After a moving day at Hiroshima, the next day was dedicated to spending the whole day, from 9 till late, at spectacular Kyoto.

Our first stop was at Kiyomizudera, a big temple in a mountain. The sights on your way up the mountain:

And then you get into the actual temple and it’s just…wow even now I’m still speechless. It just takes your breath away!

On our way back down from the mountain, we stopped and had some refreshing green tea ice cream whilst we were having a gander around the sea of red and orange.

We then went to Nijo Castle, almost getting lost on the way there. But it was well worth it. It was everything I imagined it to be, and more!

Afterwards, we went to the other side of Kyoto, to Kinkakuji Temple: more commonly known as the Golden Pavillion.

We got there around 4-4.30 when the sun was just hitting the horizon, so the temple was just ablaze with light. Beautiful!

And then we went to beautiful Gion! Yes, Gion! On one of the shows there was a tea ceremony, koto players, ikebanas…

A Noh comedy:

And, to truly complete the trip, a Geiko performance.

And thus concludes our day at Kyoto. All of the performances were at Gion Centre. You need to buy a ticket before you see the show, which usually runs around 7:30pm and 9:00pm.

Oh, and here’s a photo with a Geiko:

Day 3 is at Nara with the uber cute deer! Stay tuned =D