veggiehikertravel: Kyoto 京都

The weekend of August 22-24 we took a trip to Kyoto. It takes about 2 hours by train, starting with the 5 minute walk to the Kobe Dentetsu, pictured above. Joe got a strawberry milk from one of the vending machines at the station, seen below. He was quite pleased.

It takes about an hour on the Dentetsu to Kobe, where we switched to the Hankyu train for a 7 minute ride, and then JR for an hour to Kyoto via Osaka. The photo below is us on the Dentetsu on Friday night.

We paused in Shinkaichi station for a dinner of udon and tempura. You pay at the machine and then a guy behind a counter gives you the food in exchange for the receipt. Cheap, fast and tasty!

Friday dinner.

We arrived at Kyoto Station in the evening. The station building is very futuristic, and has a cavernous interior space.

Outside the station.

Kyoto Tower, as seen from the station gate. We took a taxi to our hotel, grabbed some supplies from a local convenience store, and hung out in our room, as we arrived in town pretty late.

We stayed at the Tokyu Hotel, which was very swanky. Because we arrived later in the evening on Friday many of the rooms were filled, so even though we had a reservation we got bumped up to a fancier room. Nice.

The exterior of the hotel.

The lobby surrounded a courtyard with bamboo and waterfalls.

Room upgrade!

The toilet had a remote control. I question why the controls need to be portable.

On Saturday we awoke to a stormy morning, which was nice because it kept the temperatures cooler. We headed out for the day, stopping for coffee at a corner vending machine.

Joe selected Roots Fine Beat. Hilarious.

Waiting for the bus. The rain created a heart pattern on the bus stop seats.

Our first stop was Kinkakuji. From outside the temple gate we could see the mark of the Daimonji. These are huge fires set in the shape of kanji characters during Obon, a Buddhist festival commemorating the ancestors.

Joe at the entrance gate to Kinkakuji.

Kinkakuji!

The building, which is covered in gold leaf, was originally constructed in the 14th century as a retirement villa for one of the shoguns. After his death it was converted into a Buddhist temple, as per his wishes. During the 1950s it was burned down by a monk who believed that Buddhism was straying from its core beliefs. It was subsequently rebuilt.

From the side. There is a pathway that goes around half of the lagoon and around the back of the building.

The phoenix that adornes the top of the roof.

The path continues through the grounds. Here I'm tossing a coin for luck (I'm guessing).

The view of the building from the top of the path.

The path also takes one past a teahouse, a second lagoon, and a small trickle of a waterfall. This lantern is outside of the teahouse.

Near the end of the route is a Shinto shrine and an area where you can buy charms, as seen below.

We next took a break for lunch at Mos Burger, a Japanese fast food chain. We enjoyed shrimp and fish burgers, fries, and melon soda.

Our next stop was Ryoanji.

At Ryoanji the walking path first takes visitors by a large lagoon with many lotus flowers and a small island, complete with a stone bridge.

While we were there the staff was cleaning out the lagoon. I thought their tools and technique was quite interesting.

A Buddha statue along the path.

The stairs leading up to the main building.

Ryoanji, which is a temple of the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism, is known for its rock garden dating from the 15th century.

There is a viewing platform on which you sit to view the dry landscape. The platform was quite crowded, as the covered area of steps was a good spot for a rainy day.

It was quite beautiful to sit and watch the soft rain fall on the garden.

We walked around the building, viewing a fountain in the back and some paintings on the interior of the hall.

Sunshine through the leaves....

Joe with some highly cultivated trees on the Ryoanji grounds.

While in the northwest part of Kyoto we decided to head over to Arashiyama, where there is a monkey park. Unfortunately it began raining heavily not long after our arrival, so we decided that a walk through the forest was not the best idea. We did, however, see the famous bridge, and ate some softserve, green tea for me, strawberry-chocolate for Joe. We also saw some apprentice geisha riding in one of the rickshaws that crowd the area, they were in full makeup and costume as well, quite a rare treat! Also, the clouds that chased us away from the monkey park did make for a scenic view of the mountains.

After drying off and relaxing back at the hotel for a while we headed out to Gion for dinner at a tofu house.

The entrance of Gion Mitoko.

I love tofu, but this was amazing. We ate something like 5 courses, mostly tofu and veggies, a little bit of fish, rice, and some sake. So delicious!!

Here is course one- on the left is a wrap of super thin tofu skins layered together. It had an almost chewey texture and a density not often found in tofu. On the right is silken tofu in a light sauce. Because the tofu is made locally it is very fresh and delicate in flavor.

Joe pours some sake, which was served in a hollow bamboo container.

Sashimi and more types of tofu.

Tempura. I think this was course three. Small dishes kept coming for about an hour. The block of tofu at the bottom of the photo came in a wire basket lined with paper and filled with liquid. A small flame kept the tofu in the basket warm. When I wanted to eat some, I used a slotted spoon to scoop the tofu into a dish, and then poured a soy sauce mixture with spring onions over the block of tofu. This was probably my favorite dish- it has a smoky quality to it, and the sauce was really rich.

Last course before dessert- rice topped with tiny fish and pickled veggies, tea, and miso soup. We had mochi for dessert. All in all an amazing meal to finish off a great day.

We started off on Sunday by heading to the Fushimi Inari shrine.

This Shinto shrine was founded in the 8th century, and dedicated to the deities of rice and sake. The shrine heads the Inari shrines, of which there are tens of thousands around Japan.

There are many foxes around Fushimi Inari, as the fox is the messenger of Inari, the deity of grains. In the foxes mouth is the key to the granary. Foxes are also known in folk stories to possess humans through trickery.

Me on the steps to the main part of the shrine.

One of the many shrine buildings.

People saying prayers.

Fushimi Inari is best known for the thousands of torii (gates) that cover the paths up the mountain.

Torii next to torii next to torii for four kilometers. We didn't go all the way to the top, maybe about half way.

Wooden fox plaques. One can write their wish on the small piece of wood, draw a fox face, and tie it up at the shrine.

We came to an area that had smaller altars for worship. In the dim light of the forest on a cloudy day the winding path had an eerie feel to it.

So many torii!

After a quick convenience store lunch of onigiri (rice balls with seaweed wrappers), we headed back to central Kyoto to visit Sanjusangendo. This temple houses 1,001 sculptures of the Buddhist deity Kannon, along with 28 guardian sculptures, all dating from the 13th century. Sadly, photos are not allowed in the temple, but a google image search will give you an idea of how amazing this place is. The following two photos are of the temple grounds.

This is the exterior of the building. The covered area jutting out from the building is the half way mark. There is one large central Kannon image, about 25 feet tall, and the 1,000 sculptures that surround the main image are all about life size. Easily one of the best sights in Japan, and possibly the world.

After Sanjusangendo we headed over to the downtown area of Kyoto to do some shopping and get dinner before heading back home.

Here we are, 48 hours later, back at Kyoto Station.

The exterior of the station at sunset, a nice conclusion to the perfect weekend.

veggiehikertravel

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Kyoto 京都

No comments: