Ginkakuji, Kinkakuji Temples and Philosophers Walk (Jan. 25, 2019)

Today I spent a lot of the day on the city bus, getting from one place to another. It was really cool, because I also get to see a lot of the city without having to navigate where I'm going. I just have to keep my eyes open for my stop. Luckily today, both times I took the bus across town, my stop was the last stop on the line so I didn't even have to pay much attention. Instead, I just people watched and looked at the different neighbourhoods that we passed.

So I have to tell you about the busses. When you board the bus, you get on from the back door. The busses I took today had a flat rate of 230 yen. This is such a great deal because I went really far each way. When you get off the bus, you pay your fare as you exit from the front of the bus. It's so opposite to our transit system. Also, finding which bus to take is a bit challenging, even with my Google Maps telling me where to go, because they drive on the opposite side of the road and I have to keep reorienting myself to know which side of the street to catch the bus on. Usually, I cross the street several times trying to make sure I'm on the right side and direction for the bus, but it's been working out fine if I just take my time and be sure.

The first temple I visited was Ginkakinju Temple which is the Silver Temple. It was lovely as you'll see below.



The temple was really pretty, but the grounds were absolutely stunning. You can see the sand raked into the lines in true Japanese style. There's also a couple of street shots leading up to the temple. A sweet place that I'm glad I visited. After I wandered around the grounds of the temple, I walked along the Philosopher's Path. It is a winding path along a little pretty river, that's about 2 kms long and has lots of interesting places and shrines to see along the way. It was absolutely lovely and nice to have some green space within all this cement. Take a peek of the sights I saw along that path. I even took a picture of a school yard I came across while walking. Couldn't help myself....lol.



So after the Philosopher's Path, I found the needed bus to go to the Gold Temple, Kinkakuji Temple. It was also really beautiful. Check out the photos. The garden there was incredible and I wished I had a garden like that to chill out in, located in Toronto.



After the Gold Temple, I made my way back to the supermarket where I stop to buy my dinner, and no, I didn't have sushi tonight, though I was tempted. I instead had a salad, wasabi peas, and skewers of liver. It was a weird dinner, but so yummy. Then I chatted with this man from Paris, Jean Pierre, who is 65 and a retired teacher. He was telling me of this local onsen that has an electronic bath and welcomes foreigners and people with tattoos, which are usually not allowed in Japanese onsens. People with tatoos that is, not foreigners. So I might venture there after writing this to you. I leave for Nara tomorrow, so I figure I might as well get as much Kyoto culture as possible. I'm thinking of going to the Funaoka Onsen. You can google it. It sounds pretty intersting and very local. We'll see. Oh yeah, here's my dinner.

Chicken livers, salad and wasabi peas for dinner.......yummy!

So before I go to bed, I have to tell you that I did go to that onsen. It was so nice. It was only 400 yen and had several pools, including a cold and hot pool outside. I met a Spanish girl, Christina, who I chatted to for a while in there. She was nice, and living in California, clipping marijuana for a living. I enjoyed chatting with her, and we jumped from pool to pool talking and enjoying the water. There was this one pool that was 'electric' which meant that when you went in it, you got a low voltage shock from it, something like electro shock that the physiotherapists use. It was pretty weird, but I kind of liked it. It felt good on my sore joints, though kind of sent my hand into a spasm if I got too close to the electro field. In the reviews I read, the guy said he know knew what is what like to be a piece of tempura and I kind of have to agree with him.....lol. It was truly a weird experience, but actually quite interesting. There was another pool that had reddish coloured water in it, I'm presuming some sort of mineral water, that was really nice. Then there was a cedar wood pool that smelled like cedar and was awesome. In addition, there was a jacuzzi pool and several other hot pools. I found that I liked the cold pool the best. It kind of reminded me of swimming in the lake at Mark's cottage or in a lake in Manitoba. I truly am a Canadian girl. Anyway, I spent almost two hours there, and then got dressed and caught my bus back to the hostel. It was a great way to spend the evening, and totally spontaneous to boot. Just had to let you know.....lol. The only picture I got was of the front of the place which was down many windy roads. In fact when I got there, I couldn't find it and had to ask two Japanese women where it was, because it was so hidden. Finally I reached it though, so that was cool. Night everyone. Tomorrow I'm going to see the Monkey Park because it wasn't open long enough for me to make it today. Then I'll gather my stuff and move to Nara. Kyoto has been a lot of fun. Glad I made its acquaintance.

Onsen sign - Funaoka Onsen

Front of Onsen

Bus tells you when it's coming