Kyoto: Not Just Geishas

When you think of Kyoto, what comes to your mind? Geishas? Maikos? Kimonos?

Those were my initial thoughts as well. But now, I think differently. Kyoto is so much more than just the geishas it’s so famous for; it’s a city of beauty and culture.

Here’s where WJ and I went in Kyoto back in late November!

Gion Street

Gion Street – Where the maikos and geishas roam. Well, technically they don’t walk around a lot and it’s quite difficult to spot them. We saw a group of photographers camped out at a corner waiting to spot one.

Luckily for us, we managed to see a grand total of three maikos! They were hurrying off so I didn’t manage to take a proper photo of any of them. Here’s the only blurry photo I managed to snap!

Almost all the restaurants are expensive on Gion Street. And because we were there on a public holiday, most of the more affordable or more well-known restaurants were packed! After gaping at menus in bare-faced horror, we stumbled onto Musoshin ramen. And just in time, I might add, as I was about to faint from hunger!

We spent 2,400JPY (S$28.24) for both bowls. Tasty and affordable, with a steaming hot thick broth great for warming up cold tummies – What more can anyone ask for? Mmm…

Here’s another eatery we tried on Gion Street. It’s a Teppanyaki place, but I’m not sure what the place is called in English though!

Fushimi-inari Taisha

Before we headed up into Fushimi-inari Taisha, we had a relaxing sit-down breakfast at a cosy café since it wasn’t even 9am. Halfway through our meal, we realised crowds and crowds were walking up the path to the shrine. We doubled our eating speed (or tried to, anyway)!

And arrived at a very crowded Fushimi-inari Taisha. We doodled on wooden plaques in the shape of foxes and scribbled down our wishes for 500JPY (S$5.88). Some people have a lot of creative juices…

Then it was time to commence THE CLIMB (insert Miley Cyrus’ song here if you’d like to).

People, people, people. There were so many people climbing up alongside us. We managed to perspire even though it was only a couple of degrees! I had to take off my second layer and continued to sweat.

We finally burst out onto the top with a bird’s eye view of the surrounding city of Kyoto. We made it!

Erm, nope, apparently we were not even halfway to the top. It was time to climb again…

Not many people continue the ascent after the ‘pit stop’, so we managed to get clear shots of the gates with nobody in the pictures. And that made the climb so much more worth it.

Nanzenji Temple

Nanzenji Temple is huge and home to a beautiful garden and a couple of subtemples. Not all are open to the public though, but Nanzenin Temple, Konchi-in Temple and Tenjuan Temple are some of them. When we first walked into Nanzenji Temple, we came across a rusty-red ‘bridge’. it turned out to be an aqueduct!

We went up and walked against the stream of water to the exit. At 300JPY (S$3.53) per entry, it’s still pretty affordable given how big the place is. We spent more than 1.5 hours there and didn’t even cover the entire area!

Eikando Zenrin-ji Temple

Temple with one of the prettiest autumn colours I’ve ever seen! Unfortunately, it’s also one of the busiest temples with a throbbing crowd! AND it’s one of the most expensive to get into. We paid 1,000JPY each (S$11.76) to gain entry.

Philosopher’s Walk

The Philosopher’s Walk is a scenic area for a romantic stroll. If only there were more leaves on the tree!

Ginkakuji Temple

We reached Ginkakuji Temple (Silver Pavilion) as the sky was darkening, so my photos aren’t the best. I can’t fathom how they sculpted the sand to stay that way. Needless to say, the sand garden is pretty amazing!

At 500JPY (S$5.88) per entry, I wished we’d reached earlier!