Full Day in Kyoto

After a good night's sleep we both woke ready to start ticking off the "to see" list today. Sky was overcast but sun shining. When we left the hotel we certainly knew that the sun was shining. Temperature was up and so was the humidity - we were both bathed in perspiration. Neither of us had packed shorts so it was a case of grin and bear it. We purchased our Kyoto Day Bus passes first up and then ate breakfast of Aldi Dippity and Cheese biscuits outside the Kyoto Station.

Inside the main hall of Kyoto Station

Stairway to heaven - Philip get going!

 Then on to the bus for Kiyomizudera and the long walk up to the temple along a street lined with shops selling souvenirs and Japanese sweets and ice creams. Lots and lots of Japanese tourists including large groups of high school students. In the end we decided not to pay the extra entry to go into the actual temple and to high-tale it away to somewhere hopefully less crowded. Before we did however we were pleased to pick up the scent of osmanthus flowers that we had first come to love in China. We could not see any familiar white flowers and then Alison looked closely at a nearby shrub/tree and there were myriads of small orange flowers.

Orange osmanthus flowers - heavenly perfume

Young couple in traditional dress at Kiyomizudera

View from Kiyomizudera back to Kyoto Tower

Street scape heading down from entry to Kiyomizudera

What sweet things would you like to buy?

Reboarded the 100 bus and continued on to Gingakuji (Silver Pavilion). Not as crowded here and we enjoyed the walk around the zen sand gardens

Serenity in the Ginkakuji Gardens

Looking down on the raked sand gardens

and then through the moss covered slopes of the forested hill which looks down on the main buildings. Finished with a rest on some benches near the tea house and toilets and thought that this would be an opportune time to have second breakfast of a small Cadbury muesli bar each. Oops - the keeper of the toilets saw us and we were told with very definite hand gestures - no eating. We had missed the sign at the entrance gate!

Slow and crowded bus trip then back to Kyoto station where we purchased a couple of pastries for lunch and took them back to the hotel to eat and drop off the backpack and Philip's camera which we had been carrying all morning.

Decided that we would tick off another of the "to sees" so headed back to the bus area at the station. On the way we were passing one of the JR booking offices so decided to call in and organise some reserved seats for our full day sightseeing trips on Shinkansens and other trains. Lucky we did as we discovered that there were no seats available for our planned trip to Takayama next Saturday so that was immediately moved to Wednesday and in addition we only managed to score two seats one behind the other for our Shinkansen transfer to Tokyo next Sunday. We were assisted with all of this by a most pleasant and helpful young JR booking officer.

Clutching our myriad of reserved seat tickets in separate little folders we then headed off to catch a 205 bus to Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavilion). Slow and crowded trip once again and many visitors in the park. So much so that there was a guard directing everyone on entry to the spot to take pictures of the pavilion across the lake. When Jessica and Philip were there in January 2008, they were almost the only people there and could take their time composing their photos. Alison had a real ah-ha moment when she saw the beauty of the building and its reflection so that made the visit very worthwhile.

Bus back and then the interminable walk through the maze of underground shops and eateries around Kyoto station. Bento box style meal from a little supermarket to share for dinner with a coke and some savoury pastries from a bakery for breakfast on the train to Hiroshima in the morning.

Now tucking in for the night with the air conditioning on max and Alison has enjoyed a Facetime session with Jessica and the dogs and Jessica has been given a tour of our hotel room! The marvels of the internet.