Woke up after the best night sleep so far to a beautifully sunny Kyoto! Quick trip to buy instant coffee and more steamed Pork buns for breakfast, then up and out in to the day.
We met up again with Alastair to spend the day in East Kyoto doing some temple hopping. Our first port of call was Fushimi-inari Taisha which was complex of shrines where all the paths were lined with Torii (the red archway/gates) and when I say lined, I mean they were pretty much constant. It was quite incredible. There is also a lot of stone foxes as they represent the Deity Inari, the God of the rice harvest.
It was a really beautiful place, but we must have spent over two hours walking the full complex and a large chunk (well... 50%) was uphill! Maybe not the best way to start a day.
After that, we ditched guide books and just went wandering - the area is so full of temples and shrines that you don't need to worry about getting the "right" ones.
The area also has a couple of amazing streets called Ninen-zaka and Sannen-zaka that are lined with very traditional style buildings, tea rooms, restaurants and shops. Very lovely place to wander.
There were a lot of people wearing the full Yukata/kimono ensemble just wandering around... Not for show, but just because that's what they wear. Really strange seeing people in such traditional outfits taking selfies and photos of each other eating ice cream!!
Just up the hill from here is the massive temple complex called Kiyomizu-dera, which has one of the big dragons that they carry during their festivals - it was very impressive but did remind me of our Christmas stocking from when we were kids. We didn't go into the main temple, but to the left of the pagoda at the entrance is the Tainai-meguri. I won't tell you why, but it is absolutely worth the walk up the hill to get there. Fully recommended!
We also manged to find our first good cup of coffee in Japan (a place called % arrabica) which I'm sure we will return to before we leave!
We did some more wandering through shrines, temples and even a very impressive graveyard before ending up at home.
One of the things we have liked about Kyoto is how its all built up in and around the traditional and historical elements. They are really part of the fabric of the city meaning you just randomly stumble on them, but also means you can pick and choose which ones you actually go in to and which you just glance at!
Dinner was at a restaurant called Gyu-zen in the Gion Kaikan building. We ate shabu-sukiyaki - we got as much wagyu beef, vegetables and noodles as we could eat, and had a pot of boiling broth and a griddle to cook it all on at the table. The idea is to cook the stuff you want, how you want to then dip it into one of the various sauces provided. It was tasty, fun and very messy.
We have a bit more of a concrete plan for tomorrow as we are heading to the other side of the city and want to get as much seen as possible.
We are both loving Kyoto and find it a lot more beautiful and historical than Tokyo, perhaps due it's historical significance. Either way, we both already wish we had more time here.
Ah well, there's always next time!
Things we have learnt:
Wear slip on shoes in Kyoto. You'll have to take them off so frequently, that undoing and retying laces is incredibly frustrating.
There is a lot of Totoro everywhere.
Worth reading about Buddhism, not just so you know what going on, but it also explains why Japanese people are so lovely. Plus, he's fat and happy, and that's nice.
P. S.
A brief mention of our apartment:
It's very lovely and ultra modern, but the bed is on a Mezzanine level over the sitting room, and the only way up and down is via a very narrow ladder. All good when awake, but less fun when a bit sleepy!
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