Kyoto again


We keep going back to Kyoto, but there is always so much to see. This time we went to see a few new places.

With 6 months to go we decided to go regardless of the weather. And had a great day

Enryakuji / Hieizan (Mt. Hiei)

Our first stop was the famous mount Hiei that overlooks Kyoto. We had intended to take the cable car but Pam ended up driving all the way to the shrine up some very hairy roads. But the view was SPECTACULAR out over Kyoto. I missed the opportunity for a photo. On the way up we saw the lookouts, but when we came down the falling snow obscured the view.

When we arrived at the top it started snowing. And as we were not prepared for it, we kept the trip fairly short.


Enryakuji temple sits high u on the mountain and the cold winter day added to the mystical feeling of the place.


Another temple building


A small well stickered shrine


The water fountain was very icy. The water that flowed from the dragons mouth had created a small tower of ice.


"This is not heavy snow" explains Jan, but it was still enough for us.


Another section of the temple (at the top of the stairs from the previous photo)

Arashiyama

Our next stop was lunch in Arashiyama. We had heard good things so came for a look.

Arashiyama is a small town just on the Western edge of Kyoto. It was on a pretty river and was oddly full of souvenir shops and Japanese tourists, but few foreigners. Obviously it was not on the main tourist trail.


We had lunch at this restaurant, just near the main bridges. (recommended by Lonely Planet). The food was delicious and we ate some huge meals. With the rain pouring down and our bellies full we were certainly less adventurous tourists in the afternoon. I think we could have all stopped for a nice long nap


Some shots of the river


Some shots of the river

Ninna-ji

Our final stop ended up being at ninnaji, close to Kinkakuji. And we would not really recommend it. Maybe in Sakura season it is prettier, but considering the number of temples we have now seen, we were not overly excited.

The miniature 88 temple pilgrimage was the main reason that we had come to visit this temple, and again we were a bit under whelmed. We had expected some miniature world full of tiny figures, but it ended up being a tiny track up the mountain with a bland looking shrine every 50 odd meters.



Pagoda at Ninnaji



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