Yesterday afternoon we visited Kiyomizu-dera, which is one of the major attractions in Kyoto. The main slope up to the temple was completely full of people – mostly school students, so we didn’t bother going into any shops on the way up. The temple grounds were beautiful, but again, too many people to really appreciate it. The main hall overhangs the valley where you can view the city and trees below. We made our way across the valley to a pagoda which was way less crowded, it was really lovely over that side – the bright red pagoda against the lush green of the hillside and surrounding trees. Good view back to the main hall too. On the way back we went down Ninenzaka Slope which was slower paced with cute little traditional shops selling sweets and handicrafts. Found a nice little place to have some food – tried the local speciality “yuba” (tofu skin) along with soba noodles and wild vegetables – delicious!
Even though it was super busy which made it a little bit less enjoyable, this was the Kyoto I was looking forward to!!