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Kyoto 14/11/08 - 19/11/08
After another short Shinkansen ride (525 km's in about 3 hours), we arrived at Kyoto station. Kyoto is the Japan before the bombings of the war, with 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites, 1600 temples and over 400 shrines. Our first impression was drawn from the very modern steel and glass structured station with a huge atrium, 7th floor skywalk and 15th floor observation level. When we first arrived we found our way to the Nijo station and our accommodation, but we did manage to explore the levels, and teenage snogging areas, later.
Our Hostel, booked a couple of days before on the internet, was called the Kyoto Cheapest Inn and it was just that. It was also one of the few that had availability for the times we needed it, even if that did involve sleeping in an 18 bed dorm. We arrived with full rucksacks, after a 25 minute walk past Nijo Castle and a very un-picturesque looking school, and checked in. By checked in, I mean that we were shown our personal bunk-hutches complete with curtains that didn't quite meet where you needed them to and a very noisy coin locker that had enough room for an average lunch box (assuming you didn't eat a lot of lunch that is), and toilets with curtained off washing area just next to the kitchen-come-TV room. Basically it was basic, a little bit tatty, somewhat strangely laid out but overall it was clean, cosy, cheap and friendly which was all we could ask for.
The first night it did take a while to get used to the different tones, pitches and speeds of snoring from the other 12 or so people in the room , especially the guy just next to the piece of thin plywood separating my bunk from his, but we slept fine after we had got used to this. The next night had a similar range of snoring but with the added annoyance of the French couple next door who talked, laughed, re-sorted the contents of their bags and went to the previously mentioned very loud coin lockers, numerous times until about 2.30 in the morning. The girl had already made herself a few enemies in the evening by hogging the internet when other people needed to get on, so by the time the morning came she was everybody's least favourite French girl and got evil eyes from most of the annoyed and tired looking people having some breakfast. Myself and Jemma included at this point. They got the message though I think as the next night they were quiet (er) and after that they moved to a private room.
The Annoying French couple (annoying because of the previous night not because they were French) did have a positive: by other people discussing the French/Australian/American/Dutch and English foreign policy, i.e. how annoying the French were, it got us into conversation with a number of people that we may not have got talking to otherwise; that and another conversation about cameras which surprisingly Jemma joined in on before me. The Hostel became a very sociable place with a group of about 10 to 12 people, depending upon what day and when people came and went, chatting about what they were going to do that day over breakfast, and then what they had done in the evening. The evening chat was generally over a beer or some other shared drink or snack. We have experienced hostels and travelling in groups before but this was so unforced and was a really nice atmosphere. We got on with everyone there (excluding the unintelligible drunk Japanese guy who laughed at strange Japanese TV shows), but especially Silke from Holland and Ryan & Alexa from San Diego. Hopefully we may be able to catch up with these guys somewhere else on our travels. Thank you annoying French couple, please carry on doing what you do best...
Anyway, enough of the Hostel as believe it or not we did come to Kyoto to see more than the dining room of the Cheapest Inn. Our fists impression of proper Kyoto came when we decided to walk to a craft market which on the map appeared to be about 25 minutes walk away. After about 3 hours walking, past and in a few small temples and shrines, we eventually found the craft market which was essentially the same as you would find at home. Apparently it is a world phenomenon that on Sundays people go to craft markets and buy random things made from any, and sometimes all, of either leather, wood, wool, dried plants and homemade cakes, none of which will ever be seen again and will sit in a box somewhere until you question why you ever bought it in the first place and throw it away. However, we got into the spirit of things by purchasing some authentic German/Japanese cookies which, although they were very nice, they weren't exactly what we thought we might have ended up buying when we set out.
So, unfortunately again not the full Kyoto experience we had expected but luckily for us this all changed when we ventured into the Gion district of the city. Gion is essentially the main entertainment district of the city but behind the more modern architecture there are still some streets which are lined with the old wooden fronted restaurants and teahouses. The doors are covered with two white canvasses with a Japanese symbol on. That may sound a little vague but for us that was all we could see. There was no translation and as a general rule of thumb we assume that places where there is no menu outside or no translation of prices, were probably not that open to the likes of us. We were content walking along these streets and others like Sannen-Zaka and Ninen-Zaka, and to soak up the atmosphere. They were especially full of character at night with the low wooden fronts and doorways all lit up with lanterns and soft lighting through the covered windows.
It is apparently quite rare to see a real Geisha nowadays. We didn't really know, but most of the Geisha's that you see are Japanese Tourists dressed and made up in the style. It's actually a very big business in Kyoto, called Shiki. We were walking along Shinmonzen-dori, one of the traditional streets I have just been talking about, and we saw a Geisha walking towards us. This was at night so you couldn't see the telltale tourist dressed up signs, like the edges of the makeup. She was on her own, which is a hint that she was not a tourist, and her overall demeanour and poise just made her stand out from any of the other Geisha lookalikes we saw while we were in Kyoto. She did not stop for photo's and only acknowledged us with a very small bow of the head and then disappeared into a nearby tea house. I can honestly not be sure if she was a real Geisha or Maiko but we both decided that we were very lucky, and believe that she was.
And now on to the Temples and Shrines. It would be a very boring blog if I wrote a daily list of what temples we visited so I decided that the best way to try and describe them was pick out a few of my favourites and talk about them. The Temples and Shrines do all have some common features. They are all very detailed wooden structures, sometimes they have rendered walls and other times they may have timber panels. They all have more detailed figures or carvings on the roof with small half circular tiles running in lines. It is usually a dark wood due to the age and this makes them stand out dramatically behind bright red Torii or roofs of Pagodas. It also gives a great contrast against the dark red of the autumn maple leaves on all the hillsides around. Any one of these temples would be wonderful in its own right but Kyoto is as famous as it is because of the sheer number of them.
A couple that stood out were;
-Kiyomizo-Dera Temple, this was set against a hillside with the dark red maple leaves. It had a large veranda that stretched out over the hill that was supported by hundreds of wooden pillars and had an amazing view of the city. We came to this temple twice as the first time we found it was after dark. This didn't diminish the view as we, purely by luck, arrived in the middle of a festival that involved lighting it up (and also explained why most of the hostels and all of the private rooms that we tried to book were full). The lights gave the temple another dimension. We came back later as mainly I wanted to get some photos during the day but also because of how busy it was in the evenings. The Japanese are very respectful and calm until you put them in a crowd near a good photo opportunity. I won't say there was biting and kicking but it was elbows at dawn and every man, woman and child for themselves. During the day it was still busy but a lot more relaxed.
- Fushimi-Inari Taisha Shrine, This is actually five shrine areas all on one site and is again spread across wooded hill sides. It is one of Japan's most popular shrines owing to the hundreds of Torii crossing the paths. There are so many of them and they are so tightly placed together that they appear to create a tunnel through the grounds. The bright red Torii of varying sizes stretches through the grounds and connects the main shrine with smaller miniature shrines around the complex. It probably shouldn't be a factor of why you would want to visit somewhere but a picture of these Torii was used to advertise Japan in a brochure I once saw and I wouldn't say it has been a dream to go to but it is good when you see something that you have wanted to for some time.
We did a few other non cultural activities in Kyoto. The favourite being the Monkey park which basically it involves a walk up a hillside and then into a feeding area where the monkeys hang outside and you feed them. It was strangely like being at a zoo only in reverse with the animals on the outside and us being stuck in a cage. We also tried sushi from a Sushi Train Restaurant at the station. This was the first time I had ever been to one of these and after a small period of deciding what we thought things were, I decided to go for it. Jemma played it safe with salmon and prawns, whereas I went for it and sampled some of the delights like salmon eggs, raw squid and various types of unidentifiable fish. Finally, after a quick total of the plates (these all cost different amounts and to get your bill you count the different types of plates), which compared to our neighbours was a very small number (they had reduced the worlds fish stock by around 10% between them), we paid and left feeling full but trying not to think about the strange things that we were still picking out of our teeth.
This was our 'goodbye to Japan' meal and it was a good way to finish off the amazingly beautifully weird country. Most of the places we have been on this trip we felt that we had seen a fair percentage of. Japan goes into the same category as China. We have scratched the surface but we will be back...
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