The day started off with breakfast from 7-11, of course. I think maybe we were getting tired of 7-11 at this point. But it was the easiest place to get food early in the day.
Then it was time for more laundry. At least for part of our crew.
Up next, a walk and a crowded bus ride to our first temple of the day.
Even the bus system here is super organized and efficient. This indicator tells you exactly where your bus is and when it will arrive.
The Kinkakujicho (Golden Temple) was so beautiful and serene. I learned that the groundkeepers trim the tree height to match the silhouette of the mountains in the background but cut them lower so that you can always see the mountain range. And the man made lake and islands were perfectly proportioned and manicured.
Vending machines everywhere even at the temples.
The tickets to the Golden Temple were works of art themselves.
Then another crowded bus ride to our second stop, Kiyomizu which also has one of the restored “old roads” which give an idea of what Kyoto looked like hundreds of years ago. We were hungry for lunch by this point and split up to try different types of food.
This tasted so good. The photos can’t convey how hot and humid it was outside.
The temple itself was full of beautiful shrines, burning incense and Buddha statues.
And then off we went again to our third stop! We weren’t kidding around with our sightseeing today!
This shrine complex in the Fukakusasasayamacho ward called Oinari-San covers an entire mountainside and is famous for the red gates and stone statues.
This is about 1/3 of the map. It continues up to the top of the mountain.
I tried another meat stick! This one was only $5. Let’s just say it was a $5 meat stick. It didn’t even come close to the quality, taste and texture of the $40 meat stick!
Thien was enjoying his meat stick and the fact that we found someplace undercover and dry to eat.
Another cat cafe!
I was pretty tired out at this point. We decided to head into downtown Kyoto again for dinner. This time we walked down an old alleyway called “pontocho” full of shops and restaurants.
There are some very nicely designed waterways in this part of Kyoto.
We ended up in the shopping district where several streets are closed to cars and covered with glass roofs and air conditioned. Very fancy!
That was a big day. We ate dinner at a Tully’s cafe of all places. Tully’s in Japan is more of a full fledged cafe/restaurant. We were so exhausted it was the easiest place to go. I also just forgot to take any more photos on this day. All I could think about was how comfy the bed at at Airbnb was going to feel.😴
Tomorrow we head to Osaka!