I went back to Kyoto today, to see more of the Kyotographie exhibitions, especially the photographic exploration of Mars, as well as some interesting images of Japanese landscapes and homes, called ‘Where we belong‘.

 

However, it was a bright sunny day with blue skies, so I went to see one more temple, Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion to be exact.

I took a metro, train and bus ride out there (Kyoto is way bigger than I expected it to be…) and walked throughout the park with this golden jewel. It is impressive. Totally over the top…

Unfortunately, you get a bit herded around with the other bus loads of tourists.

And before I realized that I could not walk freely around the park, the way had already brought me alongside the Pavilion, up to a tea house and to the merchandising, before standing in front of the exit…

Well, no one had taken or invalidated my ticked, so I though I’d just go again (I had only taken five pictures!), but then, what the heck…?

I rather got a black sesame ice cream, sat in the sun and then went on with my walking tour.

I walked through the Imperial Park and along the immense walls of what was once the Imperial palace, before they moved it all to Tokyo. However, I didn’t go inside the palace.

Instead, I ended up in the tiny streets of old Kyoto, its shopping streets and restaurants, like two days earlier…

I ate another ramen soup, got a coffee, walked a bit and just engaged in some serious people-watching.

Damn, I wish I was less camera-shy, as in taking photos of people without mercy. I mostly don’t dare to aim at them full frontal with my zoom.

Come late afternoon, I was dead tired, and had a headache… so I left relatively early for Osaka.

I cannot say I have seen much of Kyoto at all.

Surely not the usual tourist stuff, thanks to the photo hunt I was on. If I come again, off season, I’ll take three, four days, rent a bike and roam around…