This was going to be the most tiring day out as a lot of walking was to be invovled. The temple tour route we were going to take was 5 km long and we were going to have to travel an additional klick to get to the start. Considering how we felt after Himeji, there was some trepidation.

A slow train ride found ourselves in a modern town centre, now signs that this was the ancient capital of Japan, before it moved to Kyoto. Shinto is a religeon/way of life with a superstisious slant. As a result of the emperor being a deity, once he died it was felt his kami would curse any who distrubed his rest, so the capital would be uprooted and moved else where. Once bhuddism became the religeon of the emperors tis changed and thus Nara became the first fixed capital. It only stayed this way for 84 years. At the end of that time the bhuddist temples held such power and influence that they were close to taking over power. Eventually one priest did seduce the empress and try just this, so the emperor moved the capital away to a new city that became known as Kyoto. End of lesson.

Nara is famous for three things, one it’s temples, including the world’s largest wooden structure, two, a very large budda, and three, it’s herds of very friendly Nara deer, who are considered to be national artifacts. The main walk, which we took, covers the three main temples plus a few others, and is mainly in Nara-Koen. We started off going to Kofuku-Ji, a relatively nice, historic temple that alas is presently undergoing building work, which destroyed some of it’s feel. It was an easy start, just on the edge of the park. From there we proceeded on to Todai-Ji.

Not sure where to start on Todai-Ji. The original complex dates from around the 8th century. It houses one of the largest bronze buddahs in the world, and the main building has been burnt down three times – last in 1709. Approaching you should go through the main gate, Nandai-Mon. Tbis in itself is massive, very impressive and very imposing. It contains two gaurdian figures, both looking agressive. Heading through here you see another big wooden structure, this is just the front to the main compaound, the Daibatsu-Den. It’s only as you get close to here that you finally see the main building, and words jsut do not do it justice. It is large, very large, and despite showing it’s age, looks like it will outlast much around it.

The entrance fee of 500 yen is standard fair for a buddist temple, and it really is a must to go inside. It’s so large that even the tour parties of school kids seemed small. The main entrance towers over you as you enter facing the massive bronze buddah. The only light is natural, coming in through the front doors and slatted windows. To each side of it is a large bronze figure, though smaller than the buddah. Wandering around, you very quickly become more impressed with the building, though you get a shock when at the rear you see a model of how it originally was, then two models of the Daibatsu-den. One for now, and one for the original one. it’s only at this point that you realise the original building was about 50% wider than the present one. It must have been highly impressive, or more accurately, very humbling to visitors.

Post temple we wandered up towards Nigatsu-do hall, where fire festivals are held. Along the way we came across the shoro belfry, which houses a suitable large bell to go along side the near by temple and buddah. A quick lunch stop was taken here, before proceeding on up to Nigatsu-do and Sangatsu-do halls. The view from the main veranda of the former allows you to see across the Nara plains, to the far hills, though it was spoilt slightly by the Nara fun fair in the distance.

From here we walked though the supposeldy gaudy Tamukeyama-jinja, a slightly run down, though brightly painted temple. I quite liked it as the atmosphere was very peaceful, probably due to a lack of tourists. However we didn’t stay long as we still had a treck to do to reach Kasuga Taisha, the ancient and most revered of all shinto temples.

If we thought we were tired at this point, we had yet to encounter the toughest part. This shinto temple complex is in it’s own extensive grounds, mainly up hill. Once though the gate you just encounter row after row of lanterns and lots of small shrines. Eventually you get to the main building, we actually went beyond and had to double back. Visually it’s only o.k., but it’s the sort of religeous place where you can feel it’s importance and karma. We paid to enter – a worshipping fee, though we weren’t sure there was much more to see. This was worth the 500 yen, and I would recommend it to anyone. It was here that a rather funny thing happend. there’s a prayer hall that I looked in to. From the door you could see what was possibly a neighbouring room. I was just about to take off my shoes to wander in when I heard chanting starting. Deciding it was a prayer section in the area I could not see I decided to wait until it ended. Dave joined me, wandered round the building, the wandered back saying he coould hear nothnign round the other side. We ventured quietly in to find … a tape recording. It must have been on auto-reverse and had just started up as I was about to enter.

Once we finished here we headed on back down to the swtation via a coffee shop for a well deserved rest, coffee and cheese cake. The official route was meant to be about 5 km, but with the extra distance we had to travel to/from the start, plus the extra distance walked around the various complexes, we must have done more like 8-10. Net result was two very tired, though content people who flaked out on the train back.

We decided it was too late to hit Gion, we’ll do it another night as we need to book a decent restaurant for a kaiseki-ryori meal. Instead we went for a wander and ended up back at the food courts at the satation, at a tepanyaki bar where we had okonomiyaki. Was a little dissapointed that it was cooked at a counter then brought to the hot plate at our table, rather than our cooking it ourselves.

After we decided to go for a beer, and wound up at a recommended izayaki round the corner from the ryoken. We were just going to order drinks, but okonomiyaki is only small so a few small plates appeared in front of us. This joint was really friendly so I can see us ending up back there.

I do have one slight worry with these izayaki and their yakitori. While the food is cooked, the texture is always as if the chicken is raw, so I keep expecting the worst.

In our original plans it was going to be about half an hour to Himeji, 2 hours going round the castle, then half an hour back, giving us part of the afternoon to go round Kyoto. Slight under-estimation.

Alas it’s mainly the Nozomi trains that stop at Himeji – the very high speed ones the JR Railpass does not cover, net result ebing we had to wait about 40 minutes for a slow Kodama train (once an hour). Secondly it should take ~80 minutes. We encountered a rare occurence – our train was early at Himeji – almost un heard of.

We get to the station and can see the castle, Himeji-Jo, straight away. Even from a distance it’s impressive. Once we got a lot closer, Dave came out with the statement It does not look that steep. The place is grand, expansive, and full of fellow tourists, though mainly Japanese. You climb up through the steep layers until you get to a parade ground, and then the keep. The main donjon is 5 stories high and very impressive from the outside. Inside it was interesting, bhut there was not much. Some how I still managed to take over 50 photographs so will post most of them separately from the main picture archive.

Post the castle we went for lunch – our first soba noodles of the holiday. David had his in a broth with tempura cold, I had mine in the traditional style, cold with a dipping soy sauce.

We decided to hit the Himeji gardens. At first these were nice, but with being a modern recreation of 9 stroll gardens they began to become some what samey. We did stop for a tea ceremony, but it was a tourist offering and we’re certain much of it was done wrong (I have read up about it before I should point out). Was still relaxing. Only down side was my knee had given me warning signs a couple of times during the day, and when I went to kneel down to take the tea, it almsot gave out, so I ended up having to sit.

Eventually we spent around 6 hours in Himeji. There’s more to do there than you’d first think, with quite an extensive shopping arcade. now we’re back in Kyoto and the plans for tonight are probably Gion (the geiko and maiko (geisha and trainee geisha) quarters).

Oh – another quote from Dave. “Wish my camera had an optical zoom”. Another quote from later “Oh my camera has an optical zoom”.

I do like Japanese breakfasts (asa-gohan). Bowls of fresh rise, sprinkles on top (here it’s small shrimps, at the previous place, shredded sour plum), fish, and pickles. I’ve often contemplated doing one at home, but it’s a lot of work in the preparation.

Well just had my first night sleeping in a ryoken. The futon on top of the tatami mats was rather comfortable and supposedly good for the back. Not a wooden frame insite either. I was nervous about the bed/futon thing as I find slatted and soft beds keep me awake (I find slatted and camp beds very uncomfortable).

Now for breakfast (I’m hoping I ordered for two, not one), then probably a trip over to Himenji for Himeni-jo – probably the most famous castle in Japan.

Seems early to us, but there was no where we fancied drinking on the way back to the ryoken and it was starting to get cold, so an evening of planning is ahead.

Kyoto main JR railway station is a controversial building. All I can say is wow – especially from the inside. The amount of shopping there is over-rated, but with 2 floors of places to eat, it’s where we ended up for a rather nice tonkatsu meal and a beer.

One thing that did cross my mind during the start of the experience is that while we were able to ask for a table for two, and later to order, we didn’t know how to respond to the question over smoking/non-smoking. Must work it out.

We’ve arrived in Kyoto, and found that walking round the station to get to the other side is quite a hike. Still we got to see how you go past modern buildings and suddenly find a traditional thing sitting there.

The first royoken, Shimizu, is down a narrow side street. It’s a modern one that looks traditional on the outside and in, but is more geared for comfort. We’ve got a traditional Japanese style room (expect photos later tonight). One thing that shocled us though was the Internet. I totally failed to find a connection in Tokyo, having to resort to using a cyber cafe, where as I am now stading in the room typing away (I found it too uncomfortable using the low table).

Our first major rail ride. Damn wish they were like this in the UK. Airline type seats but with first class leg room. The journey went quickly, helped by bento box meals and watching 4 animke episodes on the laptop.

One thing that really stuck in my mind was when the guard came in to check our tickets. He walked to the front of the carriage, bowed, introduced himself, and then proceeded to perform the check. Afterwards, before moving on, he bowed once more. The other staff (selling bento boxes, drinks, and ice cream) also did the bowing.

O.K. I could do this at the end of the holiday as our final two nights are also there. We chose this place based on a recommendation, and aside from the fact you have to walk through the red light district to get to it (most touts ignore gaijin), and the rooms being small, it was actually quite good. It was quiet, out of the main drag (still only about 10 minutes walk from Shinjuku main station), near lots of local restaurants and did a neat Japanese breakfast, some thing I’ve always liked.

If you do not know your anime/manga, the next part will confuse and maybe worry.
Saw a couple of cute female police officers in a small patrol car yesterday, but Dave wouldn’t allow me to go up to them to ask how Chibi and her kittens were doing.