Kiyomizu-dera (pure water temple)

We arrived in Kyoto in the heart of the frenzy for the maple trees to change colours in the fall. Much to our dismay, most of the hotels were completely booked for the weekend so we quickly had to make other plans. 

Sakura in the spring is the busiest season and the maple trees in the fall is the equivalent. Not knowing when they will turn is the most exciting part but again it can be very disastrous to your hotel accommodation and travel plans. 

The kiyomizu-dera was packed and so was every other major tourist sites in Kyoto. Walking up to the site was exciting as we had a gillion tourists walking with us. It was elbow to elbow. I really wanted to see all the beautiful sites in Kyoto but it was hard to enjoy and explore when you have that many people in one location.

The wooden building was very impressive! No nails! I loved looking at the building from afar to really appreciate it all.

Kyoto is known for its historical sites. Three days in Kyoto was hard to see everything. We had to prioritize and be picky about where we go each day as we didn't have time to do it all. Most of the sites are only open during business hours. We weren't on a tour so it took a while to go from point A to B sometimes but that suited us just fine. I hate following a tour, haha.


P.S.
The maple trees changed colours the week after we were in Kyoto. I can only imagine the crowds!