Its 6:30 in the morning on our 4th day. Im sitting here on the couch having a cup of coffee, my legs covered in IcyHot. They feel like we’ve been walking for 12 days! Kyoto is such a walkable city that we fall into the classic Siddoway trap. “Its only a mile or so, lets just walk it!” Fast forward and we have averaged about 11 miles a day. No wonder my legs feel like tired jello! Its a good tired though, we’ve seen so much already that it feels like we’ve been here a week vs 3 days!

Our trip started off sunday morning with an unexpected drive to the Toronto airport. Our flight from Pittsburgh to Toronto was cancelled at 4am the morning of our departure 😳. We made a quick decision to drive the 4.5 hrs so our trip would not be delayed by almost 2 days! We made it to our gate about 30 min before our plane boarded, so it worked out perfectly. 👍🏼

After 2 planes, a bus and a taxi ride ✈️✈️+🚌+🚕 we arrived at Machiya Momiji (our traditional Japanese townhouse)

Its beautiful, simple and in a quiet neighborhood, a perfect home base for our trip. We arrived around 7:30pm, the taxi driver hesitated in leaving us, waiting until we got to the door just incase we were mistaken in where we were staying. 😂

We unpacked and headed out to explore and get the lay of the land. Winding our way through the quiet streets, passing shrines and modern houses blended among the traditional wooden houses with ornate roofs, we finally popped out on a more bustling main street. We came upon a small grocery store and decided to go in to pick up dinner, snacks and some food for breakfast. It was fun seeing all the different food. Groceries in hand we walked back to our Machiya for a light dinner and to relax, we knew the next day might be rough with the time difference!

Ok now for the pics!!

Day 1- Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Gion & Nishiki Market

Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Kiyomizu-dera was founded in the early Heian period. The temple was founded in 778 by Sakanoue no Tamuramaro, and its present buildings were constructed in 1633, ordered by the Tokugawa Iemitsu. There is not a single nail used in the entire structure. It takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. Kiyomizumeans clear water, or pure water.

We got to the temple waaay early on the first day. 😂 we were not adjusted to the time yet, but as it turned out we were one of the first people there so we had it to ourselves for the first hour or so.

A Temple monk.

People write their prayers or wishes on these plaques to leave at the various shrines

Gion

Gion (祇園) is Kyoto‘s most famous geisha district, located around Shijo Avenue between Yasaka Shrine in the east and the Kamo River in the west. It is filled with shops, restaurants and ochaya (teahouses), where geiko (Kyoto dialect for geisha) and maiko(geiko apprentices) entertain.

Gion attracts tourists with its high concentration of traditional wooden machiya merchant houses. Due to the fact that property taxes were formerly based upon street frontage, the houses were built with narrow facades only five to six meters wide, but extend up to twenty meters in from the street.

Nishiki Market & Exploring at Night

Nishiki Market (錦市場 Nishiki Ichiba) (literally “brocade market”) is a marketplace in downtown Kyoto, located on a road one block north and parallel to Shijō Street (四条通 Shijō-dōri) and west of Teramachi Street (寺町通Teramachi-dōri). Rich with history and tradition, the market is renowned as the place to obtain many of Kyoto’s famous foods and goods.