Typhoons, trenchfoot, temples and the Japanese theatrical equivalent of golf

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Typhoons, trenchfoot, temples and the Japanese theatrical equivalent of golf.



It wasn't until late afternoon that we found out that the torrential rain we had had all day was actually a typhoon. One with a name as well. (If anyone sees the job naming typhoons, hurricanes etc going please give me a shout-I quite fancy that). We weren't at the epicentre of it thankfully but by god it's rained today. Hence the trenchfoot.



Our first stop of today raised a very important question-at what stage do you become a warlord? How many wars do you have to wage to warrant that title? Must you win all the wars you wage? Do people grow up wanting to be a warload but end up being an armour polisher instead? Answers on a postcard to Stop Asking Stupid Questions, Insanity Street, Little Pumping, Warlordshire, RC1 T1T.



Sanjusangen-do temple is only £4.50 to get in. You'd pay £789 to pay to get in something similar back home and then get pickpocketed on the way round. You get told it's expensive here but some things are cheaper than home and entrance fees are a fine example.



This temple holds 1000 statues all the same and all stand 11ft high. They were carved out of wood, lacquered and then coated with gold. In front of the 1000 statues were various statues of various deities. Quite a site and Claire was amazed when I said I was very impressed. I do get impressed by things....honest!



After a walk round the grounds it reminded me of something that happened yesterday as we walked round Nijo castle. There was music playing over the outside speakers......and it was....wait for it....Auld Lang Syne! Bizarre!



The National museum had decided to be closed today for no apparent reason or maybe it was to prevent any tourists getting dry. So we headed for another temple and stopped off at another temple on the way.



Kiyomizu-dera temple is up a hill and the way we went to walk was closed because there had been a landslide which wasn't surprising really given the weather. It's a wonder all of Kyoto hasn't gone with it.



We did find our way up a road which was doing a fine impression of a river. This temple was only £3.50 to get in and had extensive gardens to walk round

as well. There were lots of people dressed up in kimonos and incredibly uncomfortable looking wooden sandals. They look very difficult to walk round in, well shuffe in anyway. So even without the colourful temple and shrines everything was bright anyway.



Again the temple, gardens and outbuildings were very impressive and again the rain continued to chuck it down. We even had to put our cameras away despite them being under umbrellas to keep them dry. And then cover the bags with our raincoats.



For lunch we decided to have Japanese again and found a restaurant that did a bit of everything. I had my first bowl of soba of the holiday and slurped like a local plus some tempura and some sushi. I fancy Japanese tomorrow....



And then it was cat time. 30 minutes in a faux jungle with a few Bengal cats. Thankfully they're not quite as fearsome as their tiger cousins and are about as scary as some cotton wool dippped in sugar. Claire was in her element as they cavorted round and sat on knees, bags etc. I think she probably used a whole memory card in there.....



We then went to Gion corner where a show was on which would demonstrate some tradional Japanese culture. There looked quite a lot to get in to a show lasting less than an hour so I was worried I wasn't going to get my £20's worth. We sat on the front row and were allowed to take pictures which was unusual but good.



So they started with the tea ceremony which was at the side of the stage so we couldn't really see. After a while the curtains opened and some women plonked away on an ancient harp. Then another lady decided to show off her flower arranging skills but she really shouldn't have bothered. There were no flowers for a start. Even our cat Bod could shove four branches into a vase. If that's the best ikebana there is it's time to pack up and open an umbrella shop.



Next up was a short comedy sketch that Delboy and Rodney would have been proud of. Then a fantastically dressed chap danced around the stage really really slowly while some old bloke banged occasionally on a drum while someone played something that sounded like someone's first recorder lesson.



Next were a couple of girls dressed as geisha did two incredibly slow dances that were probably very meaningful....to someone…? Anyone? The final bit which was three guys controlling one puppet went on for ages and nothing happened. Apart from the comedy segment everything was really slow and the theatrical equivalent of golf i.e. self indulgent and laborious. No wonder the Japanese moved into pachinko and karaoke!



It was nice to see examples of the various Japanese arts but you wouldn't want to waste your money watching them indiviually that's for sure.



In a bizarre turn of events it had actually stopped raining when we came out so we were able to wander sans brollies. We went to some sort of colourful shrine and then attempted to get home by train. My feet were showing signs of soreness having been soaked all day so the rail option home seemed the better option.



I'm not sure what's gone wrong today but, horror of horrors, some trains are running late! It must be something serious as they're far too organised to let things like the wrong leaves being on the line stop them. But get back to our apartment we did with the final walk from the station making it another 11 miles walked today. I'm not sure this comes under the definition of holiday....



Oh and I had my camera strap break on me today meaning for the third time my £1200 camera tumbled to the floor in the pouring rain. Thankfully there appears to be no damage this time.

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