A full day for wandering around Kyoto however we started with a boat journey down the Hozugawa river. We all piled into a large gondola and had three staff in the boat as well, one who punted, the other steered and another paddled / steered (I couldn’t work it out, I guess both).

The journey took a good 3 hours but was absolutely spectacular. We cruised down rapids and got stuck on a reef at one point, but the weather and the countryside were just awesome. We were also made to walk a short distance of the journey as a rock slide had happened, so people in hard hats drove our boat down the treacherous part while we walked. As we approached the end of the journey, a small motor boat came up alongside us.

It was a snack boat, replete with little cooking stove (squid!) and snacks. The three staff on our boat tied the motor boat to ours then proceeded to have a can of coke and a packet of peanuts while the motor boat steered us.

Now in Arashiyama on the outskirts of Kyoto, we grabbed lunch and had a wander around the Zen gardens nearby.

The gardens were exactly what I was expecting: ordered, calm and relaxing. A small monk came out at one point to neaten up the gravel however he was too swift for me to nab a photo of him.

After that we headed towards Kinkaku-ji, or the more common name of “The Golden Pavilion”. Originally the pavilion was covered in gold leaf by an opulent warlord, however WWII saw the gold leaf get picked off for the war effort. The current pavilion had been renovated in the 1960’s and you can no longer go in or even touch the pavilion.

After that, a few of us headed to the sister site of Kinkaku-ji, Ginkaku-ji or “The Silver Pavilion”. Unlike the golden pavilion, it never actually got covered in silver as the warlord who owned it ran out of money, however the pavilion is original so it’s about 400 years old.

Joel managed to drop his sunglasses in the Koi pond, he managed to get a gardener to fish them out for him; however he joked the sunglasses were now blessed, and if worn would give him sight beyond sight.