Eikan-dō Zenrin-ji(永観堂 禅林寺, えいかんどう ぜんりんじ)

These photos were taken in Eikan-do temple(永観堂, えいかんどう). The temple is famous for beautiful colored leaves in autumn.  I went there in summer. But it was still beautiful. 

This is the road to go inside the garden, after getting in the gateway.  That cable stones were nice to walk. I found just one tree turning red. The leaves is in the right side of the above photo. I'm sure that this season was not beginning of autumn. It may be caused by bugs or disease. Umm, I hope it will come back to the health.

On a bridge I took this photo. There is another bridge across the lake. In the lake there is many carp and also a turtle. They enjoyed the good swimming :)

A beautiful small garden is in the photo. It's a totally Japanese style. If you like Japanese garden, you will be satisfied with it. I'm sure if you take a photo, it will be good even if without some techniques. Actually I don't  have that!

You will enjoy a lot of statues and drawings on walls inside the building. But it's prohibited to take a photo X(

So, please go there and enjoy them directly!!

The following URL is their website in English. If you want to learn more, please visit it.
http://www.eikando.or.jp/English/index_eng.htm

I enjoyed it in summer. Hopefully I can go there next time in autumn!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Nishiki food market

If you want to experience the traditional Japanese market, you should go to Nishiki food market.

Nishiki food market is located on a road one block north and parallel to Shijo street.
There are about 126 shops and stalls, selling traditional Japanese food, ingredients.
It's known as "Kyoto's kitchen".
Especially many kinds of pickles, Japanese sweets, dried food, and fresh seafood will be nice!!
Also some of shops freely give out samples, so you can try them before you buy.

Ummm.......when i was writting about Nishiki food market, i've been hungry.

Ohhh.....it's time to buy something for lunch now. What shall i buy?

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Sweet watermelons

Summer in this year will be finished within one month. It's already September, but the temperature is still hot like 30 degrees centigrade as the high in a day. I like summer because that season has so many sweet fruits!

In front of an old vegetable and fruit shop like a small stall, I found them.

Peaches, grapes, Japanese pears. And the big round ones striped green and black colors are watermelons.

Have you every eaten it? The inside is red with black seeds. And the taste is very sweet!!

Yeah, it also will be finished a few weeks late. I want to eat them as many as I can!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Fushimi-inari shrine(伏見稲荷大社, ふしみいなりたいしゃ)

When I got off a train at Fusmimi-inari station(伏見稲荷駅, ふしみいなりえき), they welcomed me. 

As you see, they are white foxes and that poll's orange color is just the color on a shrine gateway.

This fox was biting a scroll. In front of a big shrine there are two foxes and it was left one. 

In the photo there are hundreds of shrine gateways. In the shrine you will see more than 1000 of gateways. It was amazing. You may feel that you are in a unreal world.

Wow!! The fork on the road also has gateways. Amazing...

How many gateways are in the shrine? I guess more than 3000, but I could never count it.
You spend about 2 hours when you reach the deepest part of the shrine.

Enjoy the thousands of orange gateways!!

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Abeno Seimei

When you go to the Seimei shrine, you can see this statue.
The statue of the man is Abeno Seimei.
He was one of the most powerful "Onmyo-ji（陰陽師）".
"Onmyo-ji" were diviners and experts in astroogy.
Pleople believed that he had a special spiritual power in those days.
Even today, many people still believe his power.
And they visit to the Seimei Shrine in order to pray to him.
Because it is said that if you pray to him, you can recover from illness or injuries by the grace of his enigmatic spirits.

Let's try to go to the Seimei shrine if you believe his power!!
Actually our stuff go there ever year.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

A hanger with clothespins as a present

A guest gave us the hanger in the photo. We hanged it above our dryer.

Yeah, it's too large to bring when you travel abroad as a backpacker. But it must be so good if you want to dry your clothes without using a dryer. We will use it for drying sheets and towels.

Thanks!! It was a good present for us.

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net

Talking about a efficient way of transportation

Putting a computer on the front desk, they are talking about a efficient way of transportation. There are some ways to travel for a long distance in Japan. Of course JR Shinkan-sen, which is a bullet train, is a faster way than others. But it's very expensive.

He was typing something for searching on the internet. When I asked them that I wanted to take their photo for our blog, he turned this way.

He said to others that Shinkan-sen isn't a very good way to travel. I recommend a night bus to go anywhere. Because it's so cheap, and also you can save the fee for accommodation for a night.

Another guest said that don't use Shinkan-sen if without a JR pass. Otherwise that cost will be too much.

Actually that's too much expensive than other ways. From Kyoto to Tokyo, the fare is about 12000yen...

They knew so many things to make your travel efficient. In our hostel you will meet good buddies.
You will get and exchange information for your efficient travel plan!!
 

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The backpackers hostel in Kyoto is located in its historical district, Gion.
Good access by buses and trains. The center of Kyoto.
Please contact us, if you want to book our hostel.

info@ayado.net