As today is our final one in Kyoto we decided to make the most of it and visit as many temples and shrines as Barbs and Christophe would agree to!!

Having done a little research, we were keen to visit Ginkaku-ji, better known as the Silver Pavilion and Philosopher’s Path next door.

As both sat a little distance away on the East of the City, we took the bus for the first time and experienced the serene quietness of Kyoto public transport.

We decided to start with the Philosopher’s Path, a peaceful picturesque route along a canal, lined with cherry trees. It proved to be a perfect place for a morning stroll.

We had hoped that the leaves may have started to turn colour, being late Autumn, but it seems the season arrives later in Japan than it does in Europe.

We then made our way up to the Silver Pavilion and a walk around the Zen temple. Though not actually covered in silver, its understated elegance and beautiful gardens make it a must-see.

The gardens were manicured to an inch of their lives and the gravel sculpture work (who knew there was such a thing) was immense and dare I say impressive, if that’s your thing!

It was a pleasure to walk around and marvel at the detail of the garden design and the geometric way the trees, rocks, pools and buildings were all intertwined.

As people who enjoy gardening and design ,we feel honoured to have seen such stunning imaginary, it’s definitely given us some great ideas for our next house purchase and gardens.

We spent the next hour or so just taking it all in, all helped by another beautiful day of sunshine.

After the Silver Pavilion, we needed some refreshment and popped into a street food store for deep fried potato and beef. Without sounding too northern and uncouth, it tasted very much like a Greggs beef pasty, which is truly a very high accolade.

After digesting our ‘pasty’ and a subsequent coffee, we returned to temple visiting! From there we moved to Konkaikōmyōji, the Kurodani Buddhist temple, the head Temple of the Jōdo Sect of Buddhism.

Next stop was Kōdai-ji, formally identified as Jubuzan Kōdai-ji, a temple of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism in Higashiyama-ku, the largest subtemple of the Kennin-ji branch.

With the step counter already at 15,000 by 1pm, we decided to take a break on our way to Kiyomizu-dera another Buddhist temple, and one that due to its elevated height and amazing views attracts large numbers of visitors.

We decided to take a late lunch and stopped at a great Japanese restaurant for some Soda Ramen with chicken and egg. What a treat, so tasty and filling.

After our refreshment break, we marched on to Kiyomizu-dera. The temple is located in the foothills of Mount Otowa, part of the Higashiyama mountain range that dominates eastern Kyoto.

The main hall has a large veranda, supported by tall pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers views of the city. Large verandas and main halls were constructed at many popular sites during the Edo period to accommodate large numbers of pilgrims. Fortunately this has helped in modern days too.

In 2007, Kiyomizu-dera was one of 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World but sadly wasn’t picked. We think they were robbed!  

The temple complex includes several other shrines, among them the Jishu Shrine, dedicated to Okuninushi, a god of love and “good matches”.

Having visited 6 temples and a couple of shrines, and it was still not 3pm, we decided to take a break and return to our hotel, before venturing out for a late afternoon/early evening hike to the summit of Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine.

After getting the subway to Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine around 4.30pm, we had the pleasure of 10,000 vermillion torii gates to pass on our way to the shrine mountain summit.

We had been recommended to visit Arashiyama for late afternoon, to see the shrine as the light changes and in the fading sunshine. There are thousands of torii gates that line the path up Mount Inari to create an unforgettable atmosphere, especially given it was sunset.

From what we were able to ascertain, each vermillion torii gate can be purchased and an inscription placed on it by the person donating.

Dedicated to Inari, the deity of a good harvest and success in business, Fushimi Inari Taisha is the head of all of Japan’s Inari shrines.

The seemingly endless path of vibrant orange torii gates that line the approach to Mt. Inari made for an impressive setting and is one of the most famous images of Japan.

It certainly resonated with all of us and made for an amazing experience in the evening.

After a 50 minute hike, we eventually arrived at the top and took in the views over the night sky above Kyoto.

After all that walking and a step count exceeding 30,000, we decided to treat ourselves to a beer and a bite to eat. Andy had other ideas and was up for a burger bruising if anyone questioned him..!!

We then indulged in some Kobe & chicken teriyaki burgers. Just what was needed & helped along by the Sapporo beers.

Tomorrow we say goodbye to Christophe and Barbs who return to Tokyo, and then fly back to the UK on Thursday, whilst we are moving south to Osaka and a day trip to Nara.