Rediscovering Kyoto with Maria

It was a bit more than two years ago when I visited Kyōto for the first time.

We used a ticket called juu-hachi-kippu to travel to Kyoto from Nagoya.

The previous time I visited Kyoto, I rented a bicycle to get around. But this time we decided to use the complex Kyoto Bus system with a one-day ticket. I guess I am used to Nagoya's subway and that's why I found urban buses in Kyoto slow and messy.

The first temple we went to see was the Kinkakuji (golden temple). Thanks to the pond in front of it and its nice colors, it is not difficult to take pictures that look great here.

Then we head for the famous Zen garden of the Ryoanji temple. Although maybe not that amazing, I think it was relaxing to watch it.

In the city center, we entered to a Game center where Maria pretended to be playing a drums game which looks similar to the one that appears in the movie Lost in Translation.

Finally, we visited the famous Kiyomizu temple which had great views of the city and it was probably the most interesting temple in Kyoto.

After watching the Kiyomizu temple, I showed Maria a fantastic cemetery that nobody seemed to have interest in. I found it by chance two years ago when I was trying to get to the mountain to have a nap! :)

We saw lots of people wearing the traditional kimonos and at night we saw for a few seconds what looked like two Geisha apprentices. There is this kind of service where you can rent a kimono and wear it around the temples, or even get photographed by professionals.

We spend the night in Ayado Gyon hostel, which had nice surroundings. The hostel was a nice place to stay, clean and friendly.

One of the places I liked the most was the Gyon district. It was especially interesting at night when the narrow streets where full of open restaurants and lights and there were couples sitting by the riverside.

Note: Pictures taken by Maria-chan