Japan - Day 15 - Kyoto

Sunday was spent in Kyoto. After waking up late, kor and I had lunch in our room before heading out to meet his friends Daisuke and Yusuke. We headed for Yasaka Jinja, which is also connected to a whole bunch of temples further inside and up the hill. After a whole day of walking, we caught some glimpses of the Gion Matsuri and had dinner before we called it a day.


Yasaka Jinja if I'm not wrong. Here's a building with many hanging lanterns. Inadvertantly caught Dai-chan in the picture.


Long tree-lined walkway leading to a temple. Never found out what its called.


Cute little boy who chose to climb through the gate, when he could just have walked around it :) Check out the imp-like expression and the cute rain boots.


Duck swimming in a pond.


Electric blue dragonfly (tonbo) pausing for a breather on the edge of the pond.


Huge graveyard. There's a lot more of it on the right of the picture.


I like the way they demarcate the pathways. The texture of the wood and the green-ness of the leaves look good together.


Are these hydrangeas? I'm not sure.


Planning where to go next.


Cute shop we walked past. Looks very welcoming.


Three geishas we saw. Or maybe they're not real ones. Cos there are special photo studios in Japan which specialise in helping foreigners etc dress up as geishas. You pay extra to wear the whole get-up and walk around the streets.


After roaming the streets, we reach the final uphill stretch to our destination. Three prime specimens of the species, all looking very dead (left to right): Yusuke, Daisuke, Gerald.


Yay. Finally arrived at Kodaiji Temple.


The three comrades: Daisuke (Dai-chan), Kor and Yusuke.


Inside the Kodaiji temple compound. The gardens are very carefully landscaped and pictures can't be taken within the temples themselves.


Bamboo forest.


The moss covered forest floor. I think its very nice. Makes me think of the forest in Princess Mononoke/Mononoke Hime.Very old and dark, with its own hidden secrets.


Destination: Kiyomizu-dera. Apparently I came at the wrong time, its neither spring or autumn now, which are supposedly the best seasons to come. I wanna see sakura and momiji!


View from the top of the hill. Its a long way up.


With oniichan.


Hehe. The signboard on the left says kinen which basically means no smoking. So here's the four of us acting idiotic. Left to right: Daisuke, Yusuke, me and my brother's in front.


Tried to spot some geishas at this place which my brother called maiko street. Maiko meaning apprentice geisha or dancing girl. Spotted none though, but its ok since we saw some earlier in the day.


Restaurants line the banks of the river. This one reminds me of Cesky Krumlov.


The river, albeit with concrete walls. I wanted to go sit along the banks but it started raining. After this we hung around to see the Gion Matsuri procession. The actual thing is next weekend but they were having some procession anyway. I was too far away to get any good or interesting shots so won't be posting any pictures of those. After this it was dinner at an izakaya and then it was back to the hotel with the comfortable, comfortable bed :)