Japan and Bali

[lapassionata]

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I walked off dinner by exploring Ponto-cho and Gion, the two more well-known geiko districts in Kyoto. Ended up on Shimbashi street, which is really magical at night. Then back across the Kama-gawo river to my hotel. Kyoto was far less brightly lit than Tokyo, and far less busy at night. At first I felt very insecure about going out at night to do my usual wanderings; but Kyoto people were so universally nice, polite and helpful that I was able to relax my guard a little and enjoy the time out.

Because these would make the cutest gifts...




Kamo-gawo river from the Shijo-Ohashi bridge







Kyoto is surrounded on three sides by mountains, only the South is open

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Gion at night. There was quite a little crowd of foreigners gathered, waiting for the geiko and maiko to come out so they could snap pics. Very surreal papparazzi-ish moments. Some visitors were less respectful than others; I hope we don't causing all foreigners to be barred from the geiko districts.







I finally get to peak behind the sliding door of a teahouse. Not that I saw much anyway...







Yes! I caught (the back of) one maiko! That brings my geiko count to 3!

[lapassionata]

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Then up Hanami-koji to Shimbashi-dori, and finally back across the river. The lighting wasn't great, and certainly not photographer enough, and my camera settings were not ideal to capture how magical the night felt on Shimbashi street. Lonely called it the loveliest street in Asia, and I could see why. It's the half-lit atmosphere, the cobble-stones street, the tree-lined promenade beside a quietly burbling stream. *sigh* Kyoto is made for lovers...










The promenade along the Kamo-gawa canal is also really romantic at night, especially with the lights of the Pontocho teahouses and restaurants reflecting in the water.

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Day 11: Kyoto and Nara Tour

Got up early to catch the tour bus up the road at another hotel. We had a full itenerary for the day since we would be hitting the most popular Kyoto and Nara attractions. I didn't have a week to explore Kyoto on my own as I had done with Tokyo, so I thought I could at least hit all the highlights with a tour. Plus, it felt great to just relax in an airconditioned coach, not have to rush for the bus or the metro, not have to peruse my guidebook or study the map closely. And it was especially wonderful to have someone relating the history and significance of each of the places we visited, which increased my enjoyment two-fold.

The tour was pretty full: I probably got one of the last spots. I sat next to an American woman who was visiting her son who was teaching for a semester at a University in Kyoto. Turns out the son lives in, and teaches at, a Uni in Vancouver. Felt GREAT to have an english conversation after a day of feeling isolated by the language barrier.

Our first stop was Nijo-jo (castle), abode of the Tokugawa shoguns and UNESCO world heritage site. Pictures were NOT allowed within the Ninomaru palace itself because so much of the interior (wall paintings etc) is original and unique. This is a <span style="font-style: italic">very</span> popular site so the hallways of the castle were packed with school kids, tour groups and single travellers (whom I felt sorry for since they were lost among the groups and probably got pushed aside a bit.) The highlights for me was seeing the change in decorative scheme between rooms, dependent on who would be received in that room. So in a reception room for the feudal lords, the wall paintings were filled with the aggressive imagery of tigers; another room was large and lavish with elaborate carvings and gold-leaf painted screens. Another reception room for family and intimates had soft paintings of cherry blossoms and serene landscapes. The other standout detail for me was the so-called nightingale floor: this was deliberately designed to squeak and sing with the slightest pressure so that it would serve as warning of an intruder or sneak attacks. Apparently ninjas really did exist. I thought they were the products of bad karate movies. When we got out of the palace, there was a lovely garden for pictures.

Cypress bark roof. If you strip the bark off in the correct manner, the tree will regrow it completely.









A rather virile-looking Japanese pine.

[lapassionata]

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Nijo-jo gardens









Another great engrish example.

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Next stop: Kinkaku-ji aka the Golden Pavilion. It's one of the buildings in the Rokuon-ji temple complex, but it is justly famous because, well, it is made of gold. Not solid gold, but certainly the building is gold-leafed to kingdom-come. The current pavilion is actually a rebuild since the orginal (which had been standing since the fourteenth century) was burned down by in 1950 by a obsessed (and I think mentally disturbed) monk. Another incredibly popular Kyoto site: there was barely room to breathe that day.









The pine supposedly shaped like a boat. I still don't see it.

[lapassionata]

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More Kinkaku-ji

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Re: Japan and Bali

The last stop for the morning was at the Kyoto Imperial Palace. I learned from our tour guide Izumi that today's Emperor is directly descended in one unbroken line from the first Emperor of Japan in the 8th century! THAT'S pedigree.

A quick note on Izumi, because I had to her up. Izumi of the careful English and dry humour, with her quiet fierceness and direct stare. Izumi with the name that means &quot;flowing water with beauty.&quot; She is a 54 year old unmarried former school teacher who called herself &quot;masculine&quot;-spirited. She didn't giggle, never acted &quot;cutsey-poo&quot;, and was the first Japanese female I had seen who eschewed these mannerisms. I reaaallly liked her. She was so competent and efficient, so delightfully straightforward. If it were another culture I would have tipped to show my appreciation, but this is not done in Japan. So, I will show my appreciation via this little tribute.

The Imperial palace was a little bland after Nijo castle. It is a working residence so we were not allowed within the buildings. The grounds felt sterile. I wasn't sad to move on.





The bright orange drives away evil spirits.

[lapassionata]

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Next there was an hour's stop at the Kyoto Handicraft centre for lunch and souvenir buying. Those people who weren't joining the afternoon portion of the tour said goodbye and the rest of us gulped our food and rushed to the assembly point downstairs. I was happy to see Izumi return for the afternoon tour. Within an hour we were in Nara. Nara is a small town to the south-east of Kyoto which served as the first ancient capital of Japan. It has 8 UNESCO designated world heritage sites, most of them found with in this huge park called Nara-koen. Another great feature of the park are the herds of tame deer that roam free. Deer are sacred to...some deity...so they are allowed to do their thing, which is usually to amuse the tourists.

First stop: Todai-ji Temple with its Hall of the Great Buddha.



The Nandai-mon gate



One of the Nio guardians, carved in the 13thc. Its mouth is open to say &quot;OOO...&quot;



...and the other Nio guardian has mouth closed to say &quot;MMM&quot;, so completing the sacred syllable &quot;Om&quot;

[lapassionata]

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The Diabutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall)



The enlightened one, sitting in his lotus, with curly hair to to symbolize wisdom





Another fierce guardian stepping on a monster









Daibutsu-den is the largest wooden building in the world. The present building is two-thirds the size of the original.

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Last stop for the evening was Kasuga Taisha, a shinto shrine founded in the 8th century. Its standout feature: the hundreds and hundreds of stone lanterns that line the approach to the shrine and that lay within the shrine itself. Two times a year a lantern festival is held and the whole place is probably looks like the night sky fallen to earth. These lanterns (some very very old) were dedicated to the shrine by devout Japanese worshippers. For a smaller donation you can have your prayers dedicated on these lanterns. Hey, I believe in respecting the gods of a place, and I am on a mission to find the One , so I paid my offering, said a prayer and hoped one of the sympathetic kami would send me some good relationship karma.

[lapassionata]

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More Kasuga





Hanging lanterns: less $$ than the stone ones



Such a diva. S/He stood there posing for ALL the tourists



Back on the road to Kyoto





Home again, home again etc. Actually, this pic was taken AFTER I returned from a public onsen way up in the northwest of the city. Lonely Planet failed to mention how FAR it was from the metro station or how DARK and LONELY the street is at night . Well, I've always relied on the kindness of strangers, and a very kind one found me that night and escorted me to the door of the bath-house. Thank you my unlikely Japanese knight!

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Day 12: Himeji castle

This day was kinda dead actually. Overcast and gray, with my body achy and tired from traipsing around yesterday, I didn't want to do anything really. And as 9am turn into 11 am, I was experiencing this growing certainty that I didn't want to stay in Kyoto anymore, I wanted to get out of the city and into some kind of woodland or generic bush <span style="font-style: italic">somewhere </span>on this peninsula. I just wanted some nature. So I opened up the guidebook, searched, and finally settled on Miyajima, one of the Inland Sea islands just off the coast of Hiroshima. Then I called and booked a room one of their highly recommeded ryokans. This would be the second best decision I made for the trip (the first would be booking a stay at Kumara Sakti in Ubud). And now that I felt easy about what I was doing for the rest of the week, I could finally go visit Himeji's castle, considered to be one of the finest original castles in Japan. What I found out when I got there was that the main tower in the castle is closed for the next year for restoration work. I did get a personal english language tour guide of the outer bailey and the rest of the grounds. But basically it was a wasted day. Oh well.

Himeji Castle: over 400 years old. Used to be abode of the Shogun's son-in-law. Has passed through several families through the years.
Amazing example of samurai defensive castle design.











If I'm not in at least one pic, something must be wrong

[lapassionata]

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Each successive lord of the castle would stamp his crest into the end of the clay tile. I was a little amused to hear that the butterfly was a popular crest for fierce samurai families. Symbolized strength, ironically.



One of the lords of the castle was unfortunate enough to be converted to Christianity during its brief introduction to Japan during the Edo period. I say unfortunately because eventually the Portuguese missionaries were thrown out, Chritianity became illegal, and many remaining Christians were executed. This lord left his crest (the cross) on the building nonetheless.

[seemiyah]

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Just so you know, we still here and following along...