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Published: July 18th 2017
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Geo: 35.01, 135.75
Today was another warm sunny day in Kyoto. We began our morning after breakfast with a bus ride to the Gion area of Kyoto. It's on the eastern side of the city. Gion is Kyoto's legendary entertainment district and was once the home to thousands of Geisha. We saw several of them as we did our touring today.
Yasaka Shrine was our first stop of the day. It was early morning so not many other visitors were there yet. You will notice in one of the photos a fountain with wooden ladles where you wash your hands to purify them before visiting the shrines. Yasaka Shrine Is a Shinto Shrine where Susanoono-mikito, Kushinada himeno-mikito andYahashirano-mikogami are defied. Every year a festival is held here aimed at expelling revengeful spirits. Attached to this property was the Maruyama Park. Just beyond the park was the Shoren-in Temple which we also went to visit. All of these shrines and temples areas are quiet and prayerful. One by one people approach the shrines, say a short prayer, bow , and move ion. There may be more than one shrine in each location.
We visited the Higashiyama district which is a preserved historic area with small
shops, cafes and restaurants. This section of the city is quite hilly and makes the walking a little more strenuous. Ninenzaka and Sanenjaka were two more streets we wandered through as we came down the hill. They are quaint neighborhoods lined with wooden buildings and tearooms with the atmosphere of old Kyoto.
Our rest stop this morning was at Camellia, a teahouse, where we participated in a tea ceremony. After removing our shoes we were shown the way to a tea room to sit on the floor. A young woman quietly told us the history of the tea ceremony and the healing power of green tea. She explained all the utensils used, the cleansing process, and then quietly prepared the green tea for us demonstrating the proper procedure. After tasting her tea we then each were given directions to prepare our own , including mixing, turning the bowl properly and not setting the bowl sown until the tea is gone. In this ceremony the leaves used have been ground by stone until they are in a powder form and are consumed in the tea. It was truly a calming experience with four key components being harmony , respect , purity
and tranquility .
After further exploration of this area we headed into a different section of the city stopping for lunch first. It was another counter restaurant, but this one had seats and an upstairs eating area. We chose the counter in order to watch the cook in action, and with a steady stream of customers he never slowed down. I had sweet and sour pork. Linda had stir fried vegetables and a spring roll. I also tried gupta which were dumplings stuffed with pork and cabbage and then fried. Everything was delicious.
Our next destination was a bus and then a streetcar ride away. Many of the sights here are spread out so different modes of transportation are required. These rides carried us to the Southern Kyoto and the Arishiyama Bamboo Groves. This was a very crowded tourist area. We stopped at the Hough In Temple and then made our way through the bamboo groves. It was another experience to add to our list and more memories created.
Another observation we made today is that in every store, restaurant or cafe where there is music playing it is American songs sung in English.
Since we had a big lunch it is too
early to report on dinner so I'm taking this opportunity to write before we go out tonight.
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Pearl
non-member comment
I'm glad you have experienced so many different dishes. The tea ceremony sounds awesome!! Continue to have a great time and safe trip home!