The Path of Philosophy and beyond

Last week I decided to walk the Path of Philosophy and visit some temples and shrines on the way, before going back to Gion for the matsuri. I didn't have the time to write about this before, I will however post it with the original date of this tour.

I started off at the northern end of the Path of Philosophy, a walking trail connecting the Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion) and the Nanzen-ji.

Ginkaku-ji

So Ginkaku-ji was first. I read quite often that a visit here is more rewarding than visiting the famed Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion), but I will take a look at both.
Even through being named the Silver Pavilion, it is not actually coated with silver (the Kinkaku-ji is, in fact, coated in gold), making it a rather grey structure. The tiles of the roofs are made of lead, so that they could be melted into bullets in case of emergency.
The pavilion itself was not that spectacular to be honest, but the surrounding garden was great.
Here are some pictures:

Entrance to Ginkaku-ji

Ginkaku-ji Garden

Ginkaku-ji

I then proceeded to ignore the riksha guys and start the walk down the Path of Philosophy. It's dotted with surrounding temples and shrines and leads to the Nanzen-ji, a massive temple complex with many sub-temples and a famous garden.

Along the way I stopped at this shrine:

It contains many statues of animals and was a beautiful sight.

Oh, and I passed this ancient kimono shop.

Sanmon

Nanzen-ji Oku-no-in

Aqueduct

Further south I reached the Nanzen-ji and was greeted by its massive sanmon (the main gate). I strolled on the premises for a while, decided not to enter the garden but go for a more hidden treasure of this temple, one which is overlooked by most visitors, the Nanzen-ji Oku-no-in.

Nanzen-ji Oku-no-in

It is a small sub-temple/shrine in the hills surrounding the main temple. It is a bit of a hike up there, along an aqueduct and through the forest, but once you have cleared the stone steps you reach a small shrine just in front of a beautiful waterfall. If one continues to climb up there is a small cave above the shrine, containing offerings and mourning tablets. The air there is thick with the smell of incense and the smoke combined with the mist form the waterfall create an unique atmosphere.

I really enjoyed it there.

After leaving I decided to walk back to Gion (public transit would of course have been easier, but I had the time, so walk it was). On my way I noticed how near I was to the Heian-shrine with its massive Torii (24m high, if the info on the flyer is correct). As mentioned before, I wasn't in a hurry, so I explored this shrine as well.