Sightseeing and the best tempura in Kyoto!

Time to explore Kyoto! I rented a bike at the hotel and took of as soon as I woke up. Much to see and I only have until 4 pm when I am taking the train back to Tokyo.

My first stop was Kinkakuji Temple - the Golden Pavilion - an incredibly nice pavilion in a lovely park.

I continued to Ryoanij Temple and stone garden.

It was a very comfortable stillness all over this place, so I sat down and gathered energy before I rode on to Nino's castle.

I started getting hungry and was craving to eat more of what tasted best at the dinner yesterday - tempura. I Googled "best tempura in Kyoto", got up the place Tenyu on tripadvisor that had very good reviews, checked the location Google Maps and it was only 1 km away, on the way to my next stop. Perfect!

So very nice place and way to eat. All the guests sits around the chef, who stands cooking in the middle. You get served one dish at a time straight from the deep fryer. Shrimp, Japanese mushrooms, corn, eggplant, pumpkin, etc.. Awesome!

With new strength, I went south in the town of Fushimi Inari Shrine - the temple which is ranked no 1 in Kyoto. Very pompous.

I walked and walked in the corridors as above, but they just went up and up. My train did go at 4 pm  and after going for half an hour and the time was 2 pm, I asked some guys who were heading down how far it was to the top. An hour they answered. No way I would have time for that, so I turned down again a little reluctantly.

I biked back to the hotel and had video chat on Skype with Gustaf and Filippa. Really miss them now! Then the bus down to the train station. Once at the platform, I had only five minutes to spare, a little too tight, maybe, but I managed.

 

Now back to Tokyo and last night in Japan!