Day 5 - Kyoto: Maruyama Park, kodaiji, Kiyomizu-dera, fushimi inari shrine

we continued our exploration of Kyoto's famous temples and shrines today! the kids were still in high spirits.. it will be after today that they were finally getting tired with all these places. :P

we started the day early and the rough plan was to walk from our accom location to kiyomizu (around 2-3km away?). there were a few surprises awaiting us along the way that were not in the itinerary initially. I like this, :) it shows how life always have other plans for you, usually good ones, when you have the least expectations. :P

along the way - passing by chion-in temple

stumbling upon chion-in temple was one of the pleasant surprise. beautiful façade and it's right next to maruyama park which is equally delightful.

gorgeous maruyama park!

I thought maruyama park is just a normal park and serves a good shortcut for us to reach kiyomizu but it's so lovely that we marveled at the landscaping for sometime here. Kyoto-ers are so fortunate to have this park!

and we realized we will pass by kodaiji which is also an UNESCO site along the way. given it's still early and the crowds were not in full throng yet, we decided to drop by for a visit. and it was worth the time spent there.

kodaiji temple

and finally we were in the very picturesque areas of sannen-zaka and ninen-zaka - the 2 lanes leading up to kiyomizu. quaint and old traditional houses lined both sides of the streets. by the time we were done with kiyomizu a little after noon, these 2 streets were absolutely packed with people!

we were lucky to explore it in the late morning before the peak period.

the pretty streets

kiyomizu is every bit as majestic and its view breathtaking as the last time I was here. the husband wasn't very comfy with the fact that not a single nail is being used in this temple structure. LOL.
instead of feeling in awe with this architecture wonder, he was thinking that we shouldn't be staying on it with all the people. haha.

:D KIYOMIZU!

we had a late lunch and we took a cab to the next attraction in late afternoon - fushimi inari shrine!
this is my first time here and it's really pretty like what the photos promised. :)
the actual path is really long and leads all the way up to the mountain. and of cos, like the usual tourists, we walked the first stretch, take the obligatory photos and we were out of the shrine. :P
the area outside it is packed full of stalls and shops, good to spend sometime around.

from here, we took local train back to the main shopping street - shijo-dori for our dinner and continued shopping at takashimaya and other shops along it.
it has been a long, tiring but fulfilling day for the ng family!