We left the modern-feeling City of Osaka to travel to Kyoto by car. Our guide from Osaka travelled with us.

After a pretty short drive, we arrived Kyoto and went directly to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It stands out because of its vibrant orange color; over 10,000 Torii gates dedicated by businesses seeking good fortune and 2 messenger foxes at the entrance. I’m not going to repeat a bunch of historical data here, not because it’s not interesting, but more because I can’t remember it….

One thing that I do remember is that after the shrine, we headed to Kiyomizu Temple which is reached after a fairly rigorous uphill climb. On the way, we “enjoyed” a stop for lunch consisting of tofu hotpot.

The pot is full of boiling tofu. Our guide was very excited for this meal so I tried to be excited as well. She kept saying, “please try.”

Mary was interested in buying some saki so we added a tour of a saki brewery. They also brew craft beers!

The Kiyomizu temple is built on a lattice structure, offers nice views of the city and the relatively steep walk is lined with stores and shops selling matcha treats, ice cream, coffee and souvenirs. Picture is way below….

Following the temple tour, we drove a short distance to Gion which is the Geiko entertainment district. We did not bump into any Geisha, but don’t worry, the next night, we had a traditional Japanese dinner with the chance to talk to a Geisha and Maiko.

On Tuesday we headed back out on the tourist trail with the first stop at the Golden Pavilion.

Next to a Zen Rock Garden.

There are 15 rocks tended by monks. Only 14 are visible from any vantage point. Please contemplate that.

The bamboo forest and gardens of a former film star were our afternoon planned stops.

All the while it is warming up which is helping our quest for cherry blossoms.

The Temple

This post seems a little disjointed upon review, but that is probably a result of my being disjointed. It is getting easier to sleep all night without seeing hours of 2, 3 and 4! Still I find the travel disorienting, but I’m trying to go with the flow!

In Kyoto we stayed at an older Japanese hotel, the Okura. It’s fine, but not up to the Bellustar or Intercontinental. The bar charged 400 yen to sit down and 3400 yen to swim in the pool. In room coffee was coffee tea bags. Breakfast was a crowded buffet. We had one dinner in the bar and tried to eat there last night but it was closed Wednesdays. The several Japanese restaurants seemed too fancy for us. Moving on today!!