Saturday, November 18, 2017

Last Kyoto Excursion

Sunday Stroll

Our goal today was Kiyomizu - Dera Temple. It is surrounded by various vermillion pagodas and shrines. It is set on a hill side with immense nailess-wooden balconies for the hordes of tourists who flock there. The site has been a pilgrimage destination for over a thousand years. It has a sacred spring and an eleven - headed mercy goddess, and good views of the city.






















It is against the rules here to have leaves accumulate on the ground, so the moss must be cleaned. Here is the noisy way with a blower, but we have seen old men with whisk brooms and dust pans doing the same work in parks. Let’s be neat and orderly, shall we?



The sacred Spring



The deities and Buddhas and guardians are often given red bibs. These are thanks or prayers for preservation from evil and disease. 



Some beautiful bouquets adorned a memorial stone.






The temple hill also has shop-lined roads leading to it, which induces much supporting of the local economy. Bobble heads anound.  Food shops usually have little taste samples of wares out, some of which - the safer looking ones, not the jellied cuttle fish and such - we tried. The foods tend to be bland, emphasizing texture more than taste. And textures are often mushy or gelatinous or deep fried. Bean paste is much used as a base for both sweets and savories. And you can find Matcha in almost every kind of food. Even though the day was quite chilly we went the safe route of ice cream. That too was a little odd being made out of some sort of soda pop.
Quite safe in texture and taste (if not in health) are the colorful hard candies.



I have some other photos from today to share, but will make a separate post for them. Tomorrow takes us back to Tokyo.

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