Kyoto Part 1
Thursday, October 13, 2016
We arrived at Kyoto Station on a Shinkansen train from Gora Station in Hakone (transferring at Hakone Yumoto and Odawara Stations).
After checking in to our hotel, we went up to the busy streets in the Higashiymama district.
At the end of the street, we were at the Kyomizudera temple. A number of Kyoto’s monuments are a part of a World Heritage Site; this is one of them.
We moved on to the nearby Kodaiji temple with its famous rock gardens.
The next morning, we went to see the beautiful Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion.
Our next stop was at Ryoanji, a little way down the road. The temple is famous for its rock gardens.
Next, we went west, to Arashiyama. Our first top was at Tenryuji Temple, built in 1339 and famous for its rocks and lake.
Nearby is an impressive bamboo forest.
Next, we walked across the Togetsukyo Bridge (“Moon Crossing”) and saw life on the river.
We walked up into the mountains, to Monkey Park Iwatayama. Most of the hike was in a shady forest. At the trail’s end, we had good views of Kyoto. And of course, the monkeys were fun.
Visitors can buy monkey food and feed them by hand.
The next day, Saturday, we went to Fushimi Inari, a remarkable and enormous shrine built on the side of a hill.
Some of the walking is uphill and some downhill.
After the long walk through the red gates, we took a train and subway ride to Nishiki Market with its covered sidewalks. It is many blocks long and filled with shops selling food.
Here is the map again. Our next stop is Ginkakuji, in the northeast.
Ginkakuji was built in 1482 and is known as the Silver Pavilion. This large rock feature is apparently famous.
This is the Silver Pavilion.
The grounds are forested and attractive. There is a trail going up a small hill with views of the city, too.
Tomorrow we are going to take a short train ride south to Nara for a day trip.
We took a train from Gora to Kyoto via Hakone, and checked in to our centrally located hotel. We will be covering a lot of ground in Kyoto, and anticipate a day trip south to Nara.
