Night Temple Visit in Kyoto (8/April/2016)

This evening, after eating dinner, I had nothing to do. So I searched “Kyoto night attractions”. There were many things to do, but I choose to go to the Yasaka Shrine. I just bought a bike, so I decided to cycle there from my Shugakuin International House dorm(5.9 km apart, I didn’t know at that time). Well at first cycling was fun, but after going halfway I started to think that I should turn back. But in the end, I decided to go on.

After arriving near the Yasaka Shrine, I saw a gate with bikes parked in front of it. I parked my bike there and decided to walk. At first, I thought the shrine would be dull since most of the lights were turned off. But since I was near, I decided to take a look anyway. Walking up the street, I saw Kiyomizu-Dera from afar (pic 1) it was beautiful. But my attentions were mainly focused on my right side since there seems to be a festival or some sort. I went first to the candied apple and fruits store and bought a candied strawberry (I kinda have a sweet tooth). I didn’t like the taste that much, but next time I’ll try the candied apple. After that I walked in the shrine, the place was well decorated and there were a lot of food and game stalls.

After walking inside the shrine for a while I reached the front gate. Before that, I didn’t realize that I entered the shrine through the back gate. I then walked on, saw Gion Matsuri. Then I ate some Takoyaki, played the shooting game, and got a fortune card . Walking back, I took a picture of probably the biggest sakura tree in the temple before exiting the shrine.

The way back to my dorm was really tiring, I had to cycle uphill. I passed the Takano River, in which the side was filled with sakura trees. However, the scenery was not as beautiful as my first two days in Kyoto. This might be due to the heavy rain yesterday. Finally after reaching my dorm, I immediately took a hot bath, to warm myself.

*** I might get the name of some locations wrong, thus I am apologizing in advance ***