Day 9, Kioto - Tokyo
Written in Dublin, 19th of August
Because there were still so much to see, we braved ourselves with Yo and woke up at 6 am, heading to the bus to see the last (or on my case, the second to last temple) in Kyoto. That one was Kyomizu dera, famous for the pure water and a terrace some 13 m high and build without using any nails.
The bus trip wasn't long, but the climb to the mountain was, it was quite sheer. At first it was houses, but when we neared the temple it was stores again. They weren't open yet, but the temple opened early, which was the reason for our early trip.
As on every temple, soon after the entrance there was a place to wash hands. This one was particularly cool, a dragon shaped.
The temple had different outlook than all those Inari temples and shrines we had seen so far. It was still labyrinth of buildings on the mountainside, but the styles and colourings differed. We walked on the famous terrace - I think the story was that jump down there, and if you survived alive, your wish was granted.
Girls wearing school uniforms in the terrace:
There was also part with small shrines dedicated for lowers, and old building with a roof were a gorgeous dragon was painted. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of that.
And the pure water still flowed from the spring. There was scoops to catch the water when it fell and some people had bagfull of bottles with them. I too filled my bottle and it truly tasted good.
The pictures are taken from the terrace.
View from the temple, Kyoto Tower in the middle.
When we left we saw a pond where was the traditional koi - didn't see a pond without them. A turtle and also a heron.
After breakfast I made a run to town, wanted to see the famous roofed shopping street, but in the end I had only time to walk it down and then I needed to head back, so not to miss the train. We took the bullet train, Shinkansen, which rendered the previous 8 hour trip to 2 and half. If was comfortable and fast.
Checked back to the ryokan, and after some rest started out again. This time we went to Shibuya. Happened to be there at the rush hour and the amount of people was enormous. When the lights turned to green the road crossing was filled with bodies. It was both scary and fascinating to watch.
In front of the station there is also statue of the loyal dog, who used to come to wait her master to return from work at the train station, until one day he had fallen ill at work and died, never coming back. The dog continued to wait him for years, and after her death she got a statue.
Shopped in local HMV, several stores of music, and overall hanged around. It was quite nice.
Because there were still so much to see, we braved ourselves with Yo and woke up at 6 am, heading to the bus to see the last (or on my case, the second to last temple) in Kyoto. That one was Kyomizu dera, famous for the pure water and a terrace some 13 m high and build without using any nails.
The bus trip wasn't long, but the climb to the mountain was, it was quite sheer. At first it was houses, but when we neared the temple it was stores again. They weren't open yet, but the temple opened early, which was the reason for our early trip.
As on every temple, soon after the entrance there was a place to wash hands. This one was particularly cool, a dragon shaped.
The temple had different outlook than all those Inari temples and shrines we had seen so far. It was still labyrinth of buildings on the mountainside, but the styles and colourings differed. We walked on the famous terrace - I think the story was that jump down there, and if you survived alive, your wish was granted.
Girls wearing school uniforms in the terrace:
There was also part with small shrines dedicated for lowers, and old building with a roof were a gorgeous dragon was painted. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of that.
And the pure water still flowed from the spring. There was scoops to catch the water when it fell and some people had bagfull of bottles with them. I too filled my bottle and it truly tasted good.
The pictures are taken from the terrace.
View from the temple, Kyoto Tower in the middle.
When we left we saw a pond where was the traditional koi - didn't see a pond without them. A turtle and also a heron.
After breakfast I made a run to town, wanted to see the famous roofed shopping street, but in the end I had only time to walk it down and then I needed to head back, so not to miss the train. We took the bullet train, Shinkansen, which rendered the previous 8 hour trip to 2 and half. If was comfortable and fast.
Checked back to the ryokan, and after some rest started out again. This time we went to Shibuya. Happened to be there at the rush hour and the amount of people was enormous. When the lights turned to green the road crossing was filled with bodies. It was both scary and fascinating to watch.
In front of the station there is also statue of the loyal dog, who used to come to wait her master to return from work at the train station, until one day he had fallen ill at work and died, never coming back. The dog continued to wait him for years, and after her death she got a statue.
Shopped in local HMV, several stores of music, and overall hanged around. It was quite nice.