 A Canter Through Kansai |
AfricaAntarcticaAsiaCentral America CaribbeanEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth AmericaOceans and Seas
A Canter Through Kansai
Asia » Japan » Kyoto » Kyoto
September 4th 2009 by Westie4044, Japan and Vietnam
So having witnessed the urban insanity of Tokyo and the, well, just plain insanity, of crowds at Mt Fuji, I was off to Kyoto, second city and cultural heart of Japan. If Tokyo is all that is shiny and new, Kyoto is all that is traditional. Famed for its beautiful temples, its gardens, and Gion, where the dwindling numbers of Geisha and Maiko still hold their tea ceremonies, it is the Japan of 'Memoirs of a Geisha'rather than that of, well, manga porn. I set off from Kawaguchi-ko in the pouring rain, the mountain inself covered in mist and cut off from the legions of poor (lucky?) sods who'd travelled all this way to climb it, in order to get on, in contrast to my destination, one of the most, if not *the* most, modern and efficient transport networks in the world...
The shinkansen (bullet train), is something else. It feels more like you are in an airplaine cabin than in a train - the carriages have a capsule feel about them, and you literally cannot feel or hear the train on the tracks - it feels like you are flying. At first I found it a little intense: the speed (up to 300km/h) means the windows blur past so fast you feel a little sick, especially coupled with the way the train tilts as its goes around corners. I even felt the pressure on my eardrums! After hundreds of miles on the things though, I have got very used to them, and have a feeling trains in Vietnam might come as quite a jolt back to reality! And the speed really is incredible, making pretty much any journey no more than a couple of hours, even when you are going right across the country.
In between staring in wonder at the rushing landscape flying past me, I was finally doing a little bit of research on Kyoto. I had found the idea of it extremely daunting before,because there are literally so many hundreds of temples that I didn't know where to start. However, as it happened, I had no problems at all! In fact, given that it is *me*, things went surprisingly perfect for a good week or so. By the end I was getting so suspicious of this rare misfortune that I started looking warily up at the sky for some inevitable comedy anvil to fall right where I was standing....
About 2 hours after I arrived in Kyoto I had already realised that I loved this city. First the hostel - on a whim I'd decided to make a reservation with the Kyoto branch of the K's House hostel I had stayed in at Mt Fuji, and this one was even better, with a fully stocked bar in addition to everything else. Built on a grid pattern, the city is ridiculously easy to navigate, and so I set off almost immediately on a little walking tour in the dusk through the darkening traditional streets and into a beautiful temple before it closed. I was even lucky enough to see a maiko in full costume (an apprentice geisha) although one can never be sure whether it was actually just some imposter commoner dressed up for the gullible tourists. Hence, I have no photos, due to not wanting to appear as said gullible tourist ("you can't pull the wool over MY eyes miss!" etc) But she did look pretty spectacular.
That night in the hostel bar, as I was bravely trying something called 'Octopus Balls' which are theoretically bits of octopus in soft batter, but tasted, well, as I imagine actual octopus testicles taste. Shudder. (Do octopuses have testicles? Chatts - I know this is your area - get on it. Also, what is the plural for octupus? Octopi?)
ANYWAY, I ended up in conversation with three English blokes and one girl (surprise surprise that it was all the English kids propping up the bar), which was great. After many beers that evening we decided to head off together the following morning to see Fushimi-Inari Taisha shrine, or, as the boys called in, the 'red fun tubes'(see the photos for why). It was great to have company, although I'm not sure conversations about stripping and the best way to earn tips off of lonely miners really added to the sacred atmosphere of the shrine.... (it turned out that Beth was a 'skimpy', or to put it more formally, an employee of a certain chain of Australian bars in which the waitresses serve in their underwear and give lap-dances to customers and apparently make a LOT of money doing it.... it was eye-opening, though not an occupation I could ever see myself taking up....) In the afternoon the guys did a trip to Osaka, so we split up and I did this massive insane hike through Kyoto stopping off at various temples and gardens and so on throughout the day. I had decided to just pick a few key sites that I wanted to see rather than try and fit in as much as possible, which I think was definitely a better idea in the end, as I'm sure temple fatigue hits fairly soon otherwise. However, it means there was a lot of Kyoto that I wanted to see but didn't, and I'd like to go back there some day. In the evening we went out for dinner and then hit the bar again... its a true true shame that Japanese beer is even more expensive than it is back home!
The next day, the guys and Beth having all had to catch early flights back to England and Australia, I set off for a slightly more out of the way district on the edge of the mountains outside Kyoto, where I wanted to see the famous bamboo groves that are a dead ringer for those in 'Crouching Tiger...'Very cool, although sadly they were fenced off and you couldn't actually walk amongst them - too many people trying to do Michelle Yeoh impressions and impaling themselves on bamboo perhaps? Chilled out walking through the parks and down by the river before heading back to Kyoto for a soak in the sento right across from the hostel.
The next day (Thursday 3rd Sept) I packed my bags and headed off like the restless wanderer that I am to Himeji, a small city south of Kyoto that is famous for its castle, one of the last few surviving in its original form in the country. Whilst Japan used to be full of these castles, many were destroyed in the shogunate period, seen as a threat to the shogun's absolute power, and then survivors further demolished with the Meiji restoration and the massive drive towards Westernisation that followed. Anything that was left was bombed to pieces in the Second World War. Himeji is a rare survival. It's also ridiculously beautiful, and looks more like a wedding cake than a fortification. I admit I will always have a soft spot for strong, formidable, frowning-grey-stone English castles, but this one was prettier. However, to my mind even a child of about 10 could take it down. They have all these fancy boiling-oil-pouring-holes, and these complicated gate systems, but for all that, the castles are made of wood. WOOD! You would have thought that it would have occurred to SOMEONE that this was not the most efficient defensive building material, especially when you read about just exactly how many castles have been struck by lightning and burnt down over the years (obviously they are built on hills). I almost wanted to point out this fatal flaw to one of the guides, but then remembered the boiling oil and decided I'd just keep my opinions to myself....
I had planned to spend the entire day in Himeji and maybe crash in a internet cafe that evening before heading on to Hiroshima, but I found that I, how shall I put this? 'overestimated' the amount of time I would need in the city. After having viewed the castle thoroughly and taken all the required photos, I wandered around Himeji and visited the city museum, which was recommended by the LP. Well.... it was all in Japanese and took approximately 15 mins to go round the entire thing, even with me pausing at all the exhibits and saying "hmmm" with an interested look on my face, as if I knew the hell what I was looking at. And it cost me about four quid to get in.... One of the main attractions of the museum was the chance to dress up in a full samurai or courtier outfit, (I'll admit I would be quite up for the armour!) but it turned out that they only dressed up one person a day, and having watched a little bit of it, I'm quite glad it wasn't me after all. After they'd finally got this girl into full courtier gear (which took about 45 mins from what I can tell), it wasn't quite obvious what she could do next apart from have her photo taken awkwardly and then get undressed again. After a little more wandering, I gave Himeji up and decided to catch the Shinkansin to my next destination, Hiroshima, and my first experience of couchsurfing...
Random Japanese observation of the week: Jaywalking
The Japanese looove their traffic lights. Despite the damn things being achingly slow to change, they will not cross the road without them turning green even if the nearest car is still idling at a petrol station 2 miles away. Sometimes
Kimono-girls drink from the sacred spring of wisdom
..at least, I think that was what it was called...
3 Comments - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
Add Comment
All Comments
September 16th 2009 - Hofner1962: Hola
"In fact, given that it is *me*, things went surprisingly perfect for a good week or so. By the end I was getting so suspicious of this rare misfortune that I started looking warily up at the sky for some inevitable comedy anvil to fall right where I was standing.... "
Is that why you fell in the big hole?
September 16th 2009 - Hof: photos
"see the photos for why"
1) Westie dear - there are no photos.
2) The plural of octopus is octopi
3) Octopi do not have testicles. The male octopus has a modified arm called the hectocotylus, which is about a meter long and holds rows of sperm. That is one big phallus. Oh, and the males die about 2 months after mating - what a big drag that is.
Why am I not surprised that *you* know the mating habits of the marine world? But thank you, I feel enlightened. Photos are coming soon - do you realise how long it takes to load all the damn things up?
All Comments
Traditional housing
A welcome relief from the concrete monstrosities that represent modern Japanese architecture.
Part of trip: Japan and Vietnam
3 Comments - Add Public Comment or Send Private Message
September 16th 2009 - Hofner1962: Hola
"In fact, given that it is *me*, things went surprisingly perfect for a good week or so. By the end I was getting so suspicious of this rare misfortune that I started looking warily up at the sky for some inevitable comedy anvil to fall right where I was standing.... "
Is that why you fell in the big hole?
September 16th 2009 - Hof: photos
"see the photos for why"
1) Westie dear - there are no photos.
2) The plural of octopus is octopi
3) Octopi do not have testicles. The male octopus has a modified arm called the hectocotylus, which is about a meter long and holds rows of sperm. That is one big phallus. Oh, and the males die about 2 months after mating - what a big drag that is.
Why am I not surprised that *you* know the mating habits of the marine world? But thank you, I feel enlightened. Photos are coming soon - do you realise how long it takes to load all the damn things up?
All Comments
Japan's Flag
Map of Japan
Copyright notice.
The text and photos of this article remain the copyright of the Author (Liz Weston). Under no circumstances should the photos or text be used without the express written permission of the Author (Liz Weston). If you wish to use or publish photos or text from this article - please
Contact Liz Weston.