By late morning we were making good progress, so when we spotted what looked like a local festival at the Himure Hachiman-gu Shrine in Miyauchicho, we stopped to investigate. The place was a hive of activity with locals hard at work, crafting straw pylons in preparation for the evening's festivities. The pylons were constructed on the ground by up to 10 people, then stood upright and held in place with guy ropes.
Back on the bikes, we took the impressive 'Rainbow bridge' over lake Biwa in order to follow a more scenic route to Kyoto. It also enabled us to call in at Sanzen-in gardens and temple via a narrow, windy path, totally unsuitable for cycling. It turns out there's a lovely tarmac road 100m further down but how was I to know? I blame Sat Nav!.
Sanzen-in has beautiful and tranquil gardens containing a number of small statues, some of which have more than a passing resemblance characters from Hayao Miyazaki classic film, Spirited Away.
Sanzen-in has beautiful and tranquil gardens containing a number of small statues, some of which have more than a passing resemblance characters from Hayao Miyazaki classic film, Spirited Away.
We continued towards Kyoto along route 367 and for the first time on the trip noticed other cyclists. These appeared to be young Japanese riders on new, expensive machines, presumably out for exercise and enjoyment. All previous cyclists we had seen were locals on old bikes getting from A to B.
After some navigation disasters in Kyoto's suburbs, Stu took over directions and we were soon back on track. We made our way through Kyoto's back streets including Gion, the famous Geisha district, before arriving at K's House where we were booked in for the next few nights.
After some navigation disasters in Kyoto's suburbs, Stu took over directions and we were soon back on track. We made our way through Kyoto's back streets including Gion, the famous Geisha district, before arriving at K's House where we were booked in for the next few nights.
We traded cycling for sightseeing over the next few days, starting with a day in Kyoto and a short train ride to Ushimi Inari to visit the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine. As we began the 4km walk through the famous orange gates, the heavens opened and we were thankful we weren't on the bikes.
