Day 9 - Kyoto

Sunday started slowly with brunch at the Manga Museum cafe. It was already getting hot and humid.  My niece grabbed an umbrella to have some shade and took me for a walk through the Toyosaka-no-Niwa Garden on the grounds of the Imperial Palace. There was a small temple which had several hanging sets of 1,000 cranes. Our imaginations considered the possible things the person who made the cranes was praying for.

 

After that, my brother-in-law took me by bicycle to a bamboo forest on the west side of Kyoto. Pictures do not do justice to the size of the bamboo trees. It is amazing how tall and straight they grow with no leaves except for the very top.

The area is popular with tourists including men and women in traditional attire. A boat tour of the Katsura River or through the streets by rickshaw are things to do when you have more time.


The wooden bridge crossing the river is quite old and has weathered floods caused when a tsunami quickly raises the water levels.

 We went back to closer to his home to visit several local temples after dinner.  The sunset is just after 6pm which brings a relief with cooler temperatures and lower humidity.