My Trip to Japan 2016 - Kyoto - Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kiyomizu-dera Temple, Kinkakuji, Yasaka Shrine

The next day, Mom and I prepared ourselves for a very busy itinerary. We tried to keep it nice and brisk with a few short stops to get a breather in between.

First order of business is of course, breakfast! We found that Cafe Roji Usagi opens early and is 2 minutes from our hotel. Read about our Japanese style breakfast here.

We then headed out to Fushimi Inari Shrine. This was one of the most crowded shrines I've been to in this entire trip but very worth it. It's definitely best to come here early to beat the crowd. I really like the red torii gates. Unfortunately, we didn't get very far and had to come down a few meters up ahead.

Kiyomizu-dera Temple is on another level. Literally. Once you see the way that they've built this temple, you will be amazed that how complicated and natural it is. It is certainly very popular because it is said that it has granted a lot of wishes and people come back to give their thanks. Because it is such a popular tourist spot, I almost wish I could quietly sit down and enjoy the view for a few minutes.

After this stop, we had our lunch at Junsei before heading off to Kinkakuji.

View from the temple to the main street

Path away from temple with the crowd

Skeleton of the temple. Amazing!

Me at the Kinkakuji temple. We took lots of pictures here because it's not very crowded. Not very sunny too but the gold temple is reflecting off the water which was very surreal. You get two temples for the price of one! How about that?