Kyoto

After Hiroshima we headed down to Kyoto. I was hoping to get there early and see some of the sights, but it wasn't to be. We loafed around too much, lingered over lunch in the Kyoto towers high above the station, and then got lost looking for our ryokan so it was 4 pm before we were ready to do anything. All the sights in Japan shut up at 5, so it felt like a bit of a wasted day. The Kyoto museum didn't shut until 7, so we went there and made up our own captions for the non-English labelled exhibits.
The next day we got up early(ish) and went to Kinkaku-ji, the golden pavillion. I like Kyoto as a city, but I hate the way it's so spread out. It takes forever to get to the places where you want to go, and travelling by bus is stressful. I always seem to miss my stop or get lost in this city. Kinkaku-ji was pretty, and I liked the way the scenery and gardens reflected Ginkaku-ji, the silver pavillion I visited when I came here in November. After that we went to Daitoku-ji (not much to see, unfortunately) and then headed to the botanical gardens (Mum choosing what to do, for a change) which bored the pants off me.
We stopped for a quick pint downtown then wandered around Gion, the old geisha district.