Kyoto Evening Walk Slideshow

More on the Kyoto trip here.

Kyoto Conference Centre

They signed the Kyoto Convention there. The Kyoto International Conference Centre was certainly a building for for the occasion. But it wasn't a conventional one by any means.

It was inspired of the days I the shoguns and warriors ruling the old Japan. It had been renovated over the years and certainly felt modern in the inside, but you couldn't help but felt that it was built in the 70s. Tall ceilings, and broad walkways. And the gardens and water features surrounding it was a sight to behold. And I was lucky that I was there during the time of Sakura bloom. It was not just gorgeous, it was amazing!

The Convention Centre was located on the north part of town, at the beginning of one of the two subway line crossing the city. This made the travel from the centre to downtown easy. But getting from the hotel was a bit more tricky. I took a cab on the first day and it took me 20 minutes of journey time.

The best part about the place was having lunch in the open by the lake. In the breeze and bright sunshine with the Sakura blooming, it was an amazing feeling.

More about my Kyoto trip here.

The Golden Pavilion

From Fushimi, we took a cab to Kyoto Station, followed by an underground ride to a station near our next destination. Next up, the Golden Pavilion. Or known locally as Rokuon-ji.

A bit of an anticlimax really after the splendour of Kiyomizu-dera. This place is more streamlined in terms of what you would expect to see. Not much to discover, and all you do was pay for the entrance ticket and follow the route. Not much room else to do as the crowd would be building up behind you. And it was already noon then, and the sun was pretty fierce for this time of the year. So, I just shuffled along with the rest of the party.

After the entrance, I was fascinated by the moth garden they had around the walkways. Well manicured as you would expect but I was sure that the attention to details to make sure that these moth thrive took plenty of effort as well. Before I knew it, I was already in front of this magnificent temple. With the reflection from the surrounding lake, it sure was a vista. Shame that we were reached there late morning as the light earlier in the day would have made the scene more photogenic.

Walking up the hill towards the entranceNice mossTicket in handWe spent around 20 minutes lingering around here before heading out towards the exit. More souvenir and then it was time to head back to the conference centre.

But before that, my Boss told me that by the exit, the would be a vendor who made the meanest wasabi peanut in town. And she was not kidding. It was a family business and they sold their wares on a simple table, but tasting was believing. The peanut got kick!!!!

They do the meanest wasabi peanut in the world here!A quick drink - this being a really warm morning, and then off we went again on a cab, back to the conference hall for lunch, followed by the afternoon lectures.

The slideshow of the visit can be seen here. Alternatively, you can catch the photos on my Flickr feed or direct from my host at SmugMug. More on my Kyoto trip here.

Fushimi Sldeshow

Fushimi Inari Taisha

The next stop we went to was a shrine in the southern part of the city, about 15 minutes taxi ride from Kiyomizu-dera. A smaller complex, but a fascinating one none the less.

Fushimi-Inari Taisha is a tribute to wealth, located at the bottom of Mount Inari, along a path leading up to the top. Here, local businesses put up tributes in the form of square arch lining up the path called the torii. All the arch in turned was coloured orange, making a straining contrast to the lush greenery of the surrounding area.

Traveling to the temple from Kiyomizu-dera

The main tributes here was for the God of Rice, as this is the main form of food in the region. And along with the rice come sake. At the entrance, there were barrels of the stuff on show. Not sure if they were filled up though.

Another feature was there were plenty of statues of foxes at the bottom of the hills. These foxes were guardians of the shrine and they have keys in their mouth to signify their role as protectors.

Sake barrel lining the entrance as tribute to the Rice GodsThe torii were all painted in glorious and distinctive orange tingeBy the main entranceOnce you reached the foot of the hill, you have a choice in terms of how far up the you wanted to climb to. To go up right top, it would take at least three hours. SInce we didn't have all morning, we decided just to take a leisurely stroll forming a loop leading back down to the entrance, all within 45 minutes or so.

We didn't hang around too long here as we wanted to get to the famed Golden Pavilion next, and we planned to take the underground train and taxi to get there. Therefore it would have taken a bit longer to travel to next destination. Not much lingering around here.

More entries from my Kyoto trip here. The slideshow for the Fushimi visit here.