My Trip to Kyoto, or: How I Used An Entire 1G Memory Stick In 3 Days
Oh, Kyoto....what a fun trip! I would at some point like to go again, only this time with friends, time, and money. However, the super-ghettoness of my trip only added to the charm.
I took the night bus to Kyoto, which meant I took the trains from my house to Tokyo Disneyland and boarded a bus there. We made a few stops at Tokyo, Shinagawa, and Ikebukuro, and then we were off to Kyoto! As much as I tried to sleep, I had forgotten my Dramamine so alas I only dozed a tiny bit and was pretty bored once my Ipod died. Next time I travel I am bringing a book/notebook to write in, for sure. We arrived in Kyoto at the wonderful hour of 5:45 AM, at which it was still very, very dark. I went into the station and got a map in English, sat down for a bit and figured out my general itenerary for the next few days, as I had arrived only with a list of temples I wanted to see. Then I got on a 6:30 train for Inari, to head to the first shrine of the trip. I arrived at Fushimi-Inari-Taisha a little before 7 AM, just after the sun had come up, and there was NO ONE there except the people cleaning and opening up the shrine for the day. Awesome. Fushimi-Inari is a shrine dedicated to the fox spirit, was featured in Memoirs of a Geisha (according to Sarah) and is famous for its thousands, literally, of vermillion Torii gates. And yes, there were thousands of them. It was amazing, and it remained my favorite shrine I visited over the course of the trip. There were paths that lead all the way up and around Mt. Inari, and most of them were all lined with those Torii gates, so you are constantly walking through this tunnel of red gates. The nature and gardens were beautiful too, but the gates and the paths were what made the shrine for me. Especially since I came so early, there was hardly anyone else there and it was so serene and peaceful to wander through the gates and through the woods. I would love to go back with a friend though, because all along the way are these little tiny traditional Japanese style restaurants serving Japanese food and offering you a rest while you walk around to all the different temples. How cool!
After Fushimi-Inari I wandered up towards Higashiyama, where my hostel was, and stopped at a bunch of small temples on the way. I forget all of their names, but there will be tons of pictures put up once I get home. I also stopped at Kiyomizudera, a very famous temple. You could tell it was famous once you got there because there were a bunch of foreigners there (boo) and they had English at the charm shop (helpful). It was gorgeous, and I did the whole drinking the water thing :) Stopped at a few more temples, then I headed to my hostel because I was exhausted having not slept the night before, had dinner, and went to bed early.
On day 2, I took the subway and the Keifuku line, which was really an awesomely quaint streetcar, over to the Arahiyama area. I saw Tenryuji and Daikakuji, as well as a few smaller temples and I went along the bamboo walk, which was very pretty :) At Daikakuji I talked a bit with a lady who was nice and took my picture in front ofOsawa-no-ike (the big pond) and she kept telling me that my Japanese was very good. At first I was kinda annoyed and offended, because I kept having Japanese people tell me that when I know my Japanese isn't very good, but then I remembered that half of the foreigners who come there probably can't even say arigato right. Then I took the Keifuku up towards Kinkakuji, but got off a few stops sooner so I could hit up more of the smaller temples. I accidentally snuck into Ninnaji without paying the fee...and by accidentally, I mean I had gone in one of the side exits that was actually closed off from the main one for Ikebana or something, and once I found myself in the main temple yard and saw the admissions gate at the other end, I decided to keep walking away from it and hope they wouldn't notice. Most interestingly, at this point a woman decides to run up to me and start talking to me. At first I was nervous because I thought I had been caught sneaking in, but it turns out she was just a photography student looking to take pictures of random people at the temples, and as a random foreigner wearing panda earmuffs I probably made an interesting subject. From there I continued to Ryoanji, which houses the famous zen rock garden. I viewed the garden for a while, it was pretty zen. The rest of the temple was pretty gorgeous too. And again, because it was famous, there were lots more foreigners. I much preferred how at the small temples I was the only one, it was always disorienting to see foreigners and hear them speaking English.
Finally, I made my way up to Kinkakuji, or the Golden Pavillion. It's a whole temple complex, but the most famous part is a big 3-story pavillion whose second and third stories are covered entirely in gold leaf. Yes, it is very freaking shiny and awesome. But again, covered in foreign tourists :( Once I finished staring at the shiny, shiny building, I went to Daitokuji, which wasn't as cool because a lot of the buildings were closed off to the public at that time. Though I think (and this was a frequent occurrence) that I wandered into places I wasn't supposed to go. Oops. No one ever yelled at me, but whenever I would see things like monk laundry I would start to wonder if I had made a wrong turn somewhere. It made the temples and shrines seem all the more human though, so I quite enjoyed it. My last building of day 2 was Kinku-Jinja, an adorable shrine in the middle of Funaokayama park. I got there a little before sunset, so I walked to the top of the hill in the middle of the park/shrine and watched the sun go down from there. Got a few pictures too. Since the sun was down and most temples and shrines close around 5, I headed back to the hostel and made myself a sad dinner of peanut butter and crackers...which had been my lunch too, incidentally. I saved cash for temple admission fees by living off peanut butter and crackers and walking a lot. My body hated me, but hey, I need to work on getting back in shape/loosing this alcohol and rice weight anyway.
Day three I made my way over to Ginkakuji, or the Silver Pavillion, on the "Path of Philosophy" which I unfortunately do not have the Japanese name for right now. Saw a bunch of adorable little shrines, including one that was dedicated to mice! So cute! Little mice statues! After more tiny and slightly larger temples and shrines I got to the Ginkakuji which was, unlike its name suggested, NOT completely covered in silver leaf. I was a bit disappointed after the Kinkauji, but it had a really cool rock garden and mossy garden in general, so it was still worth the entry fee. From there I walked to Heian-Jinju, but didn't go inside because I didn't feel like paying 6 bucks to see the inside of a garden famous for its spring and autumn, not winter. Then I went to the park with the Imperial Palace, but I didn't realize that no tours were allowed inside, sadness :( I used the extra time to go to Nijojo Castle, the residence of the Tokugawa Shoguns when they were in Kyoto. Pretty sweet, though we weren't allowed to take pictures of all the gorgeous wall paintings and screens inside. Afterwards I went to Sanjusangendo, which holds 1001 statues of the Buddha Kannon, I believe...I'm not entirely sure on the name and the literature is all in Japanese, which doesn't help. There were 1000 small statues, all wood with gold leaf and lacquer, as well as one huge one and a bunch of other deities guarding them. Gorgeous, cool, and inspiring. After I finished there, I had to book it back up to Higashiyama because I had forgotten to turn in my locker key and get my $10 deposit back, which I desperately needed. Once I got that, I only made it to Kyoto station 10 minutes before my shinkansen, the Nozomi. The Shinkansen ride was fun, and ridiculously fast compared to the bus ride. 2 1/2 hours compared to 8. It reminded me of flying a bit, except there was more scenery and you got more leg room. I wouldn't mind taking Shinkansen more often if they weren't so expensive. I made it back home a little after 8, and was exhausted and almost reducted to tears to see the wonderful dinner my host mom had prepared me after two full days of living off of peanut butter and crackers.
This was my first time travelling on an entire trip by myself, and it was an interesting experience. Next time I will definitely bring a book and/or notebook, but in general I quite enjoyed it, especially since after the semester I really needed some time to myself to think and regroup. There are a lot of things going on right now that I needed/still need a lot of time to think about, but the trip really helped out. As I stated at the beginning, I really would like to go back so I could go to more of the temples and maybe go at a more leisurely pace so my body won't hate me after a few days. I would also like to go with people next time, though Kyoto really is an ideal place to go by yourself, as there's nothing really weird about walking around temples and shrines designed to impart peace and silence by yourself.
I have to get to sleep so I can see Christy tommorow! And head home on Saturday! I hope everyone is well, and I will see many of you soon :)
I took the night bus to Kyoto, which meant I took the trains from my house to Tokyo Disneyland and boarded a bus there. We made a few stops at Tokyo, Shinagawa, and Ikebukuro, and then we were off to Kyoto! As much as I tried to sleep, I had forgotten my Dramamine so alas I only dozed a tiny bit and was pretty bored once my Ipod died. Next time I travel I am bringing a book/notebook to write in, for sure. We arrived in Kyoto at the wonderful hour of 5:45 AM, at which it was still very, very dark. I went into the station and got a map in English, sat down for a bit and figured out my general itenerary for the next few days, as I had arrived only with a list of temples I wanted to see. Then I got on a 6:30 train for Inari, to head to the first shrine of the trip. I arrived at Fushimi-Inari-Taisha a little before 7 AM, just after the sun had come up, and there was NO ONE there except the people cleaning and opening up the shrine for the day. Awesome. Fushimi-Inari is a shrine dedicated to the fox spirit, was featured in Memoirs of a Geisha (according to Sarah) and is famous for its thousands, literally, of vermillion Torii gates. And yes, there were thousands of them. It was amazing, and it remained my favorite shrine I visited over the course of the trip. There were paths that lead all the way up and around Mt. Inari, and most of them were all lined with those Torii gates, so you are constantly walking through this tunnel of red gates. The nature and gardens were beautiful too, but the gates and the paths were what made the shrine for me. Especially since I came so early, there was hardly anyone else there and it was so serene and peaceful to wander through the gates and through the woods. I would love to go back with a friend though, because all along the way are these little tiny traditional Japanese style restaurants serving Japanese food and offering you a rest while you walk around to all the different temples. How cool!
After Fushimi-Inari I wandered up towards Higashiyama, where my hostel was, and stopped at a bunch of small temples on the way. I forget all of their names, but there will be tons of pictures put up once I get home. I also stopped at Kiyomizudera, a very famous temple. You could tell it was famous once you got there because there were a bunch of foreigners there (boo) and they had English at the charm shop (helpful). It was gorgeous, and I did the whole drinking the water thing :) Stopped at a few more temples, then I headed to my hostel because I was exhausted having not slept the night before, had dinner, and went to bed early.
On day 2, I took the subway and the Keifuku line, which was really an awesomely quaint streetcar, over to the Arahiyama area. I saw Tenryuji and Daikakuji, as well as a few smaller temples and I went along the bamboo walk, which was very pretty :) At Daikakuji I talked a bit with a lady who was nice and took my picture in front ofOsawa-no-ike (the big pond) and she kept telling me that my Japanese was very good. At first I was kinda annoyed and offended, because I kept having Japanese people tell me that when I know my Japanese isn't very good, but then I remembered that half of the foreigners who come there probably can't even say arigato right. Then I took the Keifuku up towards Kinkakuji, but got off a few stops sooner so I could hit up more of the smaller temples. I accidentally snuck into Ninnaji without paying the fee...and by accidentally, I mean I had gone in one of the side exits that was actually closed off from the main one for Ikebana or something, and once I found myself in the main temple yard and saw the admissions gate at the other end, I decided to keep walking away from it and hope they wouldn't notice. Most interestingly, at this point a woman decides to run up to me and start talking to me. At first I was nervous because I thought I had been caught sneaking in, but it turns out she was just a photography student looking to take pictures of random people at the temples, and as a random foreigner wearing panda earmuffs I probably made an interesting subject. From there I continued to Ryoanji, which houses the famous zen rock garden. I viewed the garden for a while, it was pretty zen. The rest of the temple was pretty gorgeous too. And again, because it was famous, there were lots more foreigners. I much preferred how at the small temples I was the only one, it was always disorienting to see foreigners and hear them speaking English.
Finally, I made my way up to Kinkakuji, or the Golden Pavillion. It's a whole temple complex, but the most famous part is a big 3-story pavillion whose second and third stories are covered entirely in gold leaf. Yes, it is very freaking shiny and awesome. But again, covered in foreign tourists :( Once I finished staring at the shiny, shiny building, I went to Daitokuji, which wasn't as cool because a lot of the buildings were closed off to the public at that time. Though I think (and this was a frequent occurrence) that I wandered into places I wasn't supposed to go. Oops. No one ever yelled at me, but whenever I would see things like monk laundry I would start to wonder if I had made a wrong turn somewhere. It made the temples and shrines seem all the more human though, so I quite enjoyed it. My last building of day 2 was Kinku-Jinja, an adorable shrine in the middle of Funaokayama park. I got there a little before sunset, so I walked to the top of the hill in the middle of the park/shrine and watched the sun go down from there. Got a few pictures too. Since the sun was down and most temples and shrines close around 5, I headed back to the hostel and made myself a sad dinner of peanut butter and crackers...which had been my lunch too, incidentally. I saved cash for temple admission fees by living off peanut butter and crackers and walking a lot. My body hated me, but hey, I need to work on getting back in shape/loosing this alcohol and rice weight anyway.
Day three I made my way over to Ginkakuji, or the Silver Pavillion, on the "Path of Philosophy" which I unfortunately do not have the Japanese name for right now. Saw a bunch of adorable little shrines, including one that was dedicated to mice! So cute! Little mice statues! After more tiny and slightly larger temples and shrines I got to the Ginkakuji which was, unlike its name suggested, NOT completely covered in silver leaf. I was a bit disappointed after the Kinkauji, but it had a really cool rock garden and mossy garden in general, so it was still worth the entry fee. From there I walked to Heian-Jinju, but didn't go inside because I didn't feel like paying 6 bucks to see the inside of a garden famous for its spring and autumn, not winter. Then I went to the park with the Imperial Palace, but I didn't realize that no tours were allowed inside, sadness :( I used the extra time to go to Nijojo Castle, the residence of the Tokugawa Shoguns when they were in Kyoto. Pretty sweet, though we weren't allowed to take pictures of all the gorgeous wall paintings and screens inside. Afterwards I went to Sanjusangendo, which holds 1001 statues of the Buddha Kannon, I believe...I'm not entirely sure on the name and the literature is all in Japanese, which doesn't help. There were 1000 small statues, all wood with gold leaf and lacquer, as well as one huge one and a bunch of other deities guarding them. Gorgeous, cool, and inspiring. After I finished there, I had to book it back up to Higashiyama because I had forgotten to turn in my locker key and get my $10 deposit back, which I desperately needed. Once I got that, I only made it to Kyoto station 10 minutes before my shinkansen, the Nozomi. The Shinkansen ride was fun, and ridiculously fast compared to the bus ride. 2 1/2 hours compared to 8. It reminded me of flying a bit, except there was more scenery and you got more leg room. I wouldn't mind taking Shinkansen more often if they weren't so expensive. I made it back home a little after 8, and was exhausted and almost reducted to tears to see the wonderful dinner my host mom had prepared me after two full days of living off of peanut butter and crackers.
This was my first time travelling on an entire trip by myself, and it was an interesting experience. Next time I will definitely bring a book and/or notebook, but in general I quite enjoyed it, especially since after the semester I really needed some time to myself to think and regroup. There are a lot of things going on right now that I needed/still need a lot of time to think about, but the trip really helped out. As I stated at the beginning, I really would like to go back so I could go to more of the temples and maybe go at a more leisurely pace so my body won't hate me after a few days. I would also like to go with people next time, though Kyoto really is an ideal place to go by yourself, as there's nothing really weird about walking around temples and shrines designed to impart peace and silence by yourself.
I have to get to sleep so I can see Christy tommorow! And head home on Saturday! I hope everyone is well, and I will see many of you soon :)