Sunny and warm, today was a contrast from yesterday's cool weather. misterpiggy's returned to kyoto today and his first stop this morning included a visit to view the many torii gates at fushimi-inari. it was hard to take pictures as he almost got trampled many times by the endless wave of tour group after tour group. so loud, inconsiderate and obnoxious were these tourists that misterpiggy decided to beat a hasty retreat foregoing his desire to do the one hour circuit through the gates.
misterpiggy hopped back on the train and arrived at the kiyomizu station via the keihan mainline. when he got out of the station, there were overhead signs that said kiyomizu temple was 20 mins away. don't believe the signs because it took closer to an hour for misterpiggy, and it wasn't due to his short little legs either.
tour buses jammed the streets leading into the temple and throngs and throngs of tourists pushed their way up the inclined street towards one of Kyoto's major tourist attractions. misterpiggy couldn't resist all the free samples of green tea and mochis that were proffered by the many merchants. here's what he saw. he'll let the pics of kiyomizu temple speak for themselves.
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enjoying a popular sakura combination of green tea and strawberry soft ice cream, misterpiggy simply let the hordes of tourists buffet him along down the sloped streets of sannenzaka and ninezaka towards the higashiyama district, like flotsam on a wave.
before he knew it, several hours and temples had passed and the crowds all converged into maruyama park, where hanami, ie cherry blossom viewing, was in full swing. people were playing games, drinking, and socializing on straw mats and blue tarps under the cherry trees. once in awhile a gentle breeze would blow through the park and cherry blossom petals drifted down like little pink and white snowflakes. such a nice way to end the day.
