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I took a train to neighboring Kameoka to catch the Hozu-gawa Kudari, a boat ride down the Hozu-gawa River. The ride was relaxing and scenic with a few mild rapids thrown in. The boatman kept a non-stop narrative and I did my best to catch what few words of Japanese I knew.
The boat ride ended by the Togetsukyo Bridge, the landmark of the Arashiyama region of Kyoto. The area around the bridge was a tourist trap so I headed north for the temples and shrines. At this point my luck in good weather failed and the overcast skies started to rain.
My first stop was the large Tenryu-ji Temple which was very nice, primarily due to the large amount of sakura. After a walk through a cool and shady bamboo forest I reached the small (size of a house lot) but lively Nonomiya Shrine. Heading north again, I visited the mountain-side temples of Jojakko-ji, Gio-ji and Takiguchi-dera. The dreary conditions took away from the visual effect of these atmospheric temples. Sad to say, but the highlight here was getting out of the rain and having udon in a nearby restaurant.
I returned to the Shijo/Karasuma intersection where my hotel was. My hotel for Friday and Sunday, that is. I was unable to book the Saturday for this hotel (or any other on-line in Kyoto) so I had to reserve a room in Shin-Osaka. At this location is the already visited Shijo-dori as well as the food market street of Nishiki-koji which runs parallel to Shijo-dori. The street is narrow with food and produce vendors on both sides and pedestrian traffic jams at the popular vendors. Despite the crowd, I jostled my way through the length of the street to its begining at a shrine. At this point it intersected the twin shopping streets of Teramachi and Shinkyogoku where I did my gift shopping.
previous travel blog entry
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