Kyoto: Higashiyama, "Path of Philosophy" and Gion

We covered no less than 15km on foot today in the warmest weather we have encountered in Japan - 28 degrees. It also felt like half of Kyoto had the same idea as us with masses of people in almost every place we visited. Having passed over 30 temples, shrines, mausoleums, pagodas and so forth; it's been a very long day.

The highlights of the morning walk were the Kiyomizudera Temple perched high atop a mountain overlooking all of Kyoto; Chorakuji Temple with it's masses of steps; and the Heian Jingu shrine not only for the bright red torii gate but its spectacular garden full of Hanami.

The afternoon took us to Nanzenji Temple that had the largest entrance gate either of us had ever seen, Ginkakuji Temple that is around 600 years old, and the magical "Path Of Philosophy".

The "Path of Philosophy" is a canal that is lined with Hanami and stretches a good 2km. It was very busy but probably the best Hanami we have seen.

After a brief rest back at our Ryokan we took to Gion, famous for the historic shop fronts, nightlife, Hanamii and home to Kyoto's geisha (known as geiko). It is a very charming area by night and we were lucky enough to spot two geiko.

Time for a rest and tomorrow we're off to the hills of Kyoto, hopefully the forecast of rain is wrong.