Visit date(s):  May 1999, October 10, 11, 15, 2024

Nearby sites on trip: Ancient Nara (1999)

Overnight location: Kyoto 

Location(s):  

• Ginkaku ji (1999)
• Ryoan-ji (1999)
• Nijo-jo (1999, gotta love that floor)
• Hongan-ji (nishi-) (October 10) (photo)
• Enryaku-ji  (October 11)
• Kamigamo Shrine (October 15)
• Shimogamo Shrine (October 15)

Travel method(s):  Foot, train, funicular, cable car, taxi, subway, bus

Travel duration:  Minutes, to over an hour for each

Visit duration: 1-3 hours / location

OUV: This is a large collection of exceptionally preserved buildings.  In comparison to Hiraizumi, there are many more buildings, but both have very beautiful gardens.  Remarkably, these buildings are still used for their original purposes, hundreds of years later.  We will continue to visit.

Best of:

Much to our delight, Hongan-ji has a nightingale floor, like Nijo-jo.  With the technology changes over the last 25 years, we now have a recording of this gentle chirping.  It was one of my most vivid memories after the first visit.

We also really enjoyed the round trip to Enryaku-ji.  This involved a train, a walk, a funicular, a walk to and around the temple and across the mountain ridge, a ropeway, a cable car, a taxi, another walk and a subway train.  This was a very varied and pleasant way to spend a day.

Shimigamo and Kamigamo shrines are connected by the Kamo river and the walking route between them is along it.  This emphasizes this connection.  Water runs through both and divides and unifies the spaces within each.

Worst of:  Parts of the city are very congested and take some time to cross.