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Kyoto
Day 155 - 158 (7th August - 9th August)
After four days in and around the fast pace of Tokyo we took the train to Kyoto traveling back in time and experience a different side of Japan…….or if your name is Tina this meant it was time to hunt for Geishas!
After the 3 hour train ride we jumped on the subway to get to our hotel. Once we arrived at our hotel we were pretty confused as we were looking at a swanky plush hotel rather than our usual budget affair. At first I thought there must be two hotels with the same name but it seemed this was the right place. We walked into reception with our back packs on past the hotel's own chapel feeling massively out of place. We then checked in to our room, which will undoubtedly be the nicest room we stay in on out travels…it was sweet. A quick look at the usual hotel rates revealed that we must have accidentally struck upon a massive discount whilst booking expedia……an awesome and welcome surprise!
We spent 3 full days in Kyoto walking many miles from temple to temple and loved every minute of it. There were so many beautiful temples, lakes, thought provoking Zen gardens and some of the most amazing gardens I will ever see. My highlights were the golden pavilion in the beautiful gardens of Kinkaku-ji and the stunning gardens of Ginkaku-ji.
One our favourite areas of Kyoto was Gion, this is the quaint old Geisha district by the side of the river. There are still a number of Geishas in existence today but nowhere near the numbers that existed in the past. Before we got to Kyoto Tina mentioned to me that it would be cool if we managed to spot a Geisha, of course I agreed. From this passing comment I had no idea exactly how much Tina wanted to see a Geisha and that I would spend three days involved what can only be described as Geisha stalking and associated Geisha paparazzi.
At first there were slim pickings, no Geishas to be seen anywhere, Tina was disappointed to say the least. Again on the second day no Geisha to be seen, we were not a happy camp, there was tension and fears of a Geishaless trip to Kyoto…unthinkable. Fortunately on day three we struck gold in a small alleyway off the beaten track….I was so relieved we had found a Geisha……or had we…Tina was not convinced, at this point she informed me that lots of tourists like to dress up as Geishas and this one did not seem authentic to Tina the Geisha expert. It was agony…so close and now with fake imposter Geisha to contend with…difficult times. But within minutes our fortunes had changed, we heard mutterings in the street and a small crowd, we rushed across and there they were, not one but two genuine Geishas…amazing, Tina was beyond excitement, I was beyond relieved. We then spent the next half hour stalking the two poor Geishas and hiding behind street corners subtly snapping away, it felt a little wrong but failing to get a decent photo after three days searching/stalking would be inconceivable.
On our final day in Kyoto we took a train to the south of the city to go and see Fushimi-inari Taisha, a shrine which was famous for having a large number of Torii gates. A Torii gate is a large red gate which you have to pass through before visiting a shrine. The shrine turned out to be a fantastic spectacle, in all there are said to be 10,000 Torii gates packed one after another leading up the side of the mountain. The result was a seemingly never ending tunnel of red gates which looked spectacular and created a very unique atmosphere in the shrine.
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TEE-NAAAAAAAAAA haha!! T and Chris - the Geisha hunters!