Kiyomizu-dera

Kiyomizu-dera is another Buddhist temple on a steep hill in east Kyoto. Souvenir shops line the street leading up to the temple complex including a Studio Ghibli souvenir shop (still no t-shirts frack it but I love the big stuffed Totoros - 100,000 Yen is a bit pricey though). Hordes of rampaging tourists, foreign and domestic, on a site seeing frenzy crowded the streets and the temple grounds. School groups queued to get in too. They used the steps to take class photos. They lined up on the steps like the golden Buddhas at the last temple I wasn't allowed to take photos of. These kids, and most of the kids we've come across, are happy to pose for the cameras and mostly giving the peace sign. I chatted with some Thai tourists as they washed their hands to enter the temple. There were dozens of young ladies dressed in Kimonos here too. Couldn't resist but to ask them for photos. Of course they were happy to take photos of me. We bought some souvenirs as well. Unfortunately they didn't last the day. We ate 'em. They're delicious rice dumpling sweetie things in many flavours. They're best described as uncooked ravioli stuffed with banana flavoured paste or strawberry or even chocolate. We bought a couple of flavours but our favourite was the banana and "salt". God knows what flavour "salt" was but it was sweet. Drool... seriously... drool. Oh, and the temple complex is World Heritage listed.