Kyoto – Part II
With only two days remaining in Kyoto, I felt as if I was in a rush to experience all the city had to offer, which is especially difficult considering how spread out the city is. In spite of that, I wasn’t going to let it become an excuse to procrastinate, so I headed off. For my second last day I thought it would be a good idea to head West towards Arashiyama and visit some popular sights along the way. First stop was Nijo Castle, an old fortified castle that was used by the Tokugawa Shoguns are a place of residence in Kyoto.
The castle itself isn’t exactly what you would expect considering the fact it’s suppose to be a castle. As it’s on flat ground and was more used as a residential place (Kyoto Castle is located more centrally in the city), it was somewhat less impressive than one would expect, but only because of the connotations associated with, well, a castle. Walking around inside (which again disallowed photography), the rooms were essentially large and empty spaces that were occassionally occupied by lifesized figurines illustrating the purpose of the castle. Most of the building was also made up of nightingale floors, filling the hallways with the squeaking and creaking of the tourists passing through. Some interesting sights included the hidden rooms which bodyguards would hide in, waiting patiently in case of an assassination attempt on the Shogun. There was also plenty of sizeable racks that were used to hold spears and other weaponary.
Outside, the grounds were not entirely impressive, if only because of their entirely sparse and bare nature. Out the back was a large garden that was designed by a famous landscape and tea ceremony master (whose name I cannot remember for the life of me), that while was impressive, seemed a little disjointed from the rest of the grounds, if only because it was quiet lush in comparision to its surroundings.
After that I decided it would be best to go somewhere really lush. Heading out far West leads to Arashiyama, a mountainous and less populated area of Kyoto that is a popular place to go hiking and observe nature. Also, the mountains are home to wild monkeys and just a little bit south, an actual Monkey Park. Although I was convinced I would see some actual wild monkeys (which I didn’t) and avoided the park, the area itself was still a must see.
Arashiyama is also home to the famous bamboo forest, which towers over tourists who make the trek through the area.
Some areas of the forest are so thick that it’s almost impossible to see through the canopy of bamboo to the sky above, which was fun when trying to take photos and having your auto-flash going off all the time because it detected a lack of light.
The strech of bamboo forest goes for quiet a while, which made for a pleasant walk as the large path/road makes it was through. By the time you reach the end, however, you are treated not only to a wonderfully open park, but a surprisingly amazing view of the river that runs through the district.
The river, combined with the mountins which it snaked through, was a beautiful sight to behold, and was rather suprising to find so close to such a large city as Kyoto. Canoes, the odd paddleboat and gondola floated around the waters, while people of all ages sat by the riverside to absorb the sun the life that place gave off. It was nice to find another place that was so peaceful in comparison to the surroundings only a few minutes away. There was also many walkways and paths leading up the mountains, which I decided to hike through to get a better view of the region.
It was entirely worth it.
I spend a good few hours relaxing around Arashiyama, feeling lucky to have had the time to visit such a nice and relatively peaceful area. The only thing that could’ve topped it off was seeing some wild monkeys…which I didn’t. Still, it wasn’t enough to bring down my mood.
That was until I decided to leave and find Kinkaku-ji, the famed Golden Pavillion. Build as a retirement home for one of the Shoguns during the 14th Century, it was later turned into a Buddhist temple by his son after the Shoguns passing. Covered entirely with gold leaf (incredibly thin gold), it was one of the most famous sights in Kyoto. The actual temple itself was more recently built, as during the 50’s it was completely burnt to the ground by a young monk who had an entirely unhealthy obession with the structure. It was rebuilt during the same decade.
The problem was that there was no nearby train to the temple, and as I didn’t have a bus directory with me, I had no way to find out how to get there. Instead I took the nearest train and decided to walk the rest of the way. So after about half an hour of walking through the streets of North-West Kyoto, I finally got to the golden pavillion. With about 500 school-children and tourists. I only wish I was exaggerating. Still, I wasn’t going to let them blow a good photo oppertunity.
The Golden Pavillion was still stunning to see, even if the hundreds of screaming children began to grate on my nerves. After following the walking path through the grounds, I desperately escaped the grounds and the army of little terrors to get back home. Finding the bus, I gladly went back to the hostel to let my feet recover.
After dinner I was feeling entirely exhausted, but I then remembered that my friends Alex and Brice had planned to go out that night as it was the last proper night they were going to have to do anything before heading back to France. Knowing Emil and Rasmus would be up for it, we all met up at the bar downstairs. Before going down for a few drinks, I met a fellow traveller named Nicola in the lounge area of the hostel. Knowing the more the merrier, I asked her if she’d like to join us, and before I knew it the party had gained an extra friend.
Now for a quick side story. As we were all stocking up on the cheap drinks, I noticed that Rasmus was drinking a bottle of Smirnoff Ice. Commenting that it was a girls drink, he joked that it was because he was actually a girl with pigtails whose name was Sally. Bad move, as this became his nickname for the rest of the time spend in Kyoto, and concequently all discussion via email and Facebook. That god he has a sense of humour.
After a number of drinks we headed off on the train to an area that was suppose to be an interesting nightspot. Of course we got hopelessly lost before a friendly local was able to steer us in the right direction. Although the bar, Sam & Dave’s, was relatively empty, we still made the most of our night, which resulted in talking, or trying to talk, to some locals, a few games of pool, and a few too many drinks.
Any of my friends I’m sure will be able to read between the lines when I say ‘a few too many drinks’. Feeling decidedly sorry for myself, Alex Brice and I took a cab back to our hostel, while Emil and Nicola stayed on. Rasmus had disappeared, however in the short time we had gotten to know him, we knew he’d be fine. Getting home decided late, we all crashed into bed.
The next day was an unpleasant surprise, as I woke up much earlier than expected and was now feeling very sorry for myself. After going to the lounge to sit down and recount the amount of drinks I had, I saw Rasmus alseep on the couch, still in the same clothes as last night. Well, at least I wasn’t the only one right? The rest of the morning was spent having a slow breakfast, touching base with the rest of our party, and remembering how great last night was, and how horrible the morning was in comparison. Such is the way of hangovers. However I was refusing to let the whole thing take complete control, and not wanting to waste my last day in Kyoto, made my way out of the hostel to go to Fushimi Inari-taisha (after about 3 strong coffees). Best known for its massive rows of red tori gates, the temple sits at the bottom of the Inari mountain, and is a must-see part of Kyoto.
The temple grounds itself have multiple statues of Foxes, which are said to be the animal gods of michief, and are also able to inhabit the body of humans by entering through a persons fingernails. Michevious and nasty.
After a short walk upwards, I reached the unmissable sight of the red tori gates. Stretching on almost endlessly up the mountain, it was a sight to behold that was unlike anything I have ever had the oppertunity to see. Going through the mountain, it was a peaceful walk that was only broken by the odd croaking of frogs that were hiding in some of the small streams.
One thing I was not entirely prepared for was the length of the hiking trail up the mountain. Often it was a rather steep climb to reach the odd shop that stood on a leveled out area, most of which thankfully sold bottled water. Halfway up I reached a large pond that also housed a large shrine dedicated to the Fox God.
Just on the other side of the shrine was some areas that were actually a little discomforting, as there were multiple shrines dedicated to the deceased. Packed in close together, it was a little clostrophobic being so close to the multitude of shrines.
As the day went on and the hike kept going, I finally reached the summit, which had an even larger shrine dedicated to the Fox God, but with the tall trees surrounding, offered no real view of the surrounding area, which was certainly a shame. Regardless, I was glad I took the time to do the hike, even if my body was still in recovery mode from the previous night.
Back at the hostel, our party met up again in the bar, with most of us feeling marginally better than the morning. It was a somber feeling, as with Alex and Brice leaving for home the next day and with myself leaving, it was sad to see everyone going their seperate ways again. The mood was lifted a little after an amusing attempt by everyone to show where we lived in our respective countries. What resulted was some… interesting interpreations of what Australia, France and Denmark looked like as countries andW where exactly they were in the world. The conclusion was that France actaully cutted into the northern part of Westrern Australia. Rearranging the world, that’s what we do. With drinks in hand, we had only a few (and this time I mean it) before saying our goodbyes and calling it a night.
The next day was a sad feeling to know I was leaving Kyoto, having had such an amazing time there and meeting such fantastic people. But at the same time, I was ready to move on to the next adventure, Osaka.