I went to Kyoto again

The last sentence in my post about Kyoto a few weeks ago was: I would come back anytime. And I did.
This time the weather was sunny and more maple tree leaves have turned red. So everything looked even more beautiful than the first time.
And again I am so disappointed that I cannot catch the beauty, atmosphere, and feeling of what I see in Kyoto. Not only do the colours of the trees and buildings look faded. But I also wish I could capture the smell of the wood in the temple buildings, the crowing of the ravens in the temple gardens, the sound of somebody raking the stone stairs of the shrines, the sombre singing voices of the monks,…

Watching the sunrise from the ferry

The Golden Pavillon – because of the sunny weather even more beautiful than the last time

Geisha at the Kyomizudera Temple – the second one to the right looks so scared because suddenly ten people shot out of nowhere in order to take a picture of them. It is an interesting group phenomenon among tourists: If one person starts to take pictures, ten others will notice and join in opportunistically.

A cat not enjoying the view at Kyomizudera Temple

Lights at night at the Yasaka Shrine in Gion

The common room at our hostel – it was very comfortable and not like a typical hostel at all. We felt like staying at somebody’s house.

The Taisha Inari – we got up early to see it without tourists. 

It looks especially pretty when the sun is shining.

Beautiful trees at Tofukuji Temple

Zen Garden of a sub-temple of Tofukuji

At Tofukuji we could witness a ceremony where wooden plates were burnt. It was quite a fascinating ceremony, but we did not dare to take more pictures.

Kyoto is known for its tofu. Here soy milk is heated so that a skin builds on the surface. It is called yuba and tastes delicious.

The leaves of the maple trees turn red.

Eikando Zenrinji Temple – The highlight was the pagoda in the mountains, which allowed a good view over the city.

A place to sit and watch the colourful trees at Eikando Zenrinji Temple – unfortunately there were so many tourists that it was not peaceful at all.

I went to the Nishiki Food Market again. 

This time I ate my way through it. 

I tried so many different foods – it was vegetarian heaven!

These are bamboo shoots. They are have a soft and subtle taste.

Yuba salad – delicious!

Maybe I will come back a third time...