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Published: February 5th 2009
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The bullet train shoots us over 500kms from Tokyo to Kyoto in little over 2 hours. We're staying a short train ride out of the centre, in the north west of the city at Guesthouse Bola Bola where we arrive at about 10pm. We have felt shady all day, nursing our hangovers, but the warm glow coming through the paper screens lifts the gloom. It's a 'Ryokan" hotel...a traditional wooden Japanese house complete with sliding paper screen walls and futons on the tatami matting floor. It's absolutely gorgeous and everything I'd imagined a Ryokan to be, and our host Haru-san is warm and welcoming.
We decide to start by exploring the north west of Kyoto, waking early to get to the Tenryu-ji (Cloud Dragon Temple) and zen gardens, one of the oldest temple sites in Kyoto, before the tour buses arrive. We have the place to ourselves and it's serene and beautiful...I can imagine learning to meditate would be easier here. Bus loads of tour groups arrive an hour or so after us and the zen peace is shattered...it was so worth the early start. We stay ahead of the pack by quickly heading into the bamboo forest to the
north of the temple complex. The soothing sound of the wind in the towering bamboo sweeps away the noisy intrusion and we are left in peace again. The bamboo grove looks exactly like the setting used in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; fresh, green and serene.
We walk down to the river where we cross a bridge to the Iwatayama Monkey Park. It's a kilometer walk up a steep hill into the park where Japanese Macaques are rehabilitated; they run free all over this area but at Iwatayama you can see them up close and they run free throughout the park. In fact we're the ones who get in a cage, where we feed them apple through our bars. I could sit watching them monkeying about for hours...until one, resembling the evil monkey from Family Guy, gives Ritch the heebie-jeebies and we have to wait til she unblocks our path before we run away!
We then jump on a train and head south east to the Fushimi-Inari Taisha, a shrine traditionally to the gods of the rice harvest, but in recent times it is used by people seeking blessings for their businesses. To seek the gods' blessings, you walk
up to the water trough, using the ladel to cleanse your hands, then you are ready to walk up to the shrine where you drop your offering before ringing the bell to signal your presence. People also write their prayers onto strips of paper which you see tied to tree branches in their hundreds. The shrine stands out from the hundred similar throughout Kyoto because of the impressive tunnel of red torii, a kind of gatepost, which runs 4km up the hillside. There are also countless stone foxes, guardian spirits which legend has it can enter the human body through your fingertips.
We arrive back at our hotel in cold drizzly rain, our feet aching from the long day of walking. The Japanese have the perfect remedy for this...the traditional public baths called onsen. Japan is on top of a hot-bed of boiling mineral-rich waters and the country put these to good use with every town boasting at least a couple of onsen. The one near us is very plush...a spa experience for less than a tenner. Segregated by sex there is a strict code of onsen etiquette; rule number one, everyone goes naked. I leave Ritch in the
reception and head to the ladies changing rooms (stripping rooms?!) and then to the showers. Very important rule number 2 is to be well scrubbed before you enter the baths, which are for soaking not washing! When walking about, some people use 'modesty towels' which are the size of flannels; Haru-san had warned us to use one to hide our tattoos, which in Japan they are only really sported by Yakuza gangsters and their women and therefore generally frowned upon. So it's ok to flash everything else as long as I hide the right side of my belly!
In the main room there are 2 large pools carved into the stone of steaming hot water, one with jacuzzi jets...it's absolute heaven...I switch between hot pools and the freezing cold plunge pool until I'm totally relaxed. Then I move outside where there are two more hot baths...it's wonderful to sit neck deep in the hot water watching the stars through the light, cool rain. Then it's sauna time, there's 2; one regular and one salt sauna, where there is a big bowl of hot salt in the centre of the room which you use to scrub your skin whilst soaking
up the heat for as long as you can handle. The whole experience is fantastic...I float out of there, I'm not sure I've ever been so relaxed or so clean! The whole naked thing seems to have put off other tourists we'd spoken to, but I can't recommend it enough...no visit to Japan is complete without this wonderful experience.
The next day we start early again with a visit to Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Temple. It's undeniably beautiful, but I really preferred yesterday's visit to Tenryu-ji, as the Golden Temple site is packed with other tourists and loads of school kids, who are quite funny but not really helping create a zen atmosphere! You can only view the temple from a distance, whereas at Tenryu-ji you can go inside all the buildings and explore every corner of the stunning gardens. Here you must keep to a circuitous path that takes you to the exit before you know it. We decide we don't want to OD on temples before we even get to South East Asia, and so head into the centre of Kyoto.
As we step into the huge, modern Kyoto train station building...15 floors of department stores and
restaurants under a glass and steel atrium complete with 'sky walk' pedestrian walkway, I'm surprised...it's not what I'd expected. Kyoto, once the capital of ancient Japan, is the cultural, historical heart of Japan, but not at first glance.
It's one of those days where nothing seems to quite go our way. Of the places we'd really wanted to visit today, the Manga Museum is closed and the Ninja House has no guides available for us. We decide to lunch at the Nishiki food market where we make some dodgy choices, and then the promised 'free drinks' at Jumbo Karaoke turns out to be of the soft variety...that's never going to get us singin, but that could be for the greater good.
We cross over the river into Gion, the old geisha district of narrow streets lined with 17th Century teahouses. It's a beautiful area, but we are limited to wandering the ancient alleyways and peering through windows, as most establishments are off limits to foreigners unless you are guests of Japanese patrons (although I imagine a bulging wallet would also help you gain access!) We decide it'd be even more atmospheric to see the streets after dark, and
so take refuge from the cold in a lovely restaurant over some hot sake.
Gion is even more beautiful at night...lit by lanterns and moonlight it's easy to be transported back in time. Although we don't manage to catch a glimpse of any elusive geisha, we do spot 2 maiko (trainee geisha); there are less than 1,000 geisha and maiko left in all of Japan so we're very lucky to see them.
We walk back over the river and through Ponto-cho, once a geisha entertainment district, it's old streets are now lined with 'girlie bars' and karaoke rooms. The contrast of old and new, garish neon next to soft lanterns is quite symolic of what we've seen thorughout Japan: ancient temples surrounded by skyscrapers, older ladies in full kimono on the subway clutching their mobile phones. Since the end of the 2nd World War Japan has rushed into the future as fast as a bullet train, but old beliefs and traditions seem to still hold strong and I hope it stays that way. The culture of humility and respect is to be celebrated and something it's be good to see more of on the streets back home.
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james
non-member comment
so jealous
it sounds so nice out there - definitely another must-see destination for my growing list! hope you guys are well x