Tuesday, 5 May 2015
Gates and golden temples
This morning we climbed a hill. Originally thinking we were going to see a few red gates lined up together we set out to find thousands and thousands of these red gates leading a path up a hillside. Obviously we wanted to reach the top as we had already seen views of the city from not even halfway. The climb took us about an hour. The summit was disappointing to say the least. There were several stages on the way up of mini shrines; the top was no different. But the sheer volume of shrines leading up and down the little mountain was rather fantastic.
We grabbed some noodles from a street vender before getting a train to another temple. The noodles were coated in two unknown sauces and topped with spices, pickled ginger and what looked and tasted a bit like mayonnaise which sounds quite disgusting but tasted delicious.
The next temple we saw has been nicknamed the golden temple as its gold. It was quite spectacular and different to any others that we've seen. We also treated ourselves to an ice cream at this point. I went for a green tea ice cream which was nice but not sweet enough.
We moved on down the road to Ryoanji temple. We were slightly disappointed as the main attraction appeared to be a walled garden with raked gravel and some stones placed at various points, each surrounded by moss. Apparently, they look like baby tigers. There was no resemblance. This is one of the more famous places to visit and personally I feel I wasted 500 yen. I've seen better zen gardens.
Lastly, we went a little distance to the bamboo groves. Millions of bamboo together in one area, a path leading through the middle. The height of the bamboo was very impressive and it created a beautiful walkway. We walked all the way through before continuing down to the river in the Arashiyama area. Small boats were available to hire and as today is the last day of golden week, the bank and river were awash with people, adding to the atmosphere quite nicely.
I should maybe add that golden week is a Japanese holiday which consists of four bank holidays in one week.
Monday, 4 May 2015
The Darkness
The first full day in Kyoto started with a wander through some gardens and shrines before climbing a gradual hill through little shops filled with various Japanese ornaments and food. Some food places allowed you to try samples of things, mainly pickles, so obviously we tried as much as we could. The nicest thing I tried was a green biscuit with a white chocolate layer. It pretty much just tasted like white chocolate hence why it was so good.
When we reached the top of the hill we arrived at a shrine. There was a queue for something below the shrine which we thought was maybe a Buddha. After taking off our shoes we walked down some steps before being plunged into total darkness. There was a hand rail which I didn't let go of the whole time. It was slightly terrifying, walking into the unknown. I couldn't see anything. After a minute of so a large stone came into view and I passed it by before returning to the darkness for a few seconds more. We realised afterwards that you're supposed to recite your truest prayer when passing the stone and it should come true. Not entirely sure but it was one of the weirdest experiences of my life. Mainly because I didn't expect the total darkness and I felt a little trapped not being able to see anything.
Next we went barely 2 minutes from the shrine to Kiyomizudera temple. Surrounded by trees this temple sits high above the city. Unfortunately, it was slightly rainy and the visibility was poor so there wasn't much view to see, but the temple itself was beautiful old wood; against the green of the leaves it looked like it belonged.
Making our way back towards the city centre we passed Kenninji temple. At 500 yen we were deliberating whether it was worth a visit. 500 yen isn't even £3. We went in. As with many temples in Japan, shoes had to be taken off. It was quite nice, many sliding screens with beautiful paintings were shown but the little zen gardens with covered courtyards surrounding them were idyllic. And the feeling of walking on wooden floors without shoes was quite liberating. Little red slippers had to be worn to cross over to the main hall where the ceiling was covered in a painting of Japanese dragons. All of the Japanese dragons look like mushu, the dragon from Mulan.
By this time we were pretty hungry so headed towards Nishiki food market. Again, we sampled many different products but also bought some sweet potato, pumpkin and carrot cakes that were fried and put on a stick like a lollipop. Not bad.
Towards the end of the day we paid a visit to Nijo castle. It wasn't as spectacular as other temples we'd seen but the garden was rather lovely and an elevated observation point meant a nice photo of the castle grounds could be taken.
For tea we headed to near the river. We came across a barbecue place not unlike tapas. The Japanese know how to barbecue. Probably one of the best things I've ever tasted was beef on a skewer in garlic and some other magical ingredients. It was heaven. I could quite happily eat that for the rest of my life.
We finished the meal with a drink. I went for green tea milk which was very refreshing but I'm unsure whether it was alcoholic or not.
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