Temple Overload

My alarm went of at 6.30am. I woke up turned it off and the next thing I know it's 8.30am! Oh well there goes my 'early start'.

I went down for breakfast (included in my room rate). This morning I went for the 'International Buffet' option. I think tomorrow I'll try the Japanese one and then on my third morning I'll go to the best one out of the two.

Unsurprisingly I ate far too much -- looks like I'll be having a very light lunch! The killer this morning was the incredible pastries, so good.

After my mammoth breakfast I walked to Kyoto Station, a good 40 minutes trek from my hotel.

On the way I stopped in to my first temple of the the day.

At the station I got a train to Saga-Arashiyama. Here I notched up my second temple (which also happened to be a World Heritage site). I also walked through a really impressive bamboo groove (think: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

The whole area around the temple is set up for tourists -- lots of souvenir shops (although not too much tat) and places to get food.

I got the train back to Kyoto and then got another train to Inari. It was time for Temple number 3. This one was particularly impressive because of the hundreds of orange Torii (shrine gates) which formed almost tunnel like structures. I also learnt about the role of the fox in Japanese culture -- a mysterious creature which is thought to be able to possess humans (usually by entering under the fingernails)!

Time for another train ride back to Kyoto (yes I am fully utilising my Japan rail pass).

At Kyoto station I went to BIC camera, a big electronics store. The camera floor was really impressive, as were the prices. Even with the rubbish exchange rate the cost of cameras was definitely lower than you can get in the UK. One problem of buying electronics in Japan -- Japanese user manual!

I walked back to my hotel and got ready for dinner.