Kyoto April 6-9
and Happy Birthday Buddha
Charles and Vicki2, Wanda and Sara and Vicki1 and I headed for the
train station. Wanda caught the direct train to the airport and we
boarded the high speed train to Kyoto. We whisked along smoothly at
speeds of up to 165 mph.
Our hotel in Kyoto is, let us say, small. A third the size of the
Tokyo hotel, but a third more expensive. Those damn temples and
palaces and cherry trees better be worth it. Because of the cherry
trees, Buddha's birthday, and the annual opening of the Imperial
Palace inner gardens, the hotels are packed.
We spent the afternoon of our arrival wandering aimlessly about
through town and various temples and getting the lay of the land.
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| these guys were from the domincan republic and going to school in Kyoto. they carried their nations flag to share with others as few know were their country is. |
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| smoking is prohibited on the streets except at a smoking station |
The next morning we hopped the train to the Arashiyama area. Things
were not crowded until we went to the Tenryuji Temple. As the morning
progressed the hordes descended upon us and by noon it was elbow to
elbow. We went back into the center of town to have lunch and visit
some temples that were closed yesterday. The Higashi-Honganji Temple
is one of the largest wooden buildings in the world. The biggest find
of the day was a British Pub with 240yen, that is about $2.40, large
gin and tonics. Once we figured out there was no table service things
went a lot better. We worshiped here for quite awhile.
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| there were gardeners picking little tiny weeds |
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| ever seen a tour bus driver shining his wheels |
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| this shrine is actually about rescuing baby's as they all go to hell if they die young because of the suffering they cause their parents. this guy goes down and rescues them and brings their sprites back. in my world he is the god of old fat people that spill everything on themselves and need a bib |
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| for parking you pull in. then the bar pops up and you can not drive out until you pay and it goes down |
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| those things |
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| overhead fueling |
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| taxi drivers in japan dress and act professional. do not open the back doors or stand near them as the drivers opens them automatically |
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| this for a fire or when you have had enough of japan |
I
knew to appreciate Kyoto we needed a guide but did not want to do a
bus tour. I had found a new website, to me, www.toursbylocals.com
that have private guides at a fair price. Unfortunately, like all the
hotels in Kyoto, they were booked. But Meiko contacted me with a last
minute opening for Tuesday. This was the best money spent so far on
the trip. She was very outgoing, funny, great English, and
knowledgeable, explaining just enough history to be interesting, but
not so much that you choked on it. But best of all she was thrilled
to be the guide to two pilots! So we were off to the Nijojo Castle.
She explained that a shogun lived here and ruled the country, but he
turned it back over peacefully to the Emperor and retired at the
young age of 33 and went fishing. She explained how the shogun made
the feudal lords build this castle with their own money, thereby
keeping them busy and broke which helped keep the peace for many
years.
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| I have always made fun of tours with the leader and the little flag and now I are one |
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| meiko tells charles how she want to be a pilot |
From there we went to the Imperial Palace and walked some of
the gardens. We encountered a wedding couple doing a photo shoot, so
you know me, we joined right in.
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| their photographer took the picture so I guess we were supposed to be there |
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| the photos below show wat the tree looks like as they tin it out. meiko says that they actually will pull out individual needle to get the right look |
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| glad i decided not to rent a car. meiko says the signs here are different than in tokyo. the top work is actually the name of two streets and tokyo it would just be one street. |
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| no this is not the shrine of the pig though the pig figures into the story. it is the shrine for good health to your knees, hips and legs. all us old people prayed here. |
Lunch was at the Cafe Arbois
overlooking the famous gardens of the Kyoto Heian Hotel. There was a
list of lunch specials in English and Japanese. The English version
said “fried fish”, so the others ordered the “cooked fish”
further translated as “maybe grilled”. For sure they got the
“grilled fish” and it was a piece of lovely grilled fish. My
“fried fish” was actually fried calamari, shrimp and salmon and
it was excellent.
From there we went to the Kiyomizudera Temple and climbed up to the
temples and shrines. This place was loaded with people, shops and
lots of shrines. Each shrine is for a particular item, from good
health to your legs, to good smarts, to your love life. It was a
beautiful site and there were a lot of people in traditional kimonos.
The people coming in were wedding couples and others that dressed
just for this special visit. Most were young, but there were a few
older women and men in kimonos. To put on a Kimono is a major event
and cannot be done by yourself and they cost thousand of dollars.
Meiko has one and she said in her 40 some years she has worn it all
of three times.
The tours last 4 or 8 hours and I thought 4 was too little and 8 was
too much, so we settled on 6 and we blew threw the 6 hours in no
time. Vicki2 has knee problems and had stayed home and Charlie left
us at about 4 o,clock and headed back to the hotel. We continued to
meander down the hill from the temple to the Geisha district where we
stopped for a beer and said goodbye to Mieko. She was a real pleasure
to spend the day with and being with her helped settle my travel
sprite that had been uneasy on this whole trip.
Back at the hotel we met Charlie and Vicki2 at an Irish Pub. They
waited on you at the table but the gin and tonics were more than
twice as expensive as the British Pub of yesterday. I will be glad to
get my own for the price difference.
