Kyoto, 04.05.24
Kyoto is old world. Established in 794 it was the capital of Japan and the seat of the Emperors until 1869 when it was moved to Tokyo. Kyoto itself was moved from Nara, the even older capital, by the Emperor Kanmu. The city has a population of about 1.5 million making it far smaller than Tokyo or Osaka. Nevertheless, it looks busy and crowded around the railway station.
While Tokyo is the administrative capital of Japan Kyoto really is the cultural capital, old world charm with quaint streets, Geisha Ladies, temples and shrines. It is all surrounded by forests and hills with a river running through as well. Because of all this, tourists are abundant so much so that the local residents got fed up and closed some streets completely to foreigners.
Road leading up to the temple
We took a bus from the hotel to an area called Higashiyama near a major temple Kiyomizu-dera. Using buses is a bit more complicated. It is best done going by numbers. Each bus has a number to get you to where you want. Entry is at the back and one takes a little ticket from a machine and when getting off the bus the driver will take the ticket and know where one entered and ask for the appropriate fare. Easy.
It was busy at Higashiyama. A main sort of shopping street led right up to the temple entrance but on the side was a much quieter path through trees nicely shaded. It was rather hot today. The temple is actually a vast area of different temples, shrines and pagodas. All magnificent and kind of magic. It is almost too much to take it all in.
In the temple area are a lot of Japanese women showing off in their kimonos. Some men also wear their traditional dress and even some Europeans have them on. They hire them in shops below the temple and why not. It is after all iconic Japan. Kind of dress up I guess and it makes it all very festive and relaxed.
After so much temple we started to walk through back streets to yes, another temple Ryozen but here we only looked in and were on our way again. It was getting really hot and we were getting thirsty and a bit tired. No restaurant in sight but of course another temple, Kodai-ji. Very nice too just not what we were after. Finally we reached Maruyama Park and Christine discovered behind some buildings a lovely restaurant with outdoor seating! The two beers were delicious. The restaurant was called Malu and does Italian food!
Very thirsty!
From there we walked through old lanes towards the river not missing an opportunity to taste some patisserie which we found along the way. It was really good pastry and sweets they had on offer. A nice change from the normal Japanese fare. We also came across a small restaurant serving sushi and we made a reservation for next evening. The river was not far from there and we strolled along the banks towards our hotel which was not too far away.
At the hotel they offered an activity which was visiting a temple not far away. I was happy to partake but Christine decided to stay home. We were about six people, all Japanese. I was given a folder with English explanations of what we were going to see. The temple was called Toji. It was founded in 796 and like the Kiyumizu-dera from earlier on was set in very large grounds with manicured trees and ponds full of turtles and koi. There were different temples and buildings: a five storied pagoda which at 58.8 metres makes it the tallest wooden structure in Japan, then there is the Kondo Hall or Golden Hall, the Miedo Hall which is associated with the monk Kukai, and several other buildings and residences.
The guide was a lovely Japanese girl who was very proud to show all this to a foreigner. She was able to get us into places where other tourists are not allowed. The hotel somehow has a licence to do so. It was very interesting seeing it all. In the Golden Hall are several statues of Buddhas and Boddisattwas and warriors with fierce looks and gestures.
Being tired we had dinner in the lobby of the hotel. A burger with Japanese spiced chicken! Tasty it was too.
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