Tōdai-ji

One of the temples we appreciated and enjoyed the most.

Nara Park

Deer galore.

Ginkaku-ji

Camellia Tea Ceremony

An hour inside a Japanese space with green tea, explanation and observing of the tea ceremony, and getting some zen insights. Enjoyed the delectable traditional sweet the most.

Wonder Cafe

This was not planned at all – it was purely a google search during lunch time and hungry stomachs that brought us here. And what an experience it was!

As all the reviews say, the toilet is out of this world. Go google the pictures. I didn’t bring my camera to the bathroom.

Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

The highlight of Arashiyama. Again with not so beautiful crowds – overheard another tourist say to another, later in the day, that she was there at 7.30AM and there was almost no one. Sounds worth it to me!

Tenryū-ji

Day at Arashiyama started with a visit to Tenryū-ji. Beautiful grounds. Not-so-beautiful crowds.

Would love to view it in Autumn..

Nishiki Tenmangu Shrine

In the midst of the overwhelming Nishiki Market, there was a shrine!

We tired of shopping in the market pretty quickly (INFJ problems) and decided that was enough shopping for 4 days, even though it was only our second day in Kyoto…

Kyoto 2017 – Vermillion Cafe

On our way down Mt Inari we came across Vermillion Cafe, serving artisan coffee (with art!) and beautiful seating area on their porch.

The weather was cool – a low 20s day – and from where we were seated we could take in the fresh mountain air and admire the nature all around us.
Stayed there for close to an hour and would not have minded staying longer, if our stomachs and watches didn’t remind us that it was almost time for lunch…

Kyoto 2017 – Fushimi Inari Taisha

So begins the Kyoto 2017 Trip Chronicles.

Day 1 in Kyoto – we headed out early in the morning (as early as we could manage, given that we had just checked into our Airbnb at 12 midnight) to the famous Fushimi Inari shrine and found ourselves in the midst of tons of school children (on a Sunday morning!).

Apart from the famous and iconic orange tori gates which we managed to get some people-less shots of, there were other interesting sights on the way up and down Mt Inari too.