Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 8, Part 3

The final stop was to Kiyomizu-dera. The walk up to the main temple complex is filled with all kinds of small shops and food vendors selling their various wares. The temple complex is filled with various shrines and areas dedicated to different things, if I remember correctly.

Like, here, where a waterfall flows down beneath the main hall. It is said that drinking the water has therapeutic properties.

I cannot remember if I drank from any of the streams myself. I guess that's why I have not received the gifts of either health, wisdom or longevity. Regardless, Kiyomizu-dera is a wonderful experience and I would recommend anyone who visits Kyoto to make a trip to this area to see it for yourself.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 8, Part 2

From the Kyoto Imperial Palace we traveled to the Fushimi Inari-Taisha, the head Shinto shrine of Inari, located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan. This was my first time to this particular place. It was serene and beautiful. The walkway lined by torii gates is amazing to see, as I'll try to illustrate with the pictures below.

Again, we spent an hour or two here before moving on to our last stop for the day. I always enjoy seeing historical, cultural sites such as these and I wish I could do them more justice with the pictures I was taking.

Intermixi TGS Tour - Day 8, Part 1

Day 8 was our cultural tour of Kyoto, the old capital of Japan before it moved to Edo (Tokyo). We took a short trip from Osaka to Kyoto by train, and in the Kyoto JR station we took some shots of people bustling about. Even got some students to do a quick pose!

Our first stop was at the Kyoto Imperial Palace. A very beautiful and serene place to visit. One interesting note: no pictures are allowed to be taken inside of the palace itself. In fact, you cannot even sketch a drawing of the inside!

Outside, however, there is plenty to enjoy. From the craftsmanship that went in to constructing the palace and the various items surrounding the structure ...

... to the surrounding gardens.

It was amazing, and I haven't even talked about the sights we saw inside the palace itself. But unfortunately, after spending a couple of hours there we had to move on to our next location.