Original plans were to hit Gion (as )I keep going on about it), however with my left leg playing up we decided to go local (Dave was happy to put up with my moans, despite the fact he fancies more yakatori and I don’t). In the end we went for a tempura meal. Dave likes this sort of thing, I’m so-so, but the reality was an absolutely superb meal.

The plans for today were simple. Head north east, go to the temple complex at Nanzen-In, walk the philosophers way up to Ginkaku-ji, then return to finish off the afternoon on some thing relaxing before going out for food.

We invested in subway/bus cards – a good investment even if just to make life easy, then set off towards Nanzen-Ji. The ride felt like it took hours. Fortunately we only had to walk about 5 minutes before hitting the start of tourist trap restaurants.

Now you must understand my views on modern day buddism are clouded by my trip to the giant buddah at Lantau Island, Hong Kong. Effectively it was one big enterprise based on tourism. yesterday, while we went around Nara, my views started to change, however here we were back in temple land where the emphasis seemed to be on money being extracted from you. It appeared that anything you could go in to was being charged for. David paid ￥500 to go up the sanmon for no real view, while there were photographers and tourist bits around. The Hojo (treasure house) was actually quite good and well worth seeing (and the entry fee) (BTW mpost temples do charge admission to either the main building or the complex, but not everything), the actual Nanzen-In temple was nice, serene, but very much over-rated. The guides mentioned a little known spot of great interest (little know to anyone without a Lonely Planet guide that is), however when we went to find it,　not only was it signposted, but it the path was closed with the sound of construction work up ahead.

Over all I found Nanzen-In to be dissapointing and while the Hojo was nice, it was not worth the effort getting over there.

Post an over-priced lunch we set off for the Philosophers Way, and ancient path along the canal side up to Ginkaku-Ji – the Silver Pavillion temple. Any philosophising had to make way for dodging fellow tourists, while pasisng by shops and food places. Truth be told it was actually a pleasant walk, though my left knee was playing up and starting to worry me.

What you get out of Ginkaku-Ji depends on what you were expecting. It is one of the ‘must see’ places in Kyoto. Going by history it was meant to be based on the Golden Pavilion, but the onwner died/ran out of money before it was completed. The reality is a small pond side pavillion, that is old, of dark wood, and that was about it. I actually quite liked it, I think David was more than a little dissapointed. The gardens at the temple were nice, but nothing special. I found the place was one for a relaxing atmosphere, rather than either a tourist buzz, or the feeling of seeing a mjor piece of Japanese heritage (such as at Todai-Ji).

Before writing up our day, here are some quick observations.

1. For such a modern country, it’s so hard to find a hotspot I can use. Yup – the hotel has a PC downstairs, but I can’t get my laptop on the ‘Net, so it’ll be a few days before any photo updates and even entries here will be sparce.

2. Toilets. Even knowing about it, one often forgets that Japanese views on modesty differ from ours. While the younger generations are gradually picking up more American views on life, many still follow the older ways, which includes inner walls in the mind and a relaxed view towards the body and bodilly functions. Net result is many gents toilets, the urinals are often near unblocked, allowing any man taking a piss to be seen from outside. As a westerner it is important to zip up before stepping back.

3. Japan is suffering from hotter temperatures than the seasonal norm. Net result is I might be running out of things to wear. I hate clothes shopping at the best of times, but with having to navigate a foreign language I struggle with (I could probably cope – you can get a long way with kore and sore), and being uncertain on how to pay (Japan is still very much a cash society and only the bigger hotels/restaurants and department stores take visa), it’s something I could do with out.

Well we’ve now moved down the road from the old to the new. This one is meant to be traditional, more like traditional 1970’s with a hint of Japanese. Doesn’t seem too bad over all though.

Moving over Dave attempted to find an excuse to buy umbrella number 3. While laughing I found I was suddenly on number 2 as I’d taken the wrong one. Good job we were only 2 minutes down the road.

Last night I found myself almost in stitches. It’s very hard to get a single room in a ryoken, and single travellers are often put togther, so myself and David have been sharing a room. We’ve found that I snore at the moment – causing David problems with going to sleep. While at Nara I bought some ‘breath easy’ type node clips to stop it happening (these apparently didn’t work). Any how we’ve hit the sack and Dave is jokingly threatening me, when from the floor above – seriously heavy snoring. It was all I could do to stop laughing out aloud.

Oh final bit of salt rubbbing in to Dave’s wounds. When coming back from Nara the other day, just before the station, there was a rather cute girl (mid 20s) handing out flyers. She saw us coming along, moved the flyers to her far side, and gave me a really friendly smile. I like Nara. David is still　nervous of Korean business men.

The dull weather and rain in Tokyo may have been a pain, but in the Kansai region we’ve seen nothing but sun. Net result is I’ve tanned slightly 🙂 I’m not allowed to mention lobsters as Dave get’s a little upset ^^

Well our stay at Kyoto ryoken #1 is about to come to an end. The reason we’re staying at 2 is because neither could put us up for all 5 nights. Originally we wanted to stay at the Heianbo, but they could only fit us in for the final two nights. The ryoken agency we were booking through came up with the Shimizu, but only for the first three, and their next alternative was a lot more due to evening meals, so we decided to take the two and move part way through the stop in this city. The reality is they are only about 5 minutes walk apart.

What do I think of this ryoken ? Well it might be described as a modern one and more geared towards tourists, but I like it and wish we could have been here all 5. Sleeping on a real futon (no wooden slats) is comfortable. There are some down sides to staying in a ryoken. For a starter they normally have a locked door policy – arounhd midnight, so if you’re going to a town and are going to be partying it up you need to stay in a hotel. Also the walls are thin so at night you have to be careful not to make too much noise. If you are a single traveller then there’s also the posibility you’ll be forced to share a room with some one else.

Despite both being rather tired, we decided to head in to Central Kyoto, rather than just hitting Down Town again. After 6 days in Japan it was actually the first journey we did where we could not use our JR rail passes. We knew what food we did not want, but only had a feeling what we would go for – probably sushi. This, combined with the fact we forgot to bring a guide with us, meant we wandered aimlessly, getting ever more tired, weary and hungry. Eventually we found asuperb narrow street that in a modern built up area was very traditional (and just across the river from Gion). Just by looking at it we knew it was the sort of area geisha would meet clients at, and true to form, later on we saw a maiko (trainee geisha) leaving.

I think we wandered down the above street several times before noticing a sushi bar. This was not a kaiten one, whcih Dave would prefer at the moment (moving track), but a sit down and order place. These are better as the food does not sit around. It was really superb and at only 200 yen a portion (2 nigri), cheap compared to London. In some respects it was scary that even with just three beers between us, the bill came to close to 30 quid.

We’ve been finding one problem, and it’s not our poor pronunciation. it’s our ability to practice. Most people assume we can’t so talk to us in English or show us bills/prices rather than telling us.

We were really looking forwards to all the cherry blossom in Japan. We knew we should be catching it in Tokyo, and would probably miss it in Kyoto (the season travels across Japan west-east and only lasts about a week in any one place). We almost thought it was early in Tokyo, and found out that it had been late in Kansai (Kyoto/Nara/Himeji), so what should have been a intersting short period of natural colour has become a ubiquitous occurance of which we are now becoming a little bored.

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.