Kyoto

Yesterday (May 24) was a rest day in Kyoto, the old capital of Japan until 1868. 

We did a leisurely 20 km bike ride along with Brigitte and Juergen whom we know from previous TDA bike trips, first to the Sanjusangendo Buddhist Temple that houses 999 Buddhas - no photos allowed so you have to take our word for it that we were there - then to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, that dates back to the eighth century honouring the Shinto god Inari. 



The shrine is also known for its vermillion torii gates, numbering over a thousand, which straddle the trails that lead into the woods of the sacred Mount Inari. 


Near the hotel was the Nijo castle that we passed by without visiting. We're avoiding things that require a lot of walking as Rae's knees object rather strongly to walking. 

The previous evening before we went to the downtown Gion district where there are lots of small restaurants in narrow streets - indeed, while there are several wide (6 or 8 lane) major avenues, all the streets in between are narrow, good for a single one-way lane only.   


Public washrooms. The following three photos are from both men's and women's public washrooms, one at a freeway rest stop and the other at a tourist attraction. Toilets with heated seats with bidet-style washing options with controllable strengths and temperatures, In both men's and women's were facilities for toddlers of either gender, urinals at kid-height with foot markings to place the feet and a chair to place the toddler while mum or dad do their thing. 

In case you haven't noticed, there's no graffiti, nothing defaced, everything absolutely spotless. 

And something to help solve Squamish densification and street parking issues, multi-level car parking in one's own driveway and multi-level public bicycle parking.


And there are a lot of bikes in Japan. Men and women of all ages use them to go to school, shopping, and business. Not quite sure how people handle rainy-day rides while in business attire.
 

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