Kyoto leftovers - Japan at Cherry Blossom 2023 - 10
25.03.2023 - Kyoto leftovers
Weather: overcast sky
Walking distance: 20 km
I'm awake before the alarm clock rings, but after a look through the window, I return to bed for a while. Since I've already been to my personal favorites, there's no reason for a very early morning walk. The idea is to go to the Philosopher's Path [↗] and take a look at the temples in that area.
As I leave the metro station Keage (which is still more than half an hour away if I were to walk directly to the philosopher's path), I see an old railroad track lined up with cherry trees. It's Sunday morning, so no wonder that quite some people are around, including the obligatory bride and groom.
I stroll around the area to see if I can find anything interesting. Nearby is Nanzen-ji temple [↗], a temple that I don't have on my list, but it's not far, so I turn that way. Nice area, but definitely not a hidden gem.
Close nearby is the start of the Philosopher's Path. This is a walkway along a canal lined up with booming cherry trees. Of course, there are many people on the way, but it is not as bad as expected. After a while, I leave the path and turn right into a parallel street. Along this road is the Honen-in temple [↗], a smaller temple that cannot be visited most of the year but has a nice, more natural compound with a nearby cemetery.
Not far away is the Ginkaku-ji temple [↗] with the silver pagoda (which isn't silver at all). What you can visit is a very nice garden. You have to follow a given path, but you can walk it twice if you want. It's around lunchtime, so it's not cramped, but still, you don't have decent time to take pictures as you often block the way as soon as you stop.
Ginkaku-ji is the northernmost point of my agenda, but before I return to the hotel I want to visit one more place - the Heian Jingu Shrine [↗]. It's anyhow on the way back to where I started.
In front of the shrine, there is a huge open square. It reminds me a bit of the Forbidden Palace in Beijing. They charge an entrance fee for the (apparently huge) garden only, but I've seen more than enough gardens over the last couple of days.
From a nearby station, I take the same metro lines as in the morning back to Kyoto Station and then walk back to the hotel.
At 5:45pm I'm leaving again to take some blue hour shots of the castle [↗]. When I arrive, I find that there is an event going on in the castle grounds ("Naked Flowers") and the number of people waiting in line is huge. I'm not in the mood to wait for 30+ minutes just to get a ticket. Inside it would be crowded too, making it very difficult to get a decent shot even I have my platypod with me.
I'm taking a couple of pictures of the castle from the outside and decide to walk around the premise. Good idea! On the other side of the street, I see an illuminated gate that you obviously can pass. It's the gate to the Shinsen-en temple [↗], with a small park and pond that is beautifully illuminated. The lights create great reflections of the temple, a red bridge, and some cherry trees.
I finish my walk around the castle grounds and back to the next metro station. Back at Kyoto station, I think about what I could eat. I'm not really hungry as I had a snack after 2pm, but I take a look at the food court below Kyoto Tower. It's around 8pm in the meantime and the place is still pretty busy. My first choice was sold out, and they weren't taking orders at all for the second. So I leave and grab something to go on the way to the hotel.
In the meantime, it started raining again. A harbinger of the weather we'll have tomorrow.
