Leaving the hotel in Hiroshima at 0745 we
grabbed the shinkansen first to Kobe and further from there to Kyoto. There we
wandered the hallways of Kyoto station to get to the subway, and 3 stops later
we emerged onto the street only a few minutes from our hotel. Arriving around
noon we were not able to check in so we left our luggage behind and left to do
some sightseeing.
We started off by having a walk at a nearby market with hundreds of stalls of mostly food – and interesting walk in a massive crowd. The presence of the market made the location much more interesting tourist-wise which was one of the reasons why we got a hotel here instead of closer to the station as we did in the other cities.
Crowded market. Plenty of food and other interesting things.
After touring the market we went to Kyoto station for lunch before getting on the train to go see the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine. I blame no one if they don’t know what that is, but I suspect most have seen photos from there; more than 10.000 tori gates lining walking paths up a 230-ish meter tall hill. The gates are placed less than a meter apart, almost creating a tunnel to walk through. Along the way there are shrines along the way, small kiosks and smaller paths going into the forest seemingly nowhere. The summit was far less impressive than the summit in Miyajima as it was basically a collection of small shrines in the forest with no view – though a view of Kyoto through haze could be had from further down the path. It was quite the experience walking among the thousands of red gates, the there were, as one would expect, lots of people. It was extremely crowded at times but fortunately the higher up you got the less people there were and it thereby got easier to navigate (and you got the opportunity to take photos without other people in them!).
From there we returned to Kyoto and some of us
joined our guide for dinner at an okonomiyaki restaurant, Osaka-style.
Delicious as expected.
The following day the morning was spent seeing Nijo castle and Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion. The Nijo castle is a castle from the Edo period with most internal construction and decoration still original. Walking through the building and seeing the beautifully decorated walls and doors with trees, landscapes, animals and more was quite something. Unfortunately it was not allowed to photograph inside – probably a good thing as the congestion of people likely would have been much worse. The Golden Pavilion is located on a small island in a lake in a large garden. Usually when you are told something is golden it has a slight hue to it or it needs a certain light for it to look golden-like, but in this case the pavilion was very obviously golden; covered by gold leaf and shining brightly from the sun on an unclouded day. It was quite a beautiful view and walk despite the many people (by now an overarching theme – and this wasn’t even during a common vacation).
After a brief lunch we left for the Kiyomizudera temple area – an old part of Kyoto with plenty of temples and traditions. And specifically Maiko; Geishas in training. Some of us had signed up for a Maiko performance – a one-hour song & dance, Q&A and presentation of a Maiko, her life and training. Clothing, makeup and how the hair is set indicates how far you are in your training. While it was all above board and very informative it was difficult not to feel a certain degree of objectification of the working of a female entertainer (though it was pointed out it wasn’t that kind of entertainment). As a Maiko they work with an agency and depend on them fully during the 5 years of training. They get no salary but the agency handles housing, meals, insurance and other necessary expenses. Mobile phones are not allowed, they get to go home to visit their families between Christmas and New Year, and they get Sundays off unless a customer requests them which in that case they have to take the job. This means that they get maybe 1 day off every month despite being between 15 and 21 years old during training. If they get married, even after becoming Geisha, they will have to leave that line of work. There is no punishment or fine as such, marriage can just not be combed with this work.
Having navigated the immense crowds we returned to central Kyoto where we were introduced to a food hall with loads of various options and a nice – albeit slightly chaotic – atmosphere. I had a nice bowl of soba noodles and one asked to share a burger. That was an amazing burger – probably among the best I’ve ever had, if not the best. The wagyu beef patty had an intense beef taste and mixed with a bit of greens and dressing it was close to perfect. And fantastically greasy. Following dinner some of us returned to Kyoto station to see/experience the lightshow they have on a large staircase overlooking the main building. It’s hard to explain how large the entire construction is; the main station with tunnels and escalators/elevators to tracks and sublevel shots and eateries, a theater at one end and a huge mall covering 10 floors at the other end, its roof being the staircase with the lightshow.
The third and last day in Kyoto was a day off, so a few of us went out to see a bamboo forest (as opposed to the one in India there would be no chance to see tigers). The forest was a, well, bamboo forest, and there wasn’t much else to it unless I missed something. There was a garden there that required an entrance fee and entering it was clear that the fee very effectively cut down the amount of people walking around. A very nice quiet walk around with a so-so view of the city.
On our return to the city it had started raining so after a short coffee break we visited a temple with 1000 Buddhas. And that was not just a name, they genuinely had that many Buddhas lined up, surrounding a larger main figure. And not two of the many Buddhas were alike, they were all different so it was quite the view when walking past them lined up on steps, getting a good view of them all. It ended up being a much more interesting experience than I had expected it to be.
Returning once again to the center we had
another walk through the crowded market near the hotel where we ended up having
another coffee break before returning to the hotel around 1700 where the rain
also had subsided.
For dinner I couldn’t not return to the food hall and get my own burger, this time the bigger version; 2 patties and a steak. It was silly, ridiculous, too much, a huge mess and probably why it was so fantastic. I finished off the day by going up to the observation deck, 100m up, to a pretty anticlimactic view of the city. Considering the city’s size there were surprisingly little light; apartment buildings, stations and streets had lights, but I was missing large modern glass and metal buildings that emit a lot of lights and big neon ads. It does make sense in a way as it is a very old city that has stayed relatively culturally traditional and not super modernized. I didn’t stay long before going back down and returning to the hotel.
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