By now we have realized that, with so many Kyoto temples, gardens, historical houses, as well as other important landmarks to be seen,  Kyoto is the ideal city in Japan for exploring a world of rich and fascinating history.

We had a glance on our first day, but by now we can confirm that the whole atmosphere makes you feel like you’re in one of those movies in which Japanese culture is central to the story and you just want to be part of the movie. Our stay at  Luck You traditional townhouse also contributed to that enormously.

We are coming back to the city for one more day later this week, for an important festival (Jidai Matsuri Festival), but for now we decided to explore Kyoto temples a bit more.

Our first stop was the Kinkaku-ji Temple, formerly named Rokuon-ji – a Zen Buddhist temple where the upper floors are completely covered in gold leaf.  This is one of the very popular Kyoto temples, but we still had the opportunity to behold this beautiful place in relative peace.

As well as the building we also walked around the pond and the garden, which was very nice and peaceful (although Noah tried to interrupt the peace once or twice … 🙂  ).

From there we went to the Ryoan-ji Temple – another Zen temple famous for its rock garden, which brings many tourists there every day.

Next we headed to a bamboo forest, but on the way we came across a street festival. A festival that occurs only once a year and again we were in the right place at the right time.

And then the last stop of the day: an impressive path of bamboo or bamboo forest. This is in a park called Kameyama. We met some nice people from Chile there, and they accompanied us on the tour. Noah was very happy with the company, as he got to play with their children. Suddenly Leo, their youngest child, had become his best friend.

That was a great place for the children, as they were playing around and running the whole time, completely unaware that they were bothering everyone else trying to have a nice quiet moment in that park 🙂

Tomorrow we are leaving Kyoto to spend a few days in other places around Japan. Thanks to our Japan rail passes that we bought from JR Pass we get to travel on the bullet trains that go everywhere in a very short time.

Thanks Kyoto, and see you again in few days!