Well I have to hand it to the Japs. They build the best temples. And I've seen ALOT of temples so I feel well qualified to say so. I thought I'd get a bit bored but can honestly say that today was great! I started off at Fushimi-Inari Taisha. This one required a fair bit of walking as it was set into the mountain. There was a covered path all the way to the top, and it was pretty damn far! But you're rewarded with some nice views of the city.
Next was Kiyomizu-dera. I was probably most looking forward to this one as it looked the most beautiful. It was a really pretty spot, but unfortunately the whole building is currently surrounded with wooden scaffolding so it does kind of spoils it a little bit. After this temple I decided to stop for lunch. I went to Mikaku for some Kobe beef. I really wanted to try it, and figured lunch is the best way to do it as it's a third of the dinner price for the same meal. I had the rump steak and it was amazing! Steak at home will never be the same again! I paid £25 for it (dinner would have been £65) and bear in mind I went for the cheapest cut. So it ain't the cheapest beef! For dessert I grabbed some matcha green tea ice cream from a stall nearby.
The third temple I visited, Shoren-in, was probably my favourite of the day.
It was really quiet and peaceful, and set in a really pretty garden. There were far less visitors at this one too which made it all the nicer. For my last temple I travelled across to the other side of the city to Tenryu-hi. Unlike other temples in Asia, where they all start to look the same, I didn't find that the case here as they're all pretty different in style. I had originally planned on squeezing another one or two in, but I just didn't have the time. You could spend a week here and still not see them all.
Finally to finish the day I took a walk through the bamboo forest before my feet literally couldn't take anymore. I went back to the hotel to soak them in the bath!
I asked my hotel to try and make me a reservation for the yakitori place but they were fully booked again. I tried two other places I'd read about but they were also full. The problem with restaurants here is that they're so small so don't take many people. I was getting pissed off at this point and decided just to walk down Ponto Cho (an alley with lots of restaurants). I stopped at the first place I could find that had yakitori. I peered in the window and saw that it was packed (good sign) and that there was one spare seat at the counter. I ordered chicken yakitori and grilled duck which was served with rice, salad and edamame beans. It was sooo good! After I ordered the guy to my left started chatting away to me, and told me his friends in Kyoto had recommended this restaurant, so i chose well! His name was Masa and he was Japanese from Tokyo, 58 years old and worked for a large bank here. Not quite the Tinder date I was hoping for, but he was lovely! He had come to Kyoto to spend the week as apparently it's the best time of year to see the cherry blossoms. So I'm here at the best possible time. We chatted away for a good couple of hours, and he ordered me some sake which I hadn't actually tried yet. We said our goodbyes and he gave me his business card in case I ran into any trouble in Tokyo. Score!
No comments:
Post a Comment