This was one of my favourite and most treasured days in Japan. We hired bikes and rode around Kyoto, seeing landmarks, temples and shrines. It was also the first time that I had ever seen snow! It was such a weird and overwhelming experience but I instantly fell in love with it when I caught a piece on my glove and saw that it actually looks like pictures of snowflakes. I expected Kyoto to be this small, really old, traditional town that I had imagined from Japanese classes in high school. However it was just as metropolitan as everywhere else! Riding around on our bikes with the wind in our hair and the snow flying in our faces made the experience feel all the more authentic. We had the opportunity to explore everything for ourselves, finding places that were both on and off the map. Some of the castles we were hoping to see were unfortunately closed for the New Year holiday but luckily there is no shortage of temples and shrines to in Kyoto! My favourite was called Kinkakuju - a big, beautiful temple plated in gold leaf. It was so majestic, the way the gold leaf reflected off the quiet, flat lake among the trees and rocks was something that needed to be seen and felt to be truly appreciated. Kyoto was full of unexpected adventure and I believe most of that can be put down to exploring on a bike so I definitely recommend it if you go!
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