Historic Kyoto: Gion and Higashiyama

Higashiyama and Gion are two districts that almost merge into one, and are the main historical areas of the city. Here, you will find ancient temples, shrines and pagodas, cherry blossom-filled gardens, and Edo-era streets where the geishas - or more likely tourists dressed up as geishas - stroll. The historic area of Kyoto is very walkable - everything was within about half an hour of everything else. It was a long day, and we walked over 20km in total, but it was one of my favourites!

We decided to start our day early to beat some of the inevitable crowds.

Our first stop in Higashiyama was the Yasaka Pagoda found inside Hokanji Temple. While we’d already seen lots of tiered pagodas in Tokyo, Nara and Fuji Five Lakes, the Yasaka Pagoda stands out for its colour: it is made of dark wood rather than the bright red we’d become used to. You can’t go inside the pagoda, but the place to view it is from the streets branching off from it. One in particular allows you to look down the hill and see the pagoda at the bottom of the street: this is probably Kyoto’s most famous view, and getting there early allowed us to enjoy it in relative peace!

Just a minute away from the pagoda is a lesser known little shrine called Yasaka Koshindo, also known as the 'monkey shrine'. It gets this nickname from its three wise monkey statues, representing the sage advice, "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". Instead of writing your wishes onto wooden plaques as you would at most shrines, this shrine offers soft and colourful fabric balls instead. The hanging wishes are a favourite backdrop of Japanese locals taking their traditional spring kimono photos, so it was a good idea to get there early and enjoy it without the crowds.

We then continued our climb uphill to Kiyomiza-Dera temple. Sadly, the main temple was under construction when we visited, but the views from the top of the hill covered not only the historic district but also the whole of Kyoto. There were also plenty of cherry blossoms in bloom while we were there!

We headed back down the hill, via Higashiyama’s most famous historic streets, Ninenzaka and Sanneizaka. These steep streets include winding stairs and the view from the top makes you feel like you’re back in the Edo period. There are just as many people dressed in traditional outfits these days, the only difference being they often come with their own camera-toting entourage!

If you like matcha, then you’ll love the Higashiyama district, because I’ve never seen so many matcha shops in one place. Who knew matcha could be used in so many different types of food? We played it safe with a soft serve matcha and black sesame ice cream, but the possibilities really are endless!

Our final stop in this area was Kodai-ji Temple. There are so many temples and shrines to choose from, including Kennin-ji, Yasaka Shrine, Chionin Temple and Shoren-in Temple. We opted for Kodai-ji because by this point the area had grown quite busy, and Kodai-ji looked like the oasis of calm we were searching for! We weren't disappointed: Kodai-ji features beautifully landscaped gardens, a bamboo grove, a lake, and one of Kyoto's most renowned zen gardens. Zen gardens feature meticulously-raked gravel and strategically placed mounds or rocks, but the garden at this temple stood out in spring time thanks to its star feature: a spectacular weeping cherry blossom. You can't enter the garden, but we spent at least 10 or 15 minutes sitting on the viewing platform, watching petals fall like snow to the raked ground.

On our way to lunch, we passed through Maruyama Park, which had been turned into a festival in honour of cherry blossom season. Scattered amongst the blossoms were stalls selling street food, from yakitori skewers to ice cream. We tried some takoyaki (griddled octopus balls, crispy on the outside and gooey in the middle!) and watched the people in brightly coloured traditional outfits stroll by.

We had a lunch reservation at Izama restaurant in Gion, so we walked the 30 minutes there through bustling streets. Izama offers beautifully presented set menus - I mean, really beautifully presented. Patrick chose a stunning sashimi and tempura set, while I went for the seasonal spring meal, which came served in three wooden boxes, each with its own spring theme. It featured sashimi, octopus, fish in a delicious sweet sauce, and a whole host of other stuff I couldn't even begin to identify. The tiny hanami dango was a nice touch!

Since we were in Gion, we went for a wander through its winding streets. We weren't looking for anything in particular, but we ended up crossing through the riverside area called Shirakawa, full of ramshackle traditional homes looking out over the water.

Our ultimate destination was a quirky independent shop called Pass the Baton, accessed only by a bridge over the river, which happened to serve some of the best kakigori (shaved ice) in town. Pass the Baton lets you explore the area while you're in the waiting list for a table (we just gave them our email address so they could notify us when our table was ready!) so we wandered the Edo-period streets for a while. Our kakigori, when it came, was heavenly - we chose salted caramel, but we didn't expect the pile of delicately shaved ice to be bigger than a human head!

Our final stop, as the sun set, was Yasaka Shrine. This large shrine, over 1300 years old, is definitely worth saving until dusk, because its best feature is the three-tiered row of lanterns that surrounds it. Seeing them all lit up at night was a great way to end the day.