After a long nap in the afternoon, we headed to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. From our guesthouse, it was about 22 minutes away by foot. Since we haven’t explored the neighbourhood yet, we decided to walk. Along the way we saw plenty of small restaurants and traditional tea shops.



Some houses were old yet still well kept. Some houses were modern and minimalist. It was quite interesting to see that most houses do not have gates and residents just leave their bicycles in front of their houses and no one bothers to steal at all.  Isn’t that amazing? How I wish it would be the same way here in Philippines.

From the foot of the temple, the streets were flooded with tourists. It was the most crowded place that we’ve been to in Kyoto. Tourists were lining up at food stalls and souvenir shops. Streets were so filled with people that it was impossible for cars to pass by. We tried to visit the famous Starbucks (it was so designed that it fits its neighbourhood architecture) but it was impossible to buy a coffee - the queue was just too long. Frustrated, we bought matcha ice cream instead amidst the freezing weather and headed to the temple.

Kiyomezu-dera Temple is located uphill which makes it a good place to see the city from above. Kiyomezu-dera, literally means pure water, is popular among locals and tourists because of Ottawa Waterfall. The waterfall is divided into 3 streams. It is believed that water from each stream will give life longevity, success in school and love life when drank. But, drinking water from all three is believed to be greedy.

Aside from Ottawa Waterfall, the temple is best known as one of the oldest wooden temple in Kyoto. Built 870, the wooden temple stands tall amidst the changes of time but is currently under maintenance. In fact, when we visited it, it was partially covered because of the ongoing repairs. Nevertheless, the temple is still open to public. 

It was sunset then when we reached the balcony of the temple. From there, we saw the sprawling city and the renowned Kyoto Tower. Aside from that, the temple grounds were covered with trees in autumn colors. It is magnificent to see that Kyoto embraces the old and the new.  

We only took few shots because it closes 6 pm and it was really crowded. It was cold when we left the temple ground so we headed to a coffee shop to warm up and explored more shops along the alleys afterwards. We ended our day with a dinner at a local restaurant. It was our last night in Kyoto and we still have one last place to visit in the morning before we head to Osaka. We slept early to prepare ourselves for our last day on Kyoto.