Kyoto Pt. 2 - I think ive had enough temples now!

The I woke up on the  19^th of September with a bit of a deserved sleep in! I made it to Kyoto by about 1ish and started my exploring!

On my list of things to visit was the beautiful Bamboo forest in and the lovely Togetsukyo Bridge in Arashiyama. So I walked from the station to Arashiyama and eventually found the beautiful Bamboo forest. When I did my research on Kyoto I saw photos of this, but the photos don’t even compare to what its like in real life! Its absolutely stunning!

Bamboo!

More beautiful bamboo!

So beautiful!

Amazing!

The arching trees!

I walked around the forest for about 30 minutes until I got to the end of the walk, I sat down and started munching on some food in my bag, afterwards I got up and started looking for the next place to go, I must have looked lost or something, but a random Japanese old guy came up to me, and started speaking to me in broken English. He then showed me some beautiful photos of an observatory that is no more than 10 minutes walk from where I was. He pointed me in the direction and off I go. This is what makes travelling worth it! Random local guys just wanting to help out, how cool is that!!!

So I found the observatory and took some stunning photos, check them out!

Amazing!!!

Epic!

Zoomed in!

One of the many photos of me!

I chilled out at the observatory for a while, and then made my way through the forest back down. I jumped on a train that took me to the very famous golden temple.

It was 1.5 km walk from the train station to the Golden Temple, I got there by about 4.40pm. I was a little worried that the temple might have been closed, but I made it! I bought my ticket and charged on in.

In the previous journal entry I spoke about the Japanese gardens creating a viewing point where everything works, the Golden Temple got it perfectly.

My problem was, that when I entered, I entered with about 20 Japanese tourists, so I was swarmed with people. I took some photos but never really got to relax and take it all in, so after I walked around the garden, I snuck back through the entrance to really look at it! And it is absolutely amazing! I was just there, looking at this beautiful temple for about 20 minutes, the sun was setting on my face and everything was perfect!

Golden Temple!

Incredible!

Amazing!

Eventually they had to close the gardens so I was forced to leave, but it was such a beautiful place.

From the Golden Temple, I jumped on a bus back to the main station and was back at Kyoto main station by about 6.30pm. When the sun sets in Japan, whatever city you’re in completely changes, and Kyoto is no exception! The neon lights were out in force.

I knew where I wanted to go, so I found a way to get there. I was off to find the Geisha district, down in Gion. It was about a 2.0km walk from the station so off I went.

When I made it to Gion I then had to find where the Geisha district was, but before I did I needed some food. So I walked down the main street looking for some street food, till I started chatting to this Aussie guy called Nick that was on the internet using his phone. I asked him what he was up to tonight, I told him my plans and he was interested in coming, he was also on the lookout for food.

I dragged him off the main street to find some cheaper more local food! We ended up down a little side ally and inside this restaurant where nobody spoke English, so we just looked at the Japanese menu and randomly selected some things on the menu and just waited to see what they brought out.

I ended up ordering something with rice, whilst the other Nick ordered a plate of Squid! It wasn’t the best food I’d ever had, but it was fun just ordering something completely random!

We quickly finished our food and then set off trying to find the Geisha district! Our first goal was to find the internet, as once we had the internet we could get a map on our phone and find the place.

We eventually got the internet and started our walk, it wasn’t too far on the map, and it ended up being only 15 – 20 minutes walk from down town!

We knew when we had stumbled upon it, as there were beautiful red paper lanterns scatted all up and down the street, it was so beautiful, I tried taking some photos but they didn’t turn out that well. Take it from me, it was a very pretty street.

We walked around for a while, and even managed to see a Geisha running to or from her appointment! It was really cool

Anyway, we both started to get tired so we said our goodbyes and I headed back to Osaka.

1.5 hours later I was fast asleep back in Osaka! I was so tired, it was an epic day of hiking! Kyoto is such a beautiful city!

Tomorrow (the 20^th of September) I was heading to Hiroshima to visit the A-Bomb dome and get a completely mind blown as I visit the Hiroshima Museum! I cant wait! So till next time!

Geisha District!

More Geisha District!

Thanks again!

Steve