Gates and golden temples

This morning we climbed a hill. Originally thinking we were going to see a few red gates lined up together we set out to find thousands and thousands of these red gates leading a path up a hillside. Obviously we wanted to reach the top as we had already seen views of the city from not even halfway. The climb took us about an hour. The summit was disappointing to say the least. There were several stages on the way up of mini shrines; the top was no different. But the sheer volume of shrines leading up and down the little mountain was rather fantastic. 

We grabbed some noodles from a street vender before getting a train to another temple. The noodles were coated in two unknown sauces and topped with spices, pickled ginger and what looked and tasted a bit like mayonnaise which sounds quite disgusting but tasted delicious. 

The next temple we saw has been nicknamed the golden temple as its gold. It was quite spectacular and different to any others that we've seen. We also treated ourselves to an ice cream at this point. I went for a green tea ice cream which was nice but not sweet enough. 

We moved on down the road to Ryoanji temple. We were slightly disappointed as the main attraction appeared to be a walled garden with raked gravel and some stones placed at various points, each surrounded by moss. Apparently, they look like baby tigers. There was no resemblance. This is one of the more famous places to visit and personally I feel I wasted 500 yen. I've seen better zen gardens. 

Lastly, we went a little distance to the bamboo groves. Millions of bamboo together in one area, a path leading through the middle. The height of the bamboo was very impressive and it created a beautiful walkway. We walked all the way through before continuing down to the river in the Arashiyama area. Small boats were available to hire and as today is the last day of golden week, the bank and river were awash with people, adding to the atmosphere quite nicely. 

I should maybe add that golden week is a Japanese holiday which consists of four bank holidays in one week.