The next morning, we start with doing some laundry, since this is the only time we have the opportunity to have our stuff dry in a hotel room during the day. The rest of the morning is spend visiting the Sanjusangen-do temple, where 1001 hand-crafted wooden Buddha figures are displayed. Since this also seems to be a mandatory school visit location, a lot of high school students are running around. Which brings us to the inevitable 'speaking with foreigners' assignment. First, a group of three boys and three girls try to speak English, to get a picture with us, then a rather hesitant young boy is pushed forward by his teacher, to get him to introduce himself in his best English.
The east side of Kyoto is not as impressive as the north part is though, and soon we decide to head back to the hotel, to get the bikes, and see what roads JBR had prepared for us should we want to go to Himeji. Driving all the way is out of the question, but since the weather is very nice once more, we do want to enjoy a nice drive, especially without the side-cases this time.
A very nice drive it is, with roads not much wider than one car (no problem on a bike though) and very impressive hairpins along the route. Once more, Japan's roads show themselves from their best side, and the afternoon is very well spend driving around through the mountains.
After we get back to the hotel by the end of the day, we head back out into Kyoto for some food, and see some of the other attractions, as some streets should still look quite authentic. It turns out that, as it is spring, a lot of temples are open at night, and their gardens have been lighted up to display the cherry blossoms. We spend a good time taking pictures, and when we walk back through a small alley on our way back to the hotel, we run into a relative who happened to be coming out of a restaurant just as we were passing along. Talk about one in a million chances.