Japan 2018 Day 2: Kyoto

DAY 2: 23 NOV 2018

Torii gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine

Rise and shine!
Today happens to be a public holiday in Japan and to beat the crowd,
we decided to start off at 7.30am.



We took a train to Fushimi Inari station to get to Fushimi Inari Shrine.
We decided to head straight for the torii gates which is the main attraction here.

Kyoto from a viewpoint on the way to Mt Inari

We didn't make it to the top as it was a continuous climb up and we had a full

itinerary today.

We returned via the same route and the crowd was getting bigger as we reached the starting point.

Bridge on the way back to the main temple

By the time we arrived back at the main temple, the street stalls have opened.

We tried many different street food:

Grilled beef steak

Crab stick

Takoyaki

Dango (Grilled mochi)

Grilled beef steak

Crab stick

With our tummies filled, we headed to a nearby temple known as Tofukuji Temple.

This temple is a stop away from Fushimi Inari Shrine and the crowd was insane

when we arrived at 10am.

There were two separate attractions here but we went straight for the garden as

the colours were approaching peak when we were there.

After paying an entrance fee of 400 yen, we entered the famous garden.

It was so crowded that a queue was formed just to get around the garden and to the bridge.

The colours were great and really brightened up the entire garden.

The main viewpoint is actually from the Tsutenkyo bridge.

By right, you are not supposed to take photos on the bridge.

But majority of the people there were taking photos and were not stopped at all.

View from Tsutenkyo bridge

It was close to lunchtime and we headed to Nishiki market for lunch.

The crowds yet again...

It was so difficult to walk as most of the time we had to squeeze our way through.

Fresh seafood

Konnamonja Soy Milk Donut

We managed to try most of the must-eats at the market.

For lunch, we tried out steak & wine restaurant which is a popular chain

restaurant in Kyoto.

Tsujiri Autumn Special Parfait

After lunch, we took a slow walk to Yasaka Shrine.

When in Japan, you need to try out their desserts.

We spotted Tsujiri on our way to the shrine and we ordered a parfait to share.

Hanamikoji Dori

We passed by a crowded street filled with shops and it happened to be a famous

street called Hanamikoji Dori.

We explored the stretch a little before taking a turn to head towards Yasaka Shrine.

It was then that I spotted a geisha in a taxi!

I am usually not observant but I looked into the taxi only because it was turning 1m away from me.

The taxi moved a few metres ahead and stopped to pick up another geisha.

That was when my mum swiftly snapped a picture of the geisha (:

How lucky we were!

Grilled Squid

Yasaka Shrine

When the sun sets, the lanterns at Yasaka Shrine will light up.

There pretty much wasn't anything to do at the shrine.

Hence, we decided to move towards our last location for the day:

Kiyomizu-dera

As it was autumn, a few temples in Kyoto hold night illumination events where

they open at night for tourists to view the autumn colours in night light.

Having planned for many other temple visits during the next few days,

the night illumination acts as a different perspective of the colours for us.

The walk took about 20 minutes and we were stuck with a massive crowd yet again,

5 minutes before we reached the entrance of the temple.

Nevertheless, we managed to get to the temple at proceeded to purchase our entrance ticket

which costs 400 yen per person.

Main hall is still undergoing construction

Just follow the crowd and you will be led on the right track!

There were many viewpoints at different parts of the temple and the leaves were

illuminated by the lights installed by the temples for this event.

Tofu in a bucket

Along our way down, we spotted a restaurant that specialises in udon and tofu!

The tofu was soft and soy sauce was provided if you needed more flavour to it.

Thereafter, we headed back to Kyoto Station for dinner.

As it was past 8pm, we randomly chose a restaurant and the food turned out to be pretty good!

I ordered a katsu set served with various side dishes and miso soup.

That's it for day 2!

Yet again, an early day tomorrow.

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Click here for our Day 3 adventures

or retrace our steps here for our Day 1 adventures!

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