Kyoto wanderings: Kiyomizudera, Nintendo hq and Koudaiji

Spending Christmas in Japan was a little different- my boyfriend came down and we spent Christmas day in, skyped family, exchanged presents and cooked Japanese curry. It was weird spending Christmas away from my family- for the first time ever- but luckily he was there, and I saw my friends, so it wasn't too lonely.

Anyway, we booked a few days in an airbnb in Kyoto and went exploring. It was super fun! Kyoto is great because there is just so much history there- it used to be the capital of Japan, and largely escaped damage in World War Two. As it used to be the capital of Japan, Kyoto is full to the brim of Palaces, Temples and Shrines, so of course it is such a popular tourist destination. 

We decided to visit Kiyomizudera and walk around that area on our first day. 

While we were walking down from the apartment, we stumbled across Nintendo's old headquarters. 

On our way to Kiyomizudera, we stumbled on Otani Honbyo, which is a Mausoleum close to Kiyomizudera. Even though it's just round the corner from super popular Kiyomizudera, there were barely any tourists. It was nice and peaceful.

We walked up to Kiyomizudera, not along super busy Kiyomizu-zaka street, but along a parallel street. This wasn't planned, but probably ended up saving a bit of time along the way. Kiyomizudera was busy as ever, and as beautiful as ever. It's still undergoing renovation works, but you can go into the Main hall and see the stage, so it's not a problem.

After Kiyomizudera, we wandered around Kyoto a bit more. It's cool how you can be walking through a residential area and see a pagoda nestled in between the houses. We found a small, really colourful shrine (whose name I don't know, sorry).

After that, we headed up to Koudaiji. We got to see some late Momiji, some bamboo and a huge statue of Kannon nearby, and the Kare sansui (dry stone garden) there. Koudaiji was great, and I'd recommend it if you're going to be in Kyoto.

After that, we headed to a few more places but I'll leave it here for now, otherwise this post will get too long.
Thanks for reading, stay tuned for more upcoming posts about Kyoto.
-Amy xoxo