Nijo castle

Oh Kyoto! This is the Japan I'd (Rachel) been looking to see. We stayed in the Gion-Shijo District, which was full of tiny alley ways, beautiful traditional shops and homes, and an ancient atmosphere of a Japan almost lost to time. The weather was a little better than the day before, but still cold and rainy. My foot was also still sore, and now Julian's back injury was flaring up, so we both hobbled around as best we could in such conditions, still determined not to let anything stop us exploring this precious time.

We began the morning with a visit to the Fushimi Inari Taisha, famous for its path of a thousand gates leading to the top of Mount Inari. Then we explored more of our district, following all the beautiful lanes though to Yasaka Shrine and the the Kodaiji Temple and bamboo forest. This was especially a beautiful experience, seeing this ancient temple in exquisite condition ....finally we could really imagine it coming to life when it was first built. Here we also saw a giant Buddha statue, as well as a stunning mural to depict the death of Buddha. The smell of the incense and warmth of the space was hard to leave.

The afternoon we visited Nishiki Market in an attempt to find lunch, however were rather disappointed. Being more of a street food market, there was nowhere to sit, and frustratingly, none of the food was gluten and dairy free, so we left empty-bellied and over-stimulated from the huge crowds that the place attracted on a rainy day.

We ended the day with a bit of a treat - proper sushi in a proper sushi restaurant. This was a dream of mine and it was just as lovely as I had imagined. We had an early night as we clocked yet another 20K steps, and really needed a rest!

One more day in Kyoto and we are off again!Read more