This past weekend I was lucky enough to have a mini-holiday with my family to Osaka and Kyoto for Sakura さくら (cherry blossoms) Mankai (full bloom).
I had grand plans of all the places I wanted to show my family, but grossly overestimated how much we would be able to cover with a 3 year old in tow.
We splurged and got shinkansen (bullet train) tickets from Osaka to Kyoto (in my opinion totally worth it at ¥2850 each way total for 2 adults and our 3 year old who was free) in an unreserved car, which was only a 15 minute ride each way, but lots of fun and very exciting for the little man.
We only managed to make it to one temple, which was
Kiyomizudera, one of, if not the most famous/popular of the Kyoto Temples, with good reason. It really is gorgeous! Because it was the busiest weekend in Kyoto of the year (except maybe for the autumn leaves in November), it felt like everyone in Japan was also there this weekend!
Even though it was crowded, it was still absolutely beautiful with the cherry blossoms in full bloom and beautiful blue skies most of the morning.
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| Everyone else in Kyoto also seemed to head to Kiyomizudera |
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| Beautiful sakura |
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| The view from the deck down to the bottom of the temple grounds |
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| If you look closely you can see Kyoto Tower through the trees in the distance |
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| These guys were at the entrance of the Jishu Shrine. |
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| Griff thought this guy was really cute |
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| People left their wishes for love |
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| This is a love stone at the Jishu shrine in the temple complex. There are 2 placed 6 metres apart. Apparently if you can walk between the two stones with your eyes closed, you will find true love. There were so many people here, there was no way people would have been able to walk between the two without running into many people. |
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| The deck |
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| Family selfie |
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| We stopped for a rest at a little noodle cafe in the temple grounds to rest our weary feet |
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| This kitsune udon was absolutely delicious!! |
I can only imagine how busy it was, but I'm pretty jealous that you got to see the cherry blossoms! We were in Hiroshima and Fukuoka a few weeks ago, but we were a week or two too early.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty jealous too that you got to see the cherry blossoms! Our family went to Kyoto last year and we went to this temple too, sadly it was all covered in construction and not nearly as beautiful as what shows in your photos!
ReplyDeleteAwww... I am so envious. I have been to Japan more than 10 times but never once during cherry blossom season because it doesn't coincide with our local school holidays. I am heading to Kiyomizudera in December! Too late for autumn foliage sadly.. but oh well. A visit is better than none! :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, i've been lucky to see Cherry blossoms in Kyoto a few times now. Always gorgeous but it is so crowded!
DeleteHere from the link-up...! Ahh, these pictures make me miss Japan so much. I spent so many of my summers there! Great photos!
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