We woke up to a steady downpour - must be the tail end of typhoon season. We decided to venture forth regardless with our raincoats on, a and caught the town bus across the river to one of the huge temples - Kiyomizu-dera Temple. On the way up, there was a gradual sloping narrow street containing tiny restaurants, souvenir shops, craft stalls, and a couple of small shrines. We sheltered during a heavy downpour. The temple itself was built in the late 700's, and apparently houses the Kiyomizu-grata - an 11-headed, 1000-armed bodhivisatta Kannon, that's only shown the the public once every 33 years. The veranda or stage of the main temple which sits on a steep hill is supported by a 12m lattice structure that has no nails. There are also huge gardens and 30 other buildings. The crowds were huge despite the rain, and we wondered how bearable it would be during cherry blossom season or late autumn. Just to the left of the entrance is a special temple - down some stairs and following a hand rail in complete darkness for about 40m, with a faintly lit revolving stone in middle to pray to. It is supposed to signify entering a womb, ridding yourself of problems and facing your fears, and reemerging anew. Quite disconcerting actually and not for those who are claustrophobic. We stopped for a snack of dumplings coated in soy and sugar, shaved ice in condensed milk (thumbs up all round) and some Macha green tea. Afterwards, we got back on a bus to a completely different building being the very impressive and ultra-modern Kyoto Station. There are 2 viewing platforms on the 7th and 15th floors - amazing. A few hours off to read, then we headed out to meet Harriet's previous teacher, Tarryn and her husband Michael, honeymooning in Japan. They'd suggested we join them for some "fire ramen" north of the Niji Castle at a restaurant called Menbakaichidai. What an experience! They don't take bookings, so Tarryn had arrived earlier to secure us 6 seats, and we were separated from the cooking area by a big screen while they prepared everything. The strict rules were laid out, orders placed, and we were invited to take a seat at the bar. After putting aprons and napkins on, the rules about fire safety were read, they proceeded to put a bowl of ramen, beef and spring onions in a broth in front of us, and then pour burning hot oil on top of each bowl. The heat was intense as the flames almost reached the roof. Thankfully, all our eyebrows remained intact. The meal was delicious- accompanied by great fried rice, chicken and cabbage, plus a badge to commemorate the occasion. Very memorable. We caught 2 wrong buses home, before finding the right one, said sayonara to the honeymooners, and settled in for an earlyish night.