Kyoto: Eikando Temple, Kiyomizu-dera

Best day of the trip! This was such an incredible day, that I had to split it in two blog posts.

So after having lunch somewhere… I honestly don’t even remember anymore. Did I skip it? No idea. Anyway, I went to Eikando temple. To my surprise, it was 1000 JPY (~400-500 PHP)! I did not research entrance fees beforehand, and it was a good thing. If I did, I might not have gone to Eikando because it’s so expensive. But… it was the best temple I went to on the trip!

Eikando Temple

Inside temples, you have to take your shoes off. It’s always such a relief! My feet were always tired and it felt sooo good to take my shoes off and walk around in my socks on the cold wooden floor.

This was my first time to be inside a temple. It was sooo.. zen? I’m not even sure what that word means. It felt so peaceful and quiet. I could hear birds chirping, and there were koi fish in the pond. Despite the hectic schedule for the day due to wanting to see as much as I could in my short stay, I took a good few minutes to sit on the site to fully appreciate the experience.

Kiyomizu-dera

Just a normal sight in Kyoto. Imagine if we had girls here in the Philippines wearing Filipinianas? Oh wait, it’s too hot out all year long.

Can I just say… I LOVE MY WIDE-ANGLE LENS! It makes the sky look so majestic.

I can’t ever get enough of these beautiful Kyoto streets. They look even more magical at blue hour, when the stores light up but the sky is still very much visible.

I walked to Gion Street next. I saw a geisha, but couldn’t get a good photo. It was also dark when I got there, so no pictures. Afterwards, I looked for food and ended up at Yasaka Shrine where there were food stalls set up. I gave weird street food another chance but didn’t like it, so I headed to the nearest convenience store and found my way back to the hostel. It wasn’t a pleasant trip since I got off at the wrong bus stop and had to walk another kilometer when I was already very tired. But you know.. travel isn’t always pleasant a hundred percent of the time, but it’s worth everything especially with Kyoto.. You can’t go wrong <3

That ends day 1 in Kyoto.