Kyoto Day 4 - Kiyomizudera Temple

Kyoto Day 4 - Kiyomizudera Temple

• October 26, 2015

It's day 4 and the final day of the Kyoto part of our honeymoon. We're catching an early afternoon train to Osaka which only takes 30 minutes on the express train, but before we start the 3rd leg of Japan (1st part Tokyo, 2nd part Kyoto), there's still one sight we want to see; Kiyomizudera Temple.

Kiyomizudera Temple means 'Pure Water Temple' getting it's name from Otowa waterfall's pure waters. It's one of Kyoto's must visited temples and it ancient grandeur still stands.

We kick start our day with goodies from a bakery inside the train station.

Melon buns seem to be the rage in Kyoto, we saw them in all of the bakeries. The fondant covering really did taste like honeydew melon and went really went with the plain bun underneath. Kinda like an English iced finger bun but honeydew melon.

Japanese hotdog sausage bun. Can't beat a meaty bun!

Croissant filled with cheese and ham.

Katsu sando, a breadcrumbed pork fillet sandwich. We saw these a lot too and were quite excited to finally try one. Sadly, it wasn't as good as our minds had it, but still fun to try and probably wouldn't stop me from buying it again. Y'know, it's a novelty. With 2 breakfasts each, we're ready for some walking.

We took the subway and from Kiyomizu Gojo station, it's a good 20 mins walk. The stroll is pleasant though, and it's great to see local every day life. The shops get more touristy as we get nearer to the temple.

There's a view over Kyoto as we climb upwards towards to the temple.

Tourists and locals alike leave messages and wishes on these beautiful wooden plaques. 

Cute entry tickets which I've kept as book marks.

A pagoda in the distance which we will make our way over to later. 

The Kiyomizudera temple is such a beautiful temple. I loved viewing it from this angle.

The temple follows a trail which leads all the way to the red pagoda on the other side. From the pagoda, there are winding steps down that eventually makes it's way back to the entrance so there is no need to retrace steps.

The water from the Otowa waterfall.

As we near the exit of the temple, there's a few refreshment areas and we're ready for some food again. The cute seating areas set us in the mood too.

Refreshing soba dipped in dashi. So simple but so good!

Kitsune udon. The tofu is lightly deep fried and soaks up the delicious sweet and salty broth. It tastes out of this world! Moments like this make us appreciate travelling and finding simply made but amazing local food.

Beautiful leaves. Why do even the trees look more beautiful in Japan?!

Winding back to the exit, where the streets are lined with touristy souvenir shops. I just had to pick up a few Kyoto goodies of course.

Kyoto Tower which we didn't get a chance to visit. Next time.

A greentea mochi for the road. Next stop, Osaka.

Read the rest of our Japan travels here.