Neko to Meoto: Adventure in Kyoto: Sunday (Part 3 of 4)

Link to Part 2

Sunday was Flea Market Day. We went to the Daigoji Temple (seen here across a lovely water lily pond) and had a look-see.

After the look-see at the pond, we moved on to other buildings.

And the market.

This market just went on and on and on, some great deals, too. Watashino otto (my husband) and I each found some old kimonos for cheap and some old fans...we could have gotten anything from knicknacks and broken pottery to framed artwork or antique farming implements. Lots of kimono, lots of obi (the belts worn with kimono), lots of jewelry.

My new used kimono, as photographed later:

My Other's new used kimono, plain black except for the design at the bottom:

Can't wait until we have an occasion to wear them!

One more shot of the giant pagoda on the way out...perhaps we should have gotten closer, but we'd been there a couple hours already and felt that we were better off heading out to the next item on our List of Things To See Before We Leave Kyoto.

I tried some 7 Up Clear Dry...not as thirst-quenching as I'd hoped, but you can't win 'em all.

Lunch! I don't know if I've had a doria before, but it's good. This one is rice topped with shrimp, asparagus, and cheeeeeeese.

Then we went to get bus tickets! A day pass helped us get around the city to see all the things we wanted to see that day.

I like how you can get a bus ticket based on the catalog of bus seats.

Kinkaku-ji, a Buddhist temple. Known for its golden pavilion.

Even the ticket is pretty. Not golden, but pretty nonetheless.

No tripods or dancing behind video cameras!

There it is, in all its gold-plated splendor. We couldn't get much closer because of the moat, but it is pretty stunning.

And I saw a spider. Kind of a messy web, but I can't spin one that looks any nicer so I'm not really in a position to criticize.

Tiny picturesque waterfall.

Toss a coin. Get it in the metal pot and your wish might be granted! Or something. No sign or anything, just making a guess at why people would throw money at a pot.

I'm really not sure what to make of this fortune. I wonder how much gets lost in the translation.

Random cool-looking building on our way from one temple to another.

Next stop: the Ryoan-ji rock garden. The grounds were beautiful, but the majesty of the garden itself, zen notwithstanding, was a little lost on me.

No shoes allowed in the temples! This is true to varying degrees - some places there is just a small area where no shoes are allowed, in this one it was almost the entire building. I was breaking in some new-ish shoes, though, so it was kind of nice to take them off for a little while.

Here it is, the famous rock garden:

This might be a moss garden, I'm not sure. No grass, it's all moss.

Remember to push dust IN. Pulling it out is strictly forbidden!

Waiting for a bus, random storefront.

Looking for another bus stop, this was in front of a corner store. I have no idea what its significance is.

I love the fake bamboo wall in front of the real bamboo forest. This is just outside our last stop of the day, the Nanzenji temple.

Is that...is that an aqueduct?

Yes, yes it is.
It is, in fact, an aqueduct.

We walked on a little further and found a place where the trail led uphill until the water was at ground level, and we walked along the edge of the aqueduct for a while. Very picturesque, but my camera battery was dying, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

One last shot, walking underneath.

We left just before sunset. Beware the glowing water!

I forgot this video from the previous night - fire poi dancer street performer we saw on our way back to the house after dinner. Super cool.

Beverage stop on the way back to the house yielded a drink so odd-sounding I had to try it. It was kind of milky, but otherwise unremarkable.