Day 11 - A lazy day: Kamogawa run, Kiyomizu-dera and more okonomiyaki

We slept in this AM, and only meandered out for a short walk along the Kamogawa (river) as we hadn't run since our first days in Tokyo. Running a city is so frustrating with the many lights and bodies you need to dart around, so the lengthy, empty gravel pathways along the Kamo are really a runner's heaven on Earth. I only wish I had something like this in Hawaii...no cars to worry about, the sound of running water, soft dirt for the old lady knees, zero threats from the mentally ill/litter, ready access to convenience stores for water, etc.

Once we got back to our room, we hopped a bus over to Kiyomizu, Ryan's choice of where to go since he hadn't been to that particular temple before. His other option was Arashiyama to hike up and see and feed the monkeys, walk through the bamboo forest or row across the river...but since he'd done that a few times, he opted for something new/faster/closer. ;-) Typical teenager.

On the walk up the hill to get to the temple, we hit a few stores/shops selling cool dango (this one was strawberry flavored) and slowly made our way up.

The temple is famed for many things, but one is its large viewing platform, which is constructed with no nails. There are also three streams of water that converge there, each purporting to help with a special blessing- success, romance or a long life. However, to get to the streams of water, one must queue in a lengthy and slow line. Once under the water, you grab a long ladle that is stored under the cleansing rays of some kind of blue infrared light meant to disinfect the germs of the newly minted successful, romantic soul ahead of you who has just extended their life...and you sip on the water to also improve your own life.

You can see young Ryan and his father here, extending their ladles to try and improve their fortune. Sadly, I cannot remember what ladle they selected, and I doubt they remember either.

Unfortunately for us, there was another closed off section of the temple that was supposed to help Ryan's love life, so he is doomed.

Our walk down took us through winding pathways filled with some cool foods, souvenirs and sights, like these mini sake barrels. And a funky temple. And spiralized potatoes to snack on.

Lunch was another return to visit to our okonomiyaki shop! Haha. I was so excited to get it twice in two days.

I closed out the day with a massage that was supposed to be all feet/legs for my plantar fasciitis pain maintenance...but something got lost in translation...and my entire body was slowly and softly jiggled. Yes, jiggled. I was not ideal and a waste, but that's the fun of getting international massages, you never, ever know what you're going to get. I ended my day super early with an hours long marathon session of Ozark on Netflix. I was hooked, by the way. One of the best shows I've ever watched!