D13 part 1 Tofukuji

It was a rainy day. We planned to cycle in Arashiyama, but decided to head to Nara instead.
So our first stop is Tofukuji, on the Nara line, 1 stop from Kyoto.
The walk from the station to the temple took a long time due to the crowd. It was only 9 am.

The temple ground had gardens surrounding the main hall. The gardens were quite unique comparing to other temples.
It also had a bridge running along the main hall. There was a long line to buy the tickets and to get on the bridge. We went into the temple ground instead and enjoyed viewing the crowd on the bridge.

D12 Kyoto part1

We left Osaka later than planned. So it was lunch time after we checked in and arrived at the first destination - Kitano tenmangu shrine; a monthly market was held that day.

And of course it was packed, being a sunday in a long weekend. It was rather a large market, at least 4 aisles selling food, pot plants, clothing, antiques and more. We visited the actual shrine briefly, the yellow ginko tree was spectacular against the blue sky.

Then we quickly visited Kinkakuji temple. Even more crowd was there. This temple was plated in gold, so sparkly in the afternoon sun.

Lastly we visited gion, where used to be the most famed geisha district. There are still geishas appearing from time to time. We may have seen 2, but they could be tourists dressed up as geishas.

D11 Osaka

In Osaka, we visited lots of interests. The subway network covers most areas really well.

We went on a giant ferris wheel at 125m tall.

Visited Osaka aquarium which was full of people. We were a little disappointed with the whale shark. We only saw a baby sized one as the one lived there before died last year.

Sakishima building which had great view of sunset.

Floating sky garden for the night view of Osaka.

Dotonburi for the evening. Including trying the famous octopus ball.

D10 Koyasan

On the 25th, it's national holiday, therefore I decided to get away from Kyoto.
We travelled to Koyasan via Osaka. the trainride had beautiful view once we were in the mountain region. To get into the town by public transport, it was necessary to take a cable car which was built on a 45 degree angle.
Koyasan is the origin of Buddism in Japan. There are over 100 temples in one small town.
We had reservation made to stay in one oft hem.

We visited the oldest 2 temple. Supposedly build by this monk who travelled to china to learn Buddism in the 9th century. As all structures were wooden and prone to fire, most of the building had been rebuilt a few times.

One of the temple had the biggest rock garden in japan. The rocks represents 2 dragons emerging from sea.

At dusk, we took a walk in the acclaimed Mausoleum, it was creepy.

We had breakfast in the temple the next day.