Kyoto

My first proper trip - not a bad way to mark two months in Japan (that's not why we went, just a nice coincidence). Got up at 7, rather early for a day off but it meant we arrived in Kyoto before 11. A couple of people couldn't make it, in the end I went with Hiromi (who was at university there, so we had a tour guide), Yuri the manager, and Hiroki, one of the students who also does part time work at the school. The first place we visited was Kiyomizu, which has been nominated for something called the 'new seven wonders of the world' and gets my vote. The temple as it is now was built in the 1600s but the site has been used since... a long time ago. The place was busier than it looks in the pictures but not too crowded, quite calm and peaceful in parts, unlike the road leading up to Kyomizu, which was lined with souvenir stalls and food shops, most of which were giving out free samples. It took a while to get up that hill. It drizzled briefly, but by the time we were half way round the sky was a bright, cold blue with a few clouds. Quite chilly up there but the fresh air went well with the views. It's hard effectively to describe the place (and that's what the pictures are for, right?) but unfortunately they can't convey the smell of incense or the low ringing of bells (even if was posing tourists doing the ringing and not a wrinkly old priest). The pictures are in order, starting from the orange gate, round in a big circle (with a stop for a drink), then past a small lake and out past the gate again.





An opportune moment







December 10th is technically a bit late for the autumn leaves, but there were still a few stragglers left. One or two..









The Japanese phrase equivalent to 'dive in at the deep end' translates as 'jump off the platform at Kiyomizu' or something similar. I could show off here and write the phrase but I'm not a show off. Plus, I don't know it. This is the platform, at least



Hiroki, me, amazake bottom left






After Kiyomizu, we took the bus back into the centre of Kyoto for a quick lunch, then went off (on the bus again, had a day ticket) to Ryoan-ji, a temple with a rock garden, set in some (non-stone) gardens with a lake. Didn't have long before it closed, and had another trip to squeeze in, so rushed round taking pictures to look at later. Can't put my finger on it, but there's something appropriate about that...















Getting dark, very quiet - through this gate lies a Miyazaki Hayao film, quite clearly





About 7pm, Yuri had to come back early so the three of us took another bus out to a shrine in the middle of a bamboo forest. It was dark by then, so the pictures don't show the thousands of shoots behind the first rows. They were massively tall - must be just like House of Flying Daggers when it's light. Will have to go back. The shrine itself was a bit expensive and not very well-lit, so we gave it a miss, the forest itself was impressive enough. It was also freezing, so we decided to get back to the centre to have dinner and warm up.





Hiroki and a good way to end the day - umeshu

Osaka is famous, among other things, for the food - large of portion, swift of arrival, and flavoursome of... flavour. I don't know how representative the place we went to is of Kyoto (which isn't far from Osaka, after all) but although the food was very good, the portions were relatively small, and took a while to arrive. Basically, it was a bit closer to what I would have considered normal before coming here. Hiroki inquired about one of the dishes, with some justification - we had ordered it about 10 minutes ago... Had this been the first restaurant I went to in Japan, I would have thought it was amazing. Maybe I've just become spoilt - the food, and drinks, were good, nice end to a fairly amazing day. Took the last train to Osaka at 11, then a couple of other last connections (was a bit close for the final one) to arrive home around 1am. About 18 hours altogether, not a bad way to spend a Sunday, quite glad that Monday is my other day off though.