Hiking and camping with the girls

UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Suffice is to say it was painful and beautiful

A stroll in Arashiyama and last minute shopping

Fresh from the sights of Nara we headed west of Kyoto to see the work of nature this time. The experience of light rain falling while walking int he bamboo grove of Arashiyama was new, and it was very nostalgic and also reminded me of a certain martial art movie full of sadness.

 

We found a man-made light forest with paved road where couple would take photos with the pousse-pousse, but we also walked in the bamboo grove itself. This is what comes to my mind when I hear Arashiyama. Those tall green bamboo trees work wonders in my happy place and memory palace, and the sound of the leaves making white noises.

 Arashiyama

What attracted us to this grove?

Rain from green bamboo

Out in the open, with all the shops ready to swallow me and my bank account, I devoured each trinkets with my eyes and heart, probably ate a snack or two (matcha rolled cake here?), queued to enter the Yojiya shop to see and acquired  oil-blotting paper (aburatorigami) and other rice powder face products (no toothbrushes).

As much as the forest brought me peace and settled my memory, the whirlwind and bustling of the shopping experience made for instant gratification and memorable purchases.

Getting mobbed by god messengers in Nara

The next day, a pretty cloudy and rainy Friday, we thought it would be better to travel to Nara, Japan's first capital,  home to many temples, a great Buddha and lots of tame (hungry) deer.

Nara was only 15min by train from Kyoto and there are loads to see and walk. Despite the rain, visitors flocked to avoid little round deer poo on the ground and feed deer while on the way to the sights.

I have mostly admired the big Todai-ji that host the great bronze Buddha. The main gate is very large and host frightening giant guards.

The long boulevard  to the temple was layered with shiny water to show the way, while the flowers and yellow grass tried to add some colours tot he gray sky.

 Looking up before entering the great hall,  there are intricate patterns of wood holding the ceiling, and the columns holing the doors.

The hall inside was again very vast and impressive, and made of wood only. It is a great sight, humbling but also a pride to the carpenters and artisans that worked on the structures. The temple was burned and reconstructed several times.

 

And of course the great statue that looked so simply elegant and serene.

 

I would love to have a lego architecture of Todai-ji. That would be so interesting to build.

I was told back in 2009 that this was the biggest bronze Buddha in the world. Todaiji also is important to the Japanese as it is the main temple for Japanese Buddhism. Apparently the current construction is about 30% smaller than the original, so it was much bigger before.

Lots of schoolchildren were taking the challenge of going through a small hole in one of the great wood pillars in the hall. They were surely praying for a good school year or success in some exams. I could not humble myself to try as public embarrassment was too high a price for enlightenment.

The weather was not very encouraging so we decided to go back to Kyoto, taking the well used stairs in Nara station. I found this was a good idea to use as advertising the city sights.

Hanami by night at Kyomizu dera

On that Thursday evening we used our invitation ticket to see flower blossoms by night at Kyomizu dera temple. I didn't know it was a thing and I loved that it was unexpected. In any case, otera (お寺) is a name for a buddhist temple, while jinja 神社 (as in Kinkakuji) is a shinto shine. So the kanji name of this temple indicated it was a budhist temple. I have never paid attention to which is which, but there are some noticeable differences in architecture features as well. I knew the area from 8 years back as a hilly place with lots of kiln and ceramics shop.

We found the way to the entrance and I knew how jewelers and those who love jewels would feel in front of a well done shiny piece. The temple red crimson buildings were bathed in light, revealing the intricacies of the woodwork, along with blooming trees, appearing in the dark skies like otherworldly apparitions and beauties. You could not pinch it or cuddle it to express enthusiasm and elation, we could only take pictures and deeply engrave the sights numerous times in our memories.

 

 

 As we reached the main gate, the drizzling rain did not deter our conviction that this would be a fantastic memorable visit.

 

 

 

The terrace veranda or wooden terraces used to move from one building to another gave a view of Kyoto down the hill, the top of the trees, and the lit up building next to it.

There was a rest area, but noone was in the mood on such a pretty chilly drizzling evening. 

Once leaving the temple buildings, we sometimes found ourselves part of the scenery, surrounded by scattered pools of lights and flowers.

We completed the loop among the temple buildings in awe, very sad that we were back at the main entrance again and that the fairytale was over. And because we could not bring any piece of it with us, we all craved something tangible to encapsulate our memories and direct our feelings to. Fortunately some shops along the street coming down from  the temple were still open, though there were no longer any food stall for those craving a bite. 

We were at a loss at first in the shop, as we were in hoarding mode. But eventually we each picked something to remember the evening. I picked up some small dishes each depicting the one item of the 4 seasons.

With our loot, we went happily back to our Kyoto palace, to fit all the items in our luggage and try to close them. For my part I had decided to buy a cabin luggage suitcase as the fabric bag I was using was no longer practical.

A long trip across islands for a mythical bath in Matsuyama, Shikoku island

We had decided to use Thursday as a free day, and because we absolutely needed to take advantage of the JR pass, we wanted to go as far as possible and maybe even change island. The only thing I could think of was Matsuyama on Shikoku since it was a city and had good transportation, and had Dogo onsen as one of the inspirations for the bath house in Studio Ghibli's Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (千と千尋の神隠し).






And so we departed from Kyoto station in the morning, taking the Hikari (meaning 'Light')  Shinkansen to Okayma for 1h30, then changing to the Shiokaze (meaning 'See breeze') train from Okayama to Matsuyama to cross to Shikoku island and arrive in a bit less than 3h at 14:13.
On the way we saw the countryside, the sea, the pilgrims doing their tour of the 88 temples on Shikoku island. One day I would like to do part of the pilgrimage as well as it goes through nature and remote villages.

 When in Matsuyama, we then rode the tram for another 15-20minutes to Dogo onsen honkan (bath house). 

 In addition from being a very old bah house (from 1894), what was fascinating was that it was well organized inside, with staff directing you based on the the ticket purchased. We purchased and entrance with a snack, so after leaving our shoes we proceeded to the locker room to change into our naked bodies, save for a yukata provided. Outside the changing room, staff would direct to the baths (2 baths each I believe) and after that gave you the snack and tea to enjoy on a large tatami room on the second floor with no walls ( terrace style) so the breeze would cool you down gently.

This was the ultimate experience of civilization, once enjoyed by millions of people when public baths were the norm. 

The return trip took the reverse path, and was uneventful. We all snoozed relaxed from the bath and even though the apartment had a bathtube the experience was well worth it.  Even if I were shy from being naked in front of others, there were very little chances of meeting those people I met again because I had just traveled 5hours to show myself. 

Back in Kyoto we went to McDonalds in front of the station, as J. was curious about their menu. I pigged out like there would be no tomorrow since there was a hill to climb in the evening.

The beginning of our Kyoto adventures

On a fine Wednesday morning we ate another luxurious breakfast in Kanazawa before heading to Kyoto by limited express shinkansen, taking about 2 hours. At Kyoto station we grabbed a cab and as usual I showed the Japanese address. The cab driver reacted right awy by indicating that the address was not completed and so tried to call the phone number that I saved as well from the airbnb site. Unfortunately it did not answer and so we were in a bind. We decided to go as close as possible following the direction given from the airbnb hosts, and I am very thankful for the driver for being patient with us. He was quite accommodating and dropped us at the end of the street where the directions stopped. Indeed we were in an area where a grid of old houses were lined up.

We had a photo of the front door of the apartment so I gathered and kept the suitcases with me and R&J tried to locate the house in parallel streets.While I was kicking myself for not confirming with the host, the guys eventually returned triumphant as they found it. With relief we got the key from the lockbox and were rewarded for our effort.

The house in Kyoto was a 130 year old house newly renovated. Its layout was typical with the sliding door entrance leading to a doma at street level where the kitchen stove and kettle stood, and on the right and elevated was the main tatami room for meals and tea, with a view and access to a small Japanese garden. Along the other side of the garden was the corridor to the toilet and hinoki bathtub.

Upstairs, 2 tatami rooms are separated by a fusuma and comfortable enough for 4 or 6 skinny people. Our host Seiji-san indicated we were the first visitors and indeed the smell of fresh tatami inundated the apartment.

We left our suitcases downstairs in the main entrance, and only brought up the necessary. We wanted to explore the Kyoto handicraft centre to get a sense of what was available before hitting the market. The idea was also to check if there were any hands on activities we could do as they offered some workshops on different crafts. Unfortunately there were nothing that day so we just browsed through the shop, where I bought plenty of paper soaps

Across the street, we stumbled on a sword shop, and so downt he rabiit hole we went.

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 I briefly toyed with the idea of buying a bokken, a practice sword made of wood, but the thought of the hassle travelling to Manila and back to Geneva with it was even heavier and cumbersome. However I was close to buying the katana hand guard, tsuba 鍔 / 鐔 (thing at the end of the sword to prevent your hand from advancing on the blade). They come in various intricate and delicate designs.
The shop also had all sorts of ninja gears, and I promised myself to travel light for the next trip and bring those iron items back in my suitcases.

We managed to extricate ourselves from the shop without being armed to the teeth, and walked to the
Nishiki market (錦市場), an intricate grid of covered alleys full of shopping temptations. As the sun was setting, the lanterns lit up and we were transported in Kyoto from another era.

Samll temples and glitening sacred cows also made their appearances, protecting commerce and the neighbourhood.

 

After touring and getting dizzy we first got into a small bar for drinks. We werre back to the door and a draft kept cooling my butt so we got away after a drink to look for something cozier. After passing by the game arcade where I failed to get them to play taiko, we passed by a promising sushi restaurant.

The entrance was inviting and we found seating at the counter to eat some delicious sushis. Afterwards we tried to return to our lodging by walking through the secretive eating places of Kyoto, hiding behind the inviting dim lights and shoji screens. This view of Kyoto is truly my favourite.

 

 

 

In the evening as we arrived back home our hosts left an envelope with a apology for not having given the full address. They also enclosed 3 tickets for viewing sakura at the nearby Kyumizu dera temple, which was awesome as I left a free day for the spontaneous.