Kyoto w/ Adrian

After a tasty sushi breakfast (that we ordered way too much of), we hopped on the train and headed to Kyoto. First stop after checking in to the hotel was Fushimi Inari shrine, with all the torii gates leading up and down the mountain. We were about the only people high up on the mountain, so I had to use the timer and run down the steps to get this picture

We hiked all the way up and on the way back I saw this sign. Took a picture to avoid a repeat of last time.

The next morning we headed out for the standard Kyoto highlights, Kinkakuji's golden pavilion and Ryoanji's rock garden. Last time, I walked all around Kyoto, but this time we took the bus. I think walking was better. A little slower, but less confusing and more comfortable. After sightseeing, we went to Gion for a quick dinner and some geisha hunting. Caught one on our way out of the izakaya we ate at. I kind of felt bad taking a picture. The poor girl is just trying to get home from work and all us tourists are harassing her. She seemed used to it, though, and just kept walking.

We found an Irish-style bar on our first night there, and stayed long enough to know we didn't want to go back. While we were looking for another place, we stopped some cops on bikes and asked if they knew anyplace. The had us follow them back to the koban (police box) where they spent 10 minutes looking in the phone book for us. They didn't find anything, but said they thought there might be something down the road, so off we went.

Next person we asked was some guy trying to pull us into a karaoke place, and he knew exactly the place I was looking for. I had been there on my first trip to Kyoto, but couldn't remember where it was. When we got there it was dead, so we played some darts and made friends with the bartenders.

Last day in Kyoto, we went to Ginkakuji, the silver pavilion. Not really silver, and it's under construction, so you can't really make out any pavilion, but it was a really nice garden. There was a big rock garden that had what looked like sandcastles and a mossy garden up the side of the hill. There was a nice display to show the different kinds of moss. Now I know the difference between the moss they want:
And the moss that gets in the way: