Day 5 in Kyoto

I think that today was my favourite day so far! We decided to travel the way that many Japanese travel each day...by bike. We found a bike rental shop just around the corner from our hotel. For only 3000 Yen, we were able to rent 2 battery-assisted bikes for the day. When you ride a battery-assisted or electric bike, a small motor assists the pedal-power. So when you pedal, it kind up speeds you up a bit. The bike was very fun to ride and helped us explore Kyoto more than if we had been walking! We rode more than 20 kilometres today, starting at 10:00am and returning the bikes at about 5:30pm. Who can figure out how long we were out on the bikes? Send me your answer!

 We were biking along a busy street when we had to stop for a red light. We looked to our left and saw a couple of little market stalls and decided to go take a look. We were so surprised by what we saw. There must have been almost a kilometre of shops along both sides of what had looked like a little alley. We were so glad that we decided to check it out.

 A pancake filled with a sweet bean paste...quite yummy!

 Don video taping his trip down the alley while biking...looks like trouble! The alley is used by pedestrians, cyclists, scooters and cars!

 This is the parking lot for a grocery store...only bikes!

 The fruit and vegetable shop

 The garden shop

 Another Kyoto street

 Slippers for sale

 Hats for sale

 Traditional Kimonos...very beautiful!

The #1, must-see thing for tourist to Kyoto...the stunning Kinkaku-ji Temple (Golden Pavilion). Kinkaku is a Buddist hall and the garden and buildings are said to represent the Pure Land of Buddha in this world. Gold foil on lacquer covers the upper 2 levels of Kinkaku and a shining phoenix stands on top of the shingled roof. Can you see the phoenix?

 Gardens around the Golden Pavilion

 It was so beautiful!!!

Some school girls (they were 14 yrs) who were getting their photo taken in front of the Golden Temple. I asked for a photo with them and they obliged. Then we gave each of them a Canadian flag pin and they were ecstatic with the gift. They game back over and, in English, told me they were school girls and they were supposed to talk to foreign visitors. They wanted to practice their English and ask me some questions. They were so cute, taking turns to ask me their questions and write down the answers.

 Don and I in front of the Kinkaku Temple. The rain had started falling (yikes! we were a long way from our hotel and we had to get back on our bikes!).

 Very cool trees growing on the temple grounds.

 Cool tree again...you can see the bamboo lattice work under the branches.

 We were stuck out in the storm with light hoodies and shorts! It had been so hot the day before!

 The Golden Pavilion

 Wishing pots

 There were about 5 large groups of students who went past us and every time they went by, many of them said, "Hello! Hello!" as they went by. I think they enjoyed practicing some of the English that they knew. A few of them were even brave enough to try, "Good-bye!" and "Have a nice day!" It was so cute as they were so proud of themselves!

 Hello Kitty was even at the Kinkaku-ji temple!!

 Do any of these characters look familiar?

 When we left the temple, Don was in the lead and he thought that we were supposed to turn right. We were actually supposed to turn left and then right! He kept on cruising down a long hill. I got caught at a red light so he got even further away. I was trying to yell at him to stop but he did not stop until he was way down the hill and realized that I wasn't with him. It just so happened that he had stopped right next to a Bob's Big Boy Burger stand. This is a restaurant in the USA so it was so weird to see one in Japan!

 One of the side streets that we had to go down to find our way back in the right direction after Don's diversion!

 Look at all the shoes in this little shop!

 On the go...we were so cold!! 

Who can find out what the word "dori" means? Let me know...I have prizes!

 On one of the little side streets, Don spotted a little shop that had beautiful photographs on the windows. We stopped and went in. It turned out to be a camera shop...a very tiny one that did not look like it had had a customer for a long time!! With a huge language barrier, we asked this beautiful, little man if he had a hood for my camera lens. He was very unsteady on his feet but managed to look in the back. He did not have what we wanted. I pointed to a photo in a frame and tried to ask how much it was. Again, after much shuffling and almost falling a few times, he made it the 4-5 steps to the photo and took it over to the cash register. I was trying to ask him, "How much?" He proceeded to put it in a bag and then, when I thought that I was buying it now, and took out my money, he gestured that it was a gift and he wanted me to have it!!! Again, out came a Canadian flag pin to give to this lovely man! It was a great day with lots of connecting with people!!!

 Outside the camera shop

 Along our journey we came across another temple (Shokokuji Temple)...not hard to do in Kyoto, they are everywhere...big and small!

 Shokokuji Temple

 We found the Kyoto Imperial Palace but we could not find an entrance inside. So, we rode around 2 sides and then decided that we would skip this one (and we were freezing). After riding along the rough gravel, we realized that the little worn path was actually a bike path and much easier to ride along.

It was a great day in Kyoto...tomorrow we take another bullet train (Shinkansen) to Fukuoka. Are you following our trip on a map?