Day Three: Kyoto (Tetsugaku no Michi, Fushimi Inari, and dessert)

My third day in Kyoto was templetastic, a lot creepy, and very delicious!

First, the templetastic. My friend had recommended a temple that is very close to a lot of other temples, along a path called Tetsugaku no Michi (the Philosopher's Path, named for a philosophy professor who walked along it and meditated every day or something), so I decided to just hang out in that area and visit a bunch of them. A good decision! The first temple I visited, Nanzen-ji, turned out to be one of my favorite temples I've ever been to. It was really peaceful and beautiful, and there was a cool aqueduct and some cool screens (no pics allowed, sorry) with tigers and leopards on them (at the time, they thought leopards were female tigers!) and a nice zen garden. Next I visited Eikan-do (my friend's recommendation), which was also really fantastic. Very peaceful and beautiful! They have a Buddha in an unusual pose there (again, sorry, no pics allowed), looking back over his shoulder to make sure he's not leaving you behind or something.

Then a small shrine, Otoyo-jinja, which I had to myself. There were some cute animal statues there! Then back the temples with Honen-ji, which was very pretty, and Ginkaku-ji (the Silver Pavilion, although it never received its intended silver coating), which is one of the more famous places in Kyoto. It is similar (on purpose) to Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion), which we visited last time. It is being renovated, but since I was close, I decided I should check it out anyway, and I'm glad I did! The renovation wasn't, like, covering up the entire building or anything. And there was super interesting sand!

Next, the creepiness! I had been planning on leaving that area and heading to another big temple, but by the time I finished, there wasn't time to get there before it closed (sometimes inconvenient thing about temples and shrines: they close early), so I decided to go to Fushimi Inari shrine, which is 24 hours. We visited last time (the place with all the torii), but did not have time to climb all the way up the path, so I really wanted to finish it. Unfortunately, it got dark while I was climbing. This was cool at first; there are some lights on the path, and it was kind of great to be walking through all the torii in the dim light. And then everyone around me disappeared. And then it got really dark. And then there were weird noises in the forest. And then I got super super super freaked out and had to give up and turn back.

Finally, deliciousness. After the scariness of Fushimi Inari in the dark, I needed some happiness, so when I got back to Kyoto Station, I headed for that matcha dessert place we had visited last time. There was a much shorter wait this time! And I could enjoy the nice view of Kyoto and eat a delicious parfait and relax and not feel creeped out anymore! A nice end to a (mostly) nice day!

Enjoy four pictures of Nanzen-ji, six pictures of Eikan-do, two pictures of Otoyo-jinja, one of Tetsugaku no Michi, two of Honen-in, and two of Ginkaku-ji.