Kyoto Is Growing On Me

The last few days have been a bit of a blur. I've gone from temple to shrine to castle to temple to...you get the picture. There is plenty to do in Kyoto and with only a few days, I wanted to make sure I saw as much as possible. It has been a struggle, what with my brain becoming completely frazzled by the bus system. I may know which number bus I need to be on but deciding which side of the road to be on and finding the right stop (why mark 3 or 4 bus stops with the same name? Are you trying to drive me insane?) has proved quite a challenge. I also lost my day bus pass very early on yesterday but rather than sit and cry - that was so day 1 - I decided to just buy another one and get on with things.

After nursing my bruises from the day before, I ventured out to Nijo Castle.

A photo of someone taking a photo of someone outside Nijo Castle. This guy charged for his work.

The castle is well worth a visit. I managed to tag along with an English speaking tour. I can't remember anything of what she said (come on! I've slept since then!) but it was interesting. It was quite funny walking inside as the floorboards were squeaky. This was a defence mechanism used to protect the occupants from assassins. Stealthy.

There was a tranquil garden

A great view too

The first signs of autumn

After Nijo Castle I went to Sanjusangen-do Temple which stands as Japan's longest wooden structure. 

Omikuji - paper fortunes

Like a lot of temples that I have visited, photographs indoors are prohibited. It's such a shame as I then have to describe it to you rather than show you a photo. I'm running out of synonyms for beautiful and picturesque. By the end of my stay I'll just categorise things as amazing or meh.

The Sanjusangen-do Temple houses 1001 statues of kannon, the goddess of mercy. I wonder whether the building has to be long because of the number of statues or if the number of statues were put there to fill up the space. Similar to the chicken or the egg dilemma...

It was an overwhelming sight. The intricacies that form each of the temples' treasures and displays are staggering. There is so much detail to each design from the tile work to the wall paintings and shrines inside.

After picking up my jaw off the floor, I needed feeding. I went to Kyoto station to relax and to do some night photography.

This meal was a bargain and was very tasty. Tempura in scrambled egg on top of sticky rice then hot soba noodles. I'm getting better at using chopsticks now. I had to learn quick or I'd starve!

So on to Kyoto Station photos...

View from about halfway up

I needed somewhere to sit and rest off the noodles. I tried to get a photo of me and the view...didn't really work. I'm getting used to heights now. Fuji-San, Tokyo Tower, Kyoto Station...'s'all good.

It suddenly started to get dark and I walked outside and found this. So pretty.

Never-ending escalator

Kyoto has a tower too

Starting to get a bit arty with shapes and patterns

Lonely Planet has this shot in their Japan guide but it was taken very early in the morning. I think  there's more to the night shot.

*****

Yesterday I decided to challenge myself and embarked on a walking tour I saw in Lonely Planet. The challenge being that there'd just be me and a map to guide me to each place. Oh dear. I bought a bus pass (which, as mentioned before, I subsequently lost). Things got off to a shaky start as, again, it took me a while to figure out which bus I needed to get on. Well actually I knew which bus I needed, I just couldn't find the right stop. Lots of back-and-forth walking later, I finally arrived at the starting point. I was sweating buckets already. I managed to navigate my way up the right hill and saw something I had to share with you...

Japan has started selling Halloween stuff. This shop was full of Halloween memorabilia. These masks made me laugh. Scream mask, standard. Skeleton, standard. Weird zombies, standard. Godzilla...diffrent. Horses, because of that Pepsi ad perhaps. Michael Jackson, wooooah. It wasn't even Michael Jackson in Thriller. Just MJ. Can you make out the bottom right two faces? Is that Tiger Woods? The one above is a bit racist...anyway... 

At the top of the hill, I entered Kiyomizu-dera Temple.

This is just the entrance...elaborate.

Three-story pagoda

Tee hee...sorry, got distracted.

Like in Kamakura, people wafted the smoke over themselves before saying their prayers.

Ha, this could be interesting.

I read about the Jishu Shrine here. It holds two stones which, if you can walk from one to the other with your eyes closed, means you will find your true love. Something like that anyway.

Ok, so here are the stones. Should I give it a go? Can't hurt can it? I need all the bloody help I can get...

What the...Well I'm not going to bloody karate chop my way through to the other stone. I guess even the Gods can't help me find love. Sheesh.

I could have written a little love note and attach it to this shrine but by this point I'd had it with love. Stupid poxy stones.

Otowa-no-taki waterfall. Each channel represents wisdom, longevity and matchmaking. The queue to douse yourself and drink from the waterfall was rather long. I already felt doomed from my failed stone-walk mission so I thought I may as well not be wise or live a long life either. Let's leave it to chance instead.

All was not lost though. I entered Zuigudo. Wait, that doesn't sound too good! Zuigudo is a hall named after the mother of Buddha, Daizuigu Bosatsu. The hall is meant to represent the womb of a mother. In complete darkness, I clenched the beaded rail which led me to a dimly lit stone. It is said that if you make a wish and spin the stone in any direction, Bosatsu will grant it. I probably didn't do it correctly but it was worth a shot. I won't tell you what I wished for or it won't come true!

I was greeted by this lovely little fellow on the way down.

This is the point where I got lost. I decided to get the bus instead. But I didn't know which way I was supposed to go. I really didn't feel well. I think it was the love stones that sent me over the edge. All that disappointment left me exhausted. I needed to find shade but there was none to be found. Instead, I decided to get the bus back to Kyoto Station. As this is the hub for all buses, I'd be able to find the right direction from there. This is when I realised that I lost my bus pass. What an arse! I felt unwell and annoyed at myself for losing the pass. I wasn't sure whether to buy another one or pay the flat rate to get back to the hostel. I decided upon the latter. I cooled off, had a drink and checked my emails. I had a think and decided to rest for a bit. As I was doing so I overheard someone asking the receptionist about the moon viewing happening that evening. I completely forgot about this. Instead of heading out to look at more temples, I decided to rest a bit more, head to the station for some food and make my way to Shimogamo Shrine for the viewing.

My dinner - Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki. The former is the pancake dish I had back in Tokyo. Takoyaki is octopus balls. The photo on the right is to prove that it did indeed contain octopus. Mmm tentacle. It was alright. I'm not sure I'd order it again. The okonomiyaki was splendid as predicted. I had Calpis to drink. It's a fizzy sweet milk. Sounds gross but it is very refreshing and tasty.

The moon viewing was incredible. As I didn't have a tripod, I couldn't take any photos. I did try but failed miserably. I had my Joby tripod with me but, unless I could attach it to someone's head in front of me, was no good to me. The ritual consisted of string and wind instrumentals and traditional dancing. The robes of each member were exquisite. Some were brightly coloured and others were dark. I say this because I whacked one of the dark-robed religious folk with my fan as he marched past me. I was too busy being hypnotised by the musical talents of the locals that I failed to notice him walk by me. He looked as shocked as I was, understandably. No amount of bowing and sumimasen-ing could ever make up for my embarrassment. Oops. Overall, it was a great round-up to the day.

This brings us to today. I had another day of busing round Kyoto and managed ok. I found a fool-proof way of protecting my pass from wandering out of my bag. I plan on hiring a bike tomorrow and visiting the bamboo forest and an onsen. Fingers crossed it all goes ok as I have been looking forward to visiting both since I booked the flight! I'll leave it here for now.