to board via the rear, and rather than pay upfront or get a ticket, you had to pay the exact flat-rate fare once you got off, by exiting out the front and inserting your coins in the machine next to the driver (similar to the streetcars in Hiroshima). Thankfully, we had the right coinage (230 Yen each) before we jumped on, and there was a screen up the front of the bus which displayed the next stop the bus was going to - in English also.

Once we disembarked the bus, there was a short, 10 minute walk from the stop, east to the temple. It was somewhat reminiscent of Kiyomizu-dera, in that the street leading up to it was popular with touristy shops and restaurants; but this late in the day, it was far more quiet, and less of a climb too.

Spotted: Kimono!

We entered Ginkaku-ji via the bamboo/hedged entrance, and instantly were in the beautiful gardens of the temple. Ginkaku-ji was built over 600 years ago, and was initially popular for having silver walls. The weather has taken it's toll on the walls, so they're now just the traditional paper ones, but that didn't detract from the beauty of the area. It's built on a small lake, with the traditional zen gardens also around it. (I apologise for the number of photos... but... come on, it's amazing).

From the top path

Money shot

Some of the paths were blocked off as green-thumbs tended to parts of the precint, and also because it had been wet that day, so our standard route was a little smaller than normal, but we still got to experience most of it. Starting off near the pavilion, we walked up into the hills where they also had ceremonies, and then back down, complete in around 15 minutes. The gardens were really nice, and like yesterday at Nijo-jo, you could easily spend a day there (provided you had the right camera gear!).

Once we'd walked around it, we stopped off at one of the vending machines outside the gate to break a 1000 Yen note so we'd have change for the return bus ride home. Adelaide had a hot chocolate and  I tried a canned cafe latte (and I won't ever need to again). On our way to the bus stop, we also spotted our first stand alone bin. Just like that. On the street. Thus it was worthy of a photo.

Whaaaattt?!

As it was closer to peak-hour, it was surprising when the bus eventually filled up to capacity, so we had to squeeze our way through to the front when trying to get off. We chilled in our hotel room for a bit, before trying to decide what to have for dinner. Adelaide developed some pizza cravings, but after seeing that Dominos was quite hard to order in Japan, and that I was a little less than keen on Western food, we caved and had a wander looking for dinner. We eventually found a small gyoza joint just across the (smaller) river, and down the road. They did gyoza in the right amounts (16 a tray), as well as some other more unusual flavours, such as chicken and cheese (with a side of mayo). We filled up there, before going on the hunt for dessert.

Addy remembered spotting a Churro shop back in Teramachi (off Shijo-dori), so we headed there. Unfortunately, the terrible churro place had run out of chocolate dipping sauce, so we were forced to buy some cinnamon churros with chocolate sundaes instead, and ate them on the way back to our hotel room.

Tomorrow we're going to do the big hike Fushimi Inari, as well as try and make it to Kinkaku-ji, with hopes that the weather will be clearer, and perhaps a little warmer (double digits maybe?!). Until then, good night!