Started day 2 with a bus ride on Bus #100 from Kyoto Station to Ginkakuji Temple.
Bus fare is ¥220 – ICOCA card not accepted in the bus. Queue was quite long but it moved along rather fast. Bus was packed when it left the station.
Bus 100 was packed
Ginkakuji or Silver Pavilion (銀閣寺) was built in 1482 as a retirement villa by shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa. After his death, the villa was converted into a Zen temple.
Temple grounds
The 2-storey Silver Pavilion in Ginkakuji
We then walked on the Philosopher’s Path towards Nanzenji.
It was a pleasant stroll with cherry trees lining the path. Along the way, we passed a few other temples. Kyoto is not only the land of geisha but also the land of shrines & temples!!!
Cherry blossom at its early stage
Nanzenji is one of the most important Zen temples in Japan. The temple has vast grounds. We just stroll around the temple ground and the aqueduct.
The Hatto (Dharma Hall) in Nanzenji Temple
The large brick aqueduct that passes through the temple grounds was part of a canal system that was constructed to carry water and goods between Kyoto and Lake Biwa.
Then we continued walking towards Kiyomizudera Temple. We passed by Chionin Temple and just had a brief stop to look around before continuing on our way.
A sideshow at the temple grabbed my attention – hey, its the Tesla EV!
Look Ma, no engine 🙂
As we neared Kiyomizudera, we managed to see 2 geishas on a rickshaw.
As we turned the corner, we saw some others coming out of a small shrine! Seeing the geishas was the day’s highlight.
We arrived at Kiyomizudera around 4.45pm and tried to buy tickets for the temple. Was informed that the evening illumination entrance ticket has to be bought separately and they are sold by the organizer of the illumination event. The temple closed earlier at 5.30pm before re-opening at 6.30pm for the evening event. Decided it was better to wait for the evening event.
The Deva gate entrance to the temple
While waiting, we browsed the many shops near the temple.
Cats anyone?
The entrance fee for the evening illumination event was ¥400. The crowd waited patiently in the sunset for the ticket counters to open.
It was well worth the wait as it was really quite a sight to see the temple and the grounds lighted up.
The Main Hall (Hondo), Kiyomizu Stage and the 3 storied pagoda lighted up. The stage was filled with tourists for the illumination event.
The temple grounds and trees being illuminated
More to come – stay tuned! 
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Very pretty pictures ^^ Those “geisha” are actually tourists dressed as Maiko. Still fun to see ^^
Hi moushifj
Thank you for dropping by. Glad you like the pictures