Day 6 - Kyoto: Kinkaku-ji, arashiyama bamboo grove, tenryu-ji

for our last day in Kyoto, we were getting out of central Kyoto for attractions that are totally worth the time and efforts.

Kyoto is chocked full of delightful attractions, UNESCO or not. so unless you have a lot of time, it's really important that some selection and planning will always come in handy to ensure you get more out of your trip. for us, I did the groundwork the weekend before departure in under 1-2 hours. :P

some background reading online - you know the usual - recommendations, online reviews by fellow travellers, photos etc, and I made a modest list of places I think will be good for us to visit. quick search on googlemap to group attractions together by their proximity and it's done! the how to go will have to wait till we are there with some help from hotel wifi, some asking around and common sense. that's the exciting part of travel right? you navigate, you get lost at times, you discover off-beaten tracks, you get surprises, you get disappointments and all these sum up an experience, good or bad, that you remember for life. :D

it's healthy routine for us during the trip! the boys usually K.O. by 9+PM and us by 11PM and all of us will be up, bright and springy, ready to move out by 8+AM!

our humble abode at Kyoto's travelllers inn

the making up of futons every night was back-killing for me! I did a slipshop work. :P

the boys were very amused by the set-up and I'm glad it's a new experience for them.

first stop of the day - the golden pavilion Kinkaku-ji!

we took a bus and arrived at the destination in around 25mins.

the garden surrounding kinkaku is very nice, we had a good walk around the area

from kinkaku, we took a bus to a local train station where we took a train to arashiyama area. how do we know how to move around Kyoto? a quick check everynight before sleeping using googlemaps is a lifesaver! normally, I just screenshot the directions and some maps and we will be good for the next day. easy! :D

top right: local train to arashiyama - need some getting used to boarding buses/trains and only paying the fares when we alight..it's a good thing arashiyama is the terminal station as I normally have no idea how much to pay and will struggle to check with the drivers when we are alighting. :P

so at arashiyama, we alighted and pay to the conductors waiting outside of the train.

top+bottom left: the area just outside the station is bustling with people and activities. a lovely place to walk around abit.

bottom right: we had lunch before moving on to tenryu-ji and the bamboo grove

after lunch, we visited tenryu-ji which is a stone throw away from the station. tenryu-ji is well-known for its garden which you have to pay an entrance fee to enter but absolutely worth it.
not too crowded given tenryu-ji is a rather big place and the crowd was well-dispersed over the large area. in the garden, one can really have a sense of sereneness and peace when watching the quiet streams in it.

@ tenyu-ji before entering its famous garden

tenryu-ji's garden

the famous arashiyama's bamboo grove is just outside the north gate of tenryu-ji. we exited there and it was an amazing walk through the heart of the bamboo grove. this place reminded me so much of the movie "crouching tiger hidden dragon"! LOL.

bamboo strikes me as a really useful material as I saw how it is commonly used by places of worship like temples and shrines in Kyoto as flooring, fences and even as frames for lights! it sure look strong and durable to stand the test of time.

@arashiyama bamboo grove

from arashiyama, we took train back to the shopping street (again!). there is still part of shijo-dori that we haven't explore. it's dinner and then back to pack our luggages and have an early night. we are heading back to Osaka tomorrow! finally back to what we are most familiar with - city activities! :P I think the boys were getting jaded by all the temple + shrines visiting. hehe.

Kyoto is really the cultural capital of japan. looking back, my fav. places are undoubtedly kiyomizu + ginkaku. the next time I return to japan, I'm hoping that it will either be Okinawa or Hokkaido. still, a little mixed feelings with regards to Tokyo given its proximity to fukushima. but again, some will say it's the same being in central japan too! oh well.