So we were lucky enough to be in Kyoto on the first week of August because in Kyoto the Tanabata is celebrated by the old calender. There was one week long event going on and in the city the biggest happenings were pinpointed in two locations. We went to see both, the one on the river bend and one in the inner city. It was terribly hot on the day time, but luckily the events took place mainly at the evening after sunset, when all the lights lit for the omatsuri got the display they deserved. Events we saw included a lots of small happenings, wind chimes on the river bend and path in the inner city decorated by art university students from Kyoto prefecture area. There was actually less people than what I had expected allowing us to hang pretty freely this time, just enjoying about the summer night in Kyoto.
Other strolls we did in Kyoto included one common sighseeing: Buddhist temple Kiyomizu-dera, which was as expected, full of people. We survived the small hill climb accompanied by small struggle with heat (about 37 Celsius degrees). Still the view from the temple over Kyoto was pretty as ever. We also visited smaller temples in the outskirts of Kyoto, were our rental apartment were. I personally enjoyed those more, but it was also fun to see the buzzing over the World heritage monuments. For me strolling on the streets of Kyoto was also somewhat nostalgic experience. There wasn't much that had changed in three-four years. I even found some shops I liked last time, which I found kind of rare because in Japan it seems to be a trend to shops to have a very short life span.
the Way to Kiyomizu-dera
Tanabata festival
Strolls in Kyoto
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