Kyoto: Kiyomizu-dera
We started the morning with breakfast at the hotel and planned to visit Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺) 🗾 next. We picked this because we decided to avoid Fushimi Inari Shrine as it can be very crowded unless one arrives before 8 AM. We are not early-birds!
Because there was no subway access and we were avoiding buses, we took a taxi and asked the driver to take us to the temple. We were dropped off at the intersection of Gojo-Dori and Matsubo-Dori, because from there on, there is only pedestrian access. We had started walking uphill to the temple complex, but after a few steps, we recognized the street coming in from our left as Sannenzaka (産寧坂 (三年坂)) 🗾. It was then that we realized we were going to the same temple where we ended up the previous late afternoon, but this time we knew the name and would have more time to explore while it was open!
The grounds are quite extensive, and we decided to take a big loop, mostly ignoring the side areas we had already seen on the first visit. To do the loop, you pass by the main hall, which was very busy. We decided it was worth going in, and it was. Next, we encountered various other halls, Buddha statues, a cemetery, a small bamboo grove, and another pagoda, before returning to a lower level near the main pagoda, with a waterfall feature.
After an hour and a half, we made our way down the mountainside to hail another cab to take us to the Silver Palace, where we arrived around 10:30 AM.