Kyoto: home to wooden temples, colourful shrines and the mysterious Geisha

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Day 1 Tokyo/Kyoto

Today we packed up our bags and rushed our way to the JR line at Tokyo station to make our way to Kyoto. Did we mention we were catching the bullet trains? These trains run up to a mega 275 mph compared to our 2hr Manchester to London trains running upto a mere 125mph. These are fast. Both excited about our ride, the 3hour journey went by in no time. Not before we got fantastic views of mount fuji. P got snap happy and took far too many pictures, while Chris took the time to edit some video blogs. The ride to kyoto was as to be expected smooth and effortless.

Using our newly found offline map on our phone we successfully navigated our way to our new guesthouse for the next 3 days. Very happy with our hotel like rooms, we ditched our bags, got a map and set out to explore the local area. In the end we walked around 6 miles, walking to the downtown area, nojoji castle, the imperial palace and back.

Our initial impressions were that Kyoto was a lot bigger than anticipated. There is a lot to see and do. Too much. One could say it has many faces. Its secretive and tucked away geisha world, its never ending shopping district, the surrounding picturesque mountain areas, the rich history and culture found within the many shrines, temples and pavilions of the area and its more laid back riverbank scene. We agreed we had to use our time wisely and our money too.

Bearing this in mind. We looked up and found an italian fast food haunt 'Saizerya'. This place serves up tasty cheap meals for 2 for a total of 1200yen/ £7, we left with our bellies full from pizza and spaghetti Bolognese.

Day 2 Arishiyama

Since we were pretty much templed out, we decided to give a temple touring day a miss and start with something Chris had been most looking forward to when we began to consider Japan as a possible destination on our trip. Japan's ninja and samurai history.

Kyoto studio park was just the place for us. It is located just outside of kyoto and can be accessed via the JR Line. Described as ninja themed amusement park, this place offers something for all. From its interactive ninja training sessions, maze/trap rooms and ninja/samurai behind the scenes sketch's (that Chris found funny and P could not understand why as none of it was in english) to actual performances. We both were blown away with the skill, technique and balance they had in what to us looked like socks and flip flops.

Ninja time over. We decided to hop back on the JR line to our next stop of Arishiyama. This area is famed for many things including its monkey park, temples and bamboo forest. Bamboo forest was for us slightly underwhelming, but this was a given since there were hoards of tourist groups also trying to take in the same experience. The imagery of a deserted, peaceful and unspoilt place we had in our minds and on the front of the LP guidebook was somewhat ruined. Not all was lost as we just had to look up and pretend there was no sounds or other people there and admire it this way. One last temple of Tenryu-ji and we headed home.

Realising we had gone over budget we opted to visit the 100 yen shop to bag a food bargain. First time not eating out for lunch or dinner, we opted for noodles and then bread for toast if we got hungry later on. Anxious about the flavour as it had no english wording on the packet, we bought it nevertheless and took it home. To our surprise we loved the noodle packs, p's turned out to be a sort of peanut butter flavour noodle soup while Chris's dish appeared to be some sort of soya sauce flavoured noodles. Unlike the pot noodle type packs back home these packs were both quality and quantity. Both happy with this find, we took this evening to relax and catch up with blogs.

Day 3 Nara

After some quick tea and toast for breakfast we were back on the JR lines, heading out of Kyoto to Nara for a day trip. Nara is famed for its beautiful gardens and temples that rival attractions such as the golden pavilion in Kyoto (at this point had not seen yet) and Mt Fuji. This is something we were exited for.

Not let down or should we say, actually completely blown away, we enjoyed the scenic walk around the various sites. One thing that we saw here that we don't see everyday back home is an overly friendly deer. In japan deers are considered as messengers of god, thus sacred and respected. However these deer came with another agenda. Not afraid to run you down or attach themselves to your bag, we had a lot of fun watching unassuming tourist being accosted by deers.

Although there was a lot to take in and we only touched the surface, two sites that blew us away were the Todai-Ji and Nigatsu temple today. The Todai-ji that is the largest wooden structure in the world, holding a 12 meter high Buddha inside, this place was majestic and had us completely mesmerised. In the gates preceding the temple were 2 fearful looking wooden statues, meant to guard the temple and the buddha within. Known to be one of the best carving masterpieces in Japan we were in awe of the skill and size of these structures. After this, we visited Nigatsu which was a beautifully decorated temple with hanging lanterns and bells and a huge balcony to admire the scenic views over the temples and the city of Nara. We sat there with complete satisfaction and feeling humbled by the experience. We definitely recommend it, known as a world heritage unesco park we would say Nara is Japan's version of Cambodia's Angkor Wat or Guatemala's Tikal. Don't think our pictures really do it justice, guess you have be there to experience it.

Shattered after getting back to our hostel, we spent the evening reading, planning and sipping beers. Not before making our way to the 100y shop in which we bought the doughiest creamiest 100 yen pizzas. Content.

Day 4 Kyoto central

Final day in Kyoto. Today we planned to explore some of sites in and around the city, before moving to a unique kind of hotel later in the evening.

First stop the 1001 buddha temple. This place was really impressive with 1000 5 foot buddhas and a 15 foot buddha in the centre. All intricately designed, we stood trying to take in the many features of one buddha alone. Each Buddha had a total of 24 arms all holding an item such as a chain, a arrow, a flower etc.
Upon first glance all 1000 buddhas appeared identical but with some closer inspection we saw tiny disparities that appeared to change depending on what angle you looked at them. Some had eyes closed others slightly open. Although when we looked again it was different. Maybe our eyes were playing tricks on us. The incense that was burning really added to the atmosphere of this religious place as people prayed and left offerings. With the English information boards we happily learnt more about this site and were quite interested by the fact that some of the Buddhist features had many Hindu underpinnings. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed but I guess now we now will take this experience away.

Next stop; the Inari shrines. Using our increasingly useful JR passes we jumped on a JR train to get to this site. The Inari Shrines is a site covered in thousands of red shrines (gate like archways). Once here, you have the choice of either enjoying the shrines on flat land around the entrance area (albeit tourist central) or walking the 4 kilometres uphill through a forested area as you make your way through the pathway of shrines to the top of the mountain. This site was stunning, we can understand why it is rated as one of the best things to do in Kyoto. Huge Shrines stand boldly in red, with Japanese black symbols etched onto their sides. They create winding and steep walkways in what appears to be a sea of never ending shrines. As you walk though, sunlight hits you in flashes as it peers through the areas between them. Stretched above them is a huge canopy of trees as you breath in the fresh air from the forest that surrounds you and take in this calm, and peaceful surround and smile. As you can tell we loved this place.

The golden temple was our last site for the day. Hopping on another JR train then walking a brisk 30 minutes in ice cold rain, we got there in one piece. This temple is situated on at the base of a hill in the most idyllic surroundings. Covered in gold, that glistens in the sun and reflects on the lake we were taken in by its beauty. Not spending too much time there, we caught a bus back to the downtown area and walked 20 minutes back to our hostel to collect our bags ready for our new hotel.

Only a 15 minute walk away from our last hostel we arrived at nine hours hotel. Wow. This place gave off somewhat of a futuristic feel with its all white colour and modern design. As we checked in we were given information about our stay. Men on one floor women on another, you can only use the specifically gendered male or female lifts to get the floor you need. Sleeping wear is provided and was generally worn by all in what we could only imagine prison suits to look like. Eek. Rather than rooms, bunks or the usual bed, we were sleeping in capsules. These were enclosed pods, glorified plastic boxes and our sleeping quarters for the night.

Although excited for this experience, we dumped our bags again ready to face the cold wet night in search for Geishas. Although not impossible, sights can be rare as the geisha population has rapidly shrunk from what I read to be 17,000 in the 1970s to fewer than one thousand at the present moment in time. They are decribed as 'person of the arts' as they entertain business men through song and dance. After waiting for an hour in one place, strolling the narrow alleys and streets, Chris persuaded P it was too cold and we should move on. The closer we got to Gion corner, we spotted one, a Geisha accompanying 2 men to a tea ceremony (we think), this is where they perform (dance and play musical instruments) to entertain their guests. We couldn't believe our luck or our eyes. Standing a stones throw away was a beautifully made up Geisha. Face painted white with bright red lips, neatly woven hair and dressed beautifully in their flower patterned gowns, white socks and traditionally worn shoes, these Geisha were stunning. Struggling to take a clear picture without blocking their way, getting too close or using our flashes, it seemed impossible. But then we spotted another. Adrenalin pumping trying to get the best shot, we looked at each other to confirm whether either one of us had took a decent shot and soon felt like our open window of opportunity to take a good shot was now closing. When the geisha was out of sight we compared blurred photos and were definitely disappointed with our photography skills. Undeterred we set out to find some more, and managed to get a few more snaps. These Geisha are fast, many scurrying from one establishment to another staying out of sight. We felt like paparazzi. Shortly after we called it a night, wished each other a good night and went off to our gendered pods.

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Photos

Elusive Geisha
They don't look but they are very quick on their feet

The very impressive Todai-Ji
Largest wooden structure in the world