Kyoto

It was time to pack our hand luggage and depart on the bullet train for Kyoto, arriving late morning.  The cherry blossoms here are currently at peak full bloom, so we have been very fortunate with our timing as they won’t last more than another week or so.

Our guide has been buying us various sweets on our travel representing the area we are in. The maple leaf sweet is from Hiroshima and is particularly delicious tasting of maple syrup of course. 

Later in Kyoto we had another that looked like a filled soft pasta stuffed with a chocolate banana filling.

Lunch was a hot pot cook your own (enough for sharing between 4 people) in the broth. Adding chicken, various tofu, salmon, other fish, squid, udon noodles  and various vegetables. It was very messy to eat! 

Next up we visited Kiyomizu Temple. A UNESCO world  Heritage site perched on a hill overlooking Kyoto basin. This temple was first built in 798 but the present buildings are reconstructions dating from 1633. The main hall has a huge verandah that is supported by pillars and juts out over the hillside. No nails were used in it’s construction. 

The walk to the temple and through the complex was jam packed with people due to it being a Saturday and the cherry trees being at their best.  It also involved much climbing both up and down stone steps. A real tough workout on our knees. 

Just below the hall is the waterfall Otowa-no-Taki, where visitors can drink the sacred waters believed to bestow health and longevity. 

There were also many young couples getting married and in traditional costume along with girls dressed in kimono’s all posing for photos especially in front of the cherry blossoms.

Kimonos and cherry blossoms at Kiyomizu temple - we got to experience our first petals falling from the trees,  which is beautiful. 

Then onto Fushimi Imari Shrine dedicated to the God of rice and sake back in the 8th century featuring 10,000 vibrant orange torii gates that create a walkway. Businesses donate the gates as it is meant to bring their company prosperity. This shrine also features Foxes or Inari  as the Japanese call them. Once again they are meant to be messengers from Inari the God of cereals. We only walked through a few gates. They continue for 4 km all the way to the top of the hill. 

This is the head shrine for some 40,000 Inari shrines scattered across Japan. 

Exhausted we stopped for dinner at another BBQ restaurant - fairly average, then arrived at our hotel Miyake Kyoto located across the road from Kyoto train station. Once unpacked Phil went off to explore it as the station is meant to be very futuristic, it is certainly a huge complex with a huge shopping area and many restaurants.