Kick start with free breakfast from the hotel! Oishii desuka? Oishii sou desune! Yakimochi no?
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| Bento breakfast provided to the room by hotel |
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| Bento breakfast provided to the room by hotel |
It was a rain-whole-day Kyoto Walk that day. It was a day we planned to walk most of the beautiful Kyoto temples but it was a rainny day! The cold and rain spoil our walk because we would need to carry umbrellas and hide under shelthers, well but nevertheless never dampen our spirit to explore the beautiful Kyoto.
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| Dill? |
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| Koi Pond, so cute |
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| Love Koi, so adorable! |
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| Manfuku (very cold and hard!, Ex also!) |
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| Nice bo? Typical Japanese Garden |
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| Very nice Maple leaves |
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| Walking up to Kiyomizu Dera, raining :( |
We started our trip from Gojozaka, and walked all the way up to Kiyomizudera. The scenery was really beautiful but unfortunately, the stage was under construction, so some of the halls were masked with metal rods and iron.
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| Wet day, but another view of maple leaves soak in rain |
We enjoyed the walk and sight seeing, especially the maple leaves, which were mostly soaked in rain fall. All I could say is "kimochi..."!
From Kiyomizu Dera, we then walked back and followed the route, walking downwards from Sannenzaka to Ninenzaka, enjoying the stores along the 2 sides of the street.
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| My boy & girl took all these pictures |
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| Walking down Ninen zaka |
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| Hide in shops for some warmth |
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| Bad hair day, hair all wet |
We came to a temple where there was a big statue of Guan Yin overlooking a big pond. That moment it was raining so heavily. Kodaiji Temple was just beside but due to rain, we passed it and went down the road to Nene-no-michi.
Following the route on Nene-no-michi, we came to Maruyama Koen. Rain was
getting heavier and so we did not stroll much at the park, but we
managed to take some pictures on the stone bridge. At this point, on the left is Yasaka Jinja, on the right is Maruyama Garden and if go straight, will be Chi-on In. We decided to go ahead to Chi-on In since that we had missed Kodaiji.
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| I like the rain on the bg |
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| Transparent umbrella are the best when taking pic on rainny days |
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| Jin Swee... |
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| Big rain, look at the pond! |
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| Maple leaves all soak |
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| Maruyama Koen |
Exit Maruyama Park via the north exit, there’s a large gate visible from
the open central area of the park. We walked about 50 meters north and quickly see the imposing San-mon Gate of Chion-in Temple. We climbed the steep steps visible through the gate. Explore the temple
grounds and go into a resting hall and listen to the
monks chanting. At the same time we could get our free flow of Japanese tea. After a 30 mins rest, we took some pictures in the garden and its surrounding, we walked out of Chi-on In.
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| Love this scene at Chion Ji |
Guess we made the right decision to come here because it was indeed a beautiful place with the rain and all the maple leaves. I managed to capture a picture in Chi-on Ji when the rain was still falling! I guess it was the best picture of rain I snapped. I would always think of the song "
那些年”, by 胡夏 (作曲人， 木村充利， 日本人。作詞人是九把刀。) I mentioned this in one of my FB post.
It was soon getting late so we made our way out along the street and came to our next destination, which was Shoren-In. It was a quite visit since we wanted to make it to Yasuka Jinja before dark. Indeed the sand (Zen) garden was beautiful but because it was raining, we could not have the mood sit and watch the sand, zannen desune!
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| Shoren In 青莲园 |
We head out of the road and soon we were out on the street, Since that we hold a 1 day bus ticket, we took one stop on board the City Bus and came to Yasuka Jinja. Although the sky is a bit dark, but not too bad so we head along the street across Yasuka Jinja, bumped into a shop selling manju. Check out my pix. Super yummy, probably too hungry?
After filling up ourselves with hot buns and light snacks, we were back on track to Yasuka Jinja. Again, pix and walk in. By then rain had stopped so it was much easier to stroll.
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| Yasuka Jinja 八板神社 |
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| 听说看到乌鸦是不祥的征兆, really, knee pain suddenly the next day! |
It was soon dark when we head out of the Jinja. We head a left turn and walked all the way up, came across a family restaurant selling Pig Bone Ramen, so we there we entered, Definately it was GOOD!
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| 猪骨拉面 |
So dark already so we decided to head Gion Street. On the way to Gion Street, we passed by Kennin-Ji. It was bright on the outside, so we just took some photos and went ahead to Gion Area. It was not a very long walk, a light stroll and we came to the bus stop.
As it was still early for the night, we make full use of our 1 day Bus pass, we stop at Kawaramachi and walk along the streets. Came to Teramachi and visited Tenmanjingu (天满神宫). By then it was about 8pm, so we decided to walk and stop at the end of Nikkshi market (most of the shop already closed) and take a bus back to our hotel at Omiya station. We loot abit at the 100Yen shop before heading back. Good and useful loot!
What a wet day! Tired but good to sleep that night :)
