Eastern temples of Kyoto, Nijo, Toji, and Kyoto Tower (Photo tour) (4K)

Rounding up all my walking across the day, and filling in some of the gaps with photos I took as I explored – while I resorted to catching the metro and buses later in the day, I walked as much as I could through the quieter smaller streets of the suburbs between destinations.

From the Heian Jingu Shrine my path led north-east, through the grounds of Konkai Komyoji and up the cemetary hill to the pagoda, which offers views back towards the city. Then across the rocky path to Shinshō Gokurakuji and its serene pond. If you want a more peaceful temple experience, I definitely recommend some of these spots that are not really out of the way, but distanced enough from the main hot-spots so as to be pretty quiet. And if you do visit, please keep it that way – I believe the loudest thing to be heard should be the camera shutter.

Taking the road down to the canal (not sure of its name, if it bears one), my path then led north, past the playground park, to the further reaches of the Lake Biwa Canal, and the road to Ginkakuji. The temple itself was becoming crowded, so I retreated to the Philosopher’s Path (see my dedicated video to join me on that walk). The path itself ends rather abruptly at the southern end, with a water treatment plant now in the way, but you can continue south past Eikando, and through the grounds of Nanzen-ji, to the Keage Tunnel, the site of the original canal route, the later addition of a viaduct that replaced it, and the hydroelectric power station that now commands the water flow.
With enough time in the area, it is possible to walk through the back of Nanzen-ji and follow the remaining canal route, and even to stroll along the now drained viaduct. I might have to return in spring!

But I wanted to see more of the city, and so caught the metro across town to Nijo Castle, and after walking the perimeter, continued south to Kyoto station, and Toji Temple – the primary reason for choosing this day in particular to explore Kyoto was to visit the monthly temple market and absorb some of the local atmosphere. A wild array of possible souvenirs – though the one stall I did want to buy from was sadly unattended. Never mind, time for lunch, and I had an interesting place in mind that I had seen on social media – I do like a good egg burger. Then, back to the main station again to ascend the tower that had been teasing me from across the city, where I could look back across at all the places I had been.