Kyoto

30th June, 2007

Steve and I took a day trip to Kyoto. I hadn’t been to Kyoto since December and there is so much to do there and it is so beautiful that I have been hanging out to go there for ages, so Steve decided to take me back.

Kyoto is about 1 and a half hours away from Himeji so we left early in the morning and didn’t get home until midnight. In just one day it is not possible to see everything obviously but we managed to fit in 3 things. Our first stop was Kinkakuji Temple– the ‘Golden Pavilion’. It was so beautiful I could sit and stare at it for ages. If you get the right light you can see an awesome reflection in the water. I think this is one of my most favourite temples that I have seen so far.





As you walk through the park where Kinkakuji is you come to a small Buddha with 2 bowls in front of it. The idea is to throw a 5yen coin into the bowls. If you get it in it is said to be good luck. Of course Steve and I had a go and we both missed. Steve had done it once before and got it in. I wanted to keep trying but I ran out of 5yen coins.



Our next stop was Ryoanji Mae. This was where a famous rock garden was located. It was so peaceful sitting and looking at the rock garden trying to work out what it all meant. We sat and just looked for ages. It was very relaxing. There was also another section where the ground and trees were covered in moss. This was also cool to look at. When you walked around a bit further you came to a water fountain which is in the shape of a 5 yen coin. This is said to also be lucky.





The last stop we made was to Fushimiinari. This is one of the most amazing places I have seen. I absolutely loved it here and I cant wait to go back again. This is where there are hundreds of red tori gates covering the paths and you just walk through them all. If you have seen the movie “Memoirs of a Geisha” – one of the scenes of the girl running through the red tori gates was filmed here. They just seemed to keep going and going and going. They were never ending and they seemed to just veer off into all different directions. It was like a maze. Steve stopped by the river and didn’t want to go any further but I wanted to explore all the areas so I continued on my own for a while until I realised that I wasn’t quite sure where I was and it was getting dark so I decided to head back. As if had veered into all different directions I wasn’t quite sure where I was. I was a little worried until I saw a man so I just decided to follow him so that I was not by myself. Then my phone was in range so I rang Steve and he told me where I had to go as the man was going in the total wrong direction to where I needed to be. Oops. I definitely want to go back there again with more time so that I can go around the whole area.

By this stage it was dark so we caught the bus to the main area to grab some dinner before we headed back to Himeji. Well I didn’t feel like a meal so I went straight to dessert. Check this out!! It was delicious. Japan make awesome parfaits.