The Golden Pavilion
Across town to Kinkaku-ji by bus in the late afternoon. First, matcha soft serve at the gate (¥400).
Entry is ¥500 each, and the ticket is a paper charm you’re meant to keep.
Then you turn the corner and there it is, glowing on the pond.
The path takes you right alongside it. The sun was perfect.
The gardens
The path carries on through the gardens behind.
We bought bookmarks (¥2,800) on the way out. Gold ones, obviously.
Ramen at Sugari
Back in town, we walked the old streets around Shijo.
Dinner was at Wajoryomen Sugari, a ramen shop at the end of a tiny alley you’d walk straight past. Two bowls and sides for ¥2,750.
Nishiki Market
Then Nishiki Market, the covered food street, and our snack budget went out the window. Prawn sticks (¥800), oden (¥500), dorayaki (¥669).
The prawn stick, which was huge:
At the end of the market is Nishiki Tenmangu, a little shrine squeezed between the shops.
Tenugui and the Minamiza
Eirakuya sells tenugui, the printed cotton cloths. We got one for ¥2,640.
And the Minamiza, Kyoto’s kabuki theatre, all lit up on the walk home.
Back at Kamuroan, a little row of dolls under the dragon. Onward to Amanohashidate!
Information About Kinkaku-ji
The Golden Pavilion, a Zen temple whose top two floors are covered in gold leaf, on a pond in north-west Kyoto. Entry is ¥500, and the ticket is a paper charm.
PS: Come in the late afternoon for the sun on the gold. The path is one-way, so take your photos at the first viewpoint by the pond.