Finally sunny & awesome blue skies today! It was a wonderful sight as I strolled past Sensoji Temple early morning... however, I could only afford to take a couple of quick snaps while rushing to the train station :( I hope to reach Kyoto by noon time as it's a 3hr train ride.
It's exciting to board my 1st inter-city JR train... I love the efficiency of Japan's railway & how clean is their carriages! The seats are also spacious & very comfortable. Now I understand why the transport fees are so expensive! haha! Even thou it's a few hours ride, I felt very comfortable & it's even better than taking airplane! Cos I could easily stretch out my legs & enjoy the scenery, while sitting in a recline position!
After a nap on the train, I felt refreshed when I arrived at my destination! Oh yes! I've been dreaming of coming here for a long long time. I juz feel that I would fall in love with Kyoto anytime! ^o^ Upon arrival at the Kyoto JR station, I headed to their tourism centre to make some enquires & collect the local map/bus routes. The bus routes map is very important as within the city, there are many different tourists' buses plying the routes to visit the numerous temples/shrines. After checking with the lady, I decided to purchase a 'Traffica Prepaid Card' for 1,000 Yen (contains a value of 1,100 Yen) for my subway & bus rides. Cos my ryokan is further off the city centre & would need to travel for 3 days to & fro on the subway.
It was most stressful to find a budget accommodation that is still available during this peak travel season in Kyoto for a solo traveller. I didn't pick the hostel as I wanted to experience staying in a traditional Ryokan. After intensive search online, I found Nashinoki Inn situated near the Imadegawa Subway Station. I followed exactly the directions on their website & I realised it's a pretty long walk of about 15 mins! It's a quaint neighbourhood, with the Imperial Palace & Doshisha University in the precinct.
I was greeted by an 'o bachan' ~ friendly old granny who is the owner of Nashinoki. There's also a young gal who helped me with my bags up the steep wooden stairs. A welcome green tea & rice cracker was served to my tatami room by 'o bachan'. I was so glad the young gal speaks fluent English as she told me she's an undergrad staying/working at this ryokan as her uni is juz next door! She taught me how to operate the air-con remote which could also switch to heater...thanks god!
Without wasting much time, I set off to hunt for lunch. As I walked back to the subway, I noticed MOS Burger....since it's already almost 3pm, I think I should juz grab a bite here! After filling my tummy, I headed to Kyoto Main station to take a bus to visit Sanjusangendo Temple (三十三閒堂). During my planning stage, Kyoto was the most tricky as I had to shortlist the temples that I'm interested & plan the routes so as not to waste time.
Wow! The tour buses outside the Main Station were having pretty long queues & some buses tend to be packed! Sanjusangendo's name refers to the 33 bays between the pillars of this long, narrow building, which houses 1001 statues of the 1000-armed Kannon (the Buddhist goddess of mercy). Photography is not allowed here & had to change to their slippers before stepping in. As I was walking behind a private tour guide, I managed to listen to some stories about the place, haha!
Next, I boarded the bus again to Kiyomizu-dera temple (清水寺). While on the bus, just as I was wondering where to alight, I heard someone told an elderly ang mo couple to alight at this stop for Kiyomizu! I quickly jumped up & followed them! Eh...I couldn't spot any sight of the temple wo... So I approached the couple & asked if they were heading to the same place? 3 of us walked together & I chat with the friendly grandpa...he looked 70s & they were Italians. He also shared that he & his wife had been in Japan for 3 weeks & almost done with their travelling! Wow! Together, we walked up a slope & saw many tourists; hence we learnt to follow the crowd... I'm really glad to speak to them & I like how they travel at such a leisure pace without any fix plans! Well, if I've a lot of budget, I also would love to do it in such a manner... He bided me Ciao after we purchased our tickets at the entrance.
I simply love the scenic landscape view from Kiyomizu-dera! It's breath-taking! This ancient temple is unique as it is supported by pillars & juts out over the hillside. I saw some gals dressed in kimonos & clogs...initially I thought they were Japanese. On closer look, they were tourists as well! wahaha! At the steps above the main hall, there is a popular shrine for people to pray for love. I was lucky to visit this place at the right time just before the area was closed for night opening. In spring & autumn, this temple offers a separate admission for night time on selective dates. I spent quite a long time here shooting & during my descent down the hill, I met a young family who asked me to shoot for them. Their little gal was so kawaii that I requested to take a pic with her too! Sweet little gal who made my day! ^o^
At sunset, I went to explore Ninen-zaka & Sannen-zaka, literally means "Two-Year Hill'' & "Three-Year Hill" (the years referring to the ancient imperial years when they were first laid out). I like these quaint & charming streets which reflected a strong Japanese culture. I saw a stall selling piping hot beef buns & couldn't resist trying one! There's a normal one & a premium beef. I tried the normal one & was fantastic! Oishii!
As I strolled on, the skies turned to dusk & I saw a nicely lit path leading up to Kodaiji & went to check out. The garden inside was lit up by traditional lanterns... Next, I visited Maruyama-koen. I saw this beautiful & huge sakura tree lit up! I hanged around the park for awhile & was lost while trying to find my way to Gion. I realised at the end of the park, it seems very quiet & nobody was walking... I went back to the garden & met a Chinese tour guide leading a china group. I approached him & asked for direction.
After 15mins or so, I am glad to catch sight of Gion! It's lively in its own way with a lot of lit lights. Next, I tried to locate an eatery as I was really hungry & tired. I randomly went into a sushi restaurant (which seems abit high-end thou). As the restaurant was very packed, I was seated close to a few smokers at the counter seats! Arrgh... I dun really like the idea. I picked my fav sushi & watched the sushi master preparing it in front of me... I like the unagi sushi best! I headed to the 'geisha' area & hope to catch a glimpse of one... then I realised how elusive they were! I caught sight of a maiko (trainee geisha) who quickly dashed into one of the 'rooms'.
Oh well, no chance to take a photograph of the geishas :( I headed back to my ryokan & O bachan asked me to quickly go take a shower. As there's only 1 common bathroom, all the guests living in the 6-rooms wooden ryokan have to share. I felt abit insecure when I realised the bathroom has no lock! You've to flip the tag (vacant/occupied) outside the door & inside have a changing area, follow by another door to the bath. Obachan asked me if I know how to use a traditional Japanese bath & I shook my head. She demo to me that I could either scoop the hot water from the bath (which contain a healing black stone) or use the shower while sitting down on a stool! Haha! It's really old-school & I was not really use to it! But the hot bath's water was great to relief my aching & sore feet each night!
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