A beautiful walk from Kiyomizu-dera to Gion Town

Ok here goes for a big last Kyoto post!!!!!

After we had been to Kiyomizu-Dera, we realised we didn't have enough daylight left for us to see the next place on our list, so we decided to take a walk to Gion through the backstreets of Higashiyama - as suggested to us by the receptionist at our hostel... and as promised here is a map of where we went... (I know Dad is going to be grinning from ear to ear and chuckling to himself just because I used to laugh at him for his crazy map obsession... I really want to stay away from maps, just to be stubborn, but it was so cool making this map of where we went... and since I have been in Japan, I like to know where I am going and where places are... so what can i say ... I love maps)


View Kiyomizu-Dera to Gion Town, Kyoto in a larger map

The map should be click-able if I have done it right, and it will come up with some information and pictures which I added.

The street we walked down was lined with small shops, cafes and restaurants. There were some amazing little handmade shops there... It made me realise how much I miss my lampworking though :-( I need to find someone soon - I can't wait to melt glass again!!!! I actually spoke to the owner of one of the shops, but the conversation was limited to my Japanese ability, as she really couldn't speak much English. She actually told me that she owned the shop but didn't make the glass, her little company based in Saitama (where we live!!!) makes them and ships them to her shop in Kyoto... only problem... they are so small they don't have a website or anything, so I couldn't get any contact details... though this has made me hopeful that I will be able to find somewhere here to start making beads again!!!

Anyway! We carried on walking down this street, we saw a couple of Geisha, but I didn't want to be obvious taking their photos as they walked by me, but it was enough for me that we saw them! We found a nice little spot to take photos, and we were feeling very tired again, so we had a quick stop, but we had been there for about 5mins before either of us noticed the GIANT Budda Statue in the Mountain!!!! We were laughing so hard, because we both saw it out the corner of our eyes at about the same time, and we were both so SHOCKED to see it!!!!

We paid ¥200 entry each and both got an incense stick too. Then make a wish (or pray) as you put the incense stick in the sand, in the cauldron in front of Temple.

We actually went inside the Budda, there were bronze statues of different gods I think... not sure, but I thought it was a bit eary (sorry, sorry) and had to leave... behind the budda is a Tomb, and when that person dies, this place was made for him.

We went out and stood and watch an AWESOME sunset over Kyoto... neither of us have seen the bright sun rays beaming across the whole sky like this!!! It is hard getting photos to show actually what we saw, because when the colour of the sky is right, the earth is too dark, but when the scenery is right, the sky is too bright... very confusing... I guess that's something I've really gotta put my mind to and LEARN so .... the HDR photos (the ones that look computerised) and more realistic than the normals ones.... with out the computerised quality of course, but glad we have theses to show you.

After the sunset, we continued on our walk, it was quite quiet when we got to Maruyama Park, and because it was so dark we couldn't see much, so we didn't stop. I wish we had got there in daylight because I have heard it is beautiful!

We kept walking, and finally found Shinbashi-dori (street) which according to the Lonley Planet guide could possibly be the most beautiful street in all of Asia! Centered in the Geisha District this street is famous for seeing Geisha going to and from appointments and the area is full of tea rooms and restaurants and a couple theatres, where the Geisha Ladys entertain! We were lucky enough to see 3 Geisha (and Maiko - trainee Geishas) through a window over the canal... I felt like the paparazzi taken their photos - though I think I was too shy and didn't want to be obvious, so I didn't get any good photos, there were a couple of other people taking their photos too... I guess it is all part of their life, as they really didn't seem fazed by it at all! Infact, the waitresses/hostess' in the tea room looked extremely happy that we were looking into their place! Maybe it's good advertising :-)

We got on the train and headed back to Kyoto station... only we got on the wrong train.  We ended up changing a couple of times, but we were just going further and further out of Kyoto, haha! Luckily a man asked us if we were ok, so we explained and he got off the train with us and walked us to the train station we had to take, to get to go back to Kyoto Station. He was so nice and so genuine - he had got off his train... just to help us! We were so grateful!!! The people are so lovely here!

Then we went for a lovely Italian, before catching the most comfortable night bus ever back to Tokyo! We had an amazing time in Kyoto... now we just have to save up to go back!!!! :-D

Ryoanji Temple

 I'm not going to lie... we never planned to go here! But when we left the Golden Pavillion we realised it was only a 30min walk away and we were enjoying the beautiful Kyoto fresh air! So we walked there. I think our main thought (that was proved wrong a number of times!) is that we though if we went to see the temples that is really ALL we would see, well each sightseeing place had a big area around it with parks or shops! The autumn leaves were especially beautiful here!

At the top of these stairs is where the temple is, it was old and made from wood. We were asked to take our shoes of on the wooden floor and there was barely any noise, just the sounds of the wind and the birds cherpping, We both felt the Zen like feeling, and we sat and looked at the Zen Rock Garden for about 5 mins, we only left because we thought other people would want to sit down!

Now, I don't know what feeling you get when you look at this picture, but I can recall the sense of relaxation from when we were there and it is very.... reassuring. I think that's the world I'm looking for. It was indescribable, So we were pleased we went to see it!

Now this totally amazed me... the tree was practically dead and it had no leafs or anything growing on it apart from these 2 small peaches hanging from the dead tree over the river! Awesome!!!

Kinkaku-ji, The Golden Pavillion

After traveling for 8 hours from Tokyo then one and a half hours to Kinkaku-ji from Kyoto Station, we were soooooo happy to be stretching our legs and walking around and when we saw the beautiful autumn leaves, we soon forgot about the whole journey! I was so amazed by the colours... I looked at so many photos of Japan's autumn leaves before we went but nothing prepared me for actually how amazing they really are!!! 

I hadn't told Fran much about the places we were going to go, I showed him a few a photos before we went to see which places he would want to see, but when we got there I just told him the names of the places we were going, so it would be a surprise :-)

I knew we were going to see this but... wow! It really was a great place to start, somewhere really special to kick off our Kyoto sightseeing holiday! It was quite busy because it was a Sunday, yet it was still so peaceful and relaxing there.  There was a beautiful lake and loads of trees in reds, oranges, yellows and greens! Really stunning!

I was surprised to read that this temple had burnt down a number of times, and this temple was last built in 1955. The top two stories are covered in gold leaf. It really was stunning!!!

There were work men raking up the red leaves around the temple grounds, aren't they doing a good job, and the green ground looked like velvet - just beautiful!

KYOTO IS BOOKED!!!!!!!

WOOOOOP!!! So excited... We are off to Kyoto this weekend!!! Ok, so the bus is the way to go if you are looking for cheap travel in Japan!!!! We are taking the over night bus there and the over night bus back!!! I have been working out what we will go and see and do, and we are both very excited about seeing all these amazing places in autumn!!! And check out the weather forecast! Yippee!!!!!!

Oooow, Thanks Giving tomorrow with Dave and KT!!! Yay - turkey!!! can't wait!!!!