Day 107 - Kyoto - the mecca of temples and shrines

Hide's parents were very generous to let us stay at their home in Kyoto. Our room was the traditional Japanese style with tatami mats and futons. We had a lovely stay and many interesting chats with their parents. Their house is located inside the shrine boundary. In fact, the house number actually shares the same street number as the shrine. Very quiet and holy.

The next two days we toured around the temples and shrines of Kyoto. On our first day, we walked quite a bit from Kyoto University to Silver Pavilion to the Philisopher's Walk to Nanzenji Temple. The next day our legs were still tired, so we opted for a day-pass on the public transit, which was easy to navigate. We managed to visit Sangjusan Gendo and Kiyomizu-dera temple, our favorite temple visit so far. Just like other temples, Kiyomizu was packed with tourists and schoolkids. But it was still nice to walk on the wooden platform and view the temples mountain and city around you.

Golden Pavilion

Silver Pavilion
schoolgirl drinking holy spring water at Kiyomizu

For dinner, Hide treated us to one of his favorite restaurants in Kyoto. I forgot the name, but it serves delicious sukiyaki – slices of tender, marbling beef – inside a tatami room. My oh my, the beef was to die for. Since Katy and I are going to become vegetarians the next month in India (not by choice, but of necessity), we were eating the beef as if it is our last carnivorous meal.

sukiyaki

us eating at a local restaurant in Kyoto

Katy enjoying green tea ice cream

We also did a day-trip to Hiroshima (next blog entry). On the day of our departure, Hide's father told us about a special annual event in front of the Imperial Palace. Hundreds of people dressed up in traditional clothing dating back 1,300 years. Interestingly, the parade was started off by 60 Miss Internationals – beautiful and tall. It certainly grabbed the attention of the entire (male?) audience. :)

scenes from the parade