Northern Kyoto
After getting off the train we were not sure where to go even though we knew we were at the right station. We were looking at the map attempting to sort it out when a very kind elderly gentleman walked up and asked us if we needed help. We said, " yes please" and told him what we were looking for. He told us that we would need to take the bus and to just follow the blue line on the floor and it would take us there. After thanking him profusely we headed off and were able to locate our bus. Luckily we were able to get seats so we had a nice ride for the time it took us to get to the correct stop. The only issue was that it was now raining. Mercifully there was a store selling umbrellas right near the stop so we were able to buy an umbrella and get directions for the final walk.
Sweet, we had finally made it to Kinkaku-ji Temple. It was beyond crowded! The you cannot move at all type of crowded. Everyone wants the opportunity to see this in person:
The grounds were not too big and Kyle got some great shots of everything. It took us a while to make our way through due to the amount of people but it was well worth it. We had planned on going to both the silver pavilion (Ginkaku-Ji) which is not actually silver and the Philosopher's Path as well but we were losing daylight and having trouble standing. Right now it gets dark at about 4:30 here, much earlier if it is cloudy. Almost every temple closes at 5pm but there are a few temples that have special hours and lighting due to the fall colors.
Our camera had died by this point and we were super hungry so we made our way back to the Machiya for a short break. This took a while due to all of the bus and train riding but we made it back around 5. We only took a short break because Chrissy was really excited for what came next!
Eastern Kyoto
Where we are staying is very close to Gion which is the district where there are still working Geisha. Seeing a Geisha here is fairly rare but we were told you may be able to catch one running between buildings very late at night. We were too boo boo and sleepy by then so our only real chance was to go to a show. There is a place called Gion Corner where they put on a performance specifically for tourists to go over some of the different aspects related to Geisha. We were walking in the rain and getting thoroughly lost but after about 45 min we found Gion Corner with about 2 min to spare until show time.
They went over the tea ceremony, playing a stringed instrument, and flower/plant arrangement.
Then they moved on to set up a full orchestra that was once used only to play music for the emperor.
Next we got to see two Maiko (Geisha in training) perform two dances.
We also got to see a short comedic play and a short drama acted out with a puppet. The puppet thing was a little odd but it has been recognized by the world UNESCO heritage foundation. Apparently it is a big deal...we found it slightly amusing.
It was a really cool show and it gave us the time we needed to rest. It was now about 7pm and we still had to find and climb a very very steep hill. After the show it had finally stopped raining which was fantastic. We could now begin the 30 minute hike up the mountain to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. They are having an evening illumination going on right now which is super awesome and we had to check it out.
When we finally did reach the summit and the temple entrance we found that all of our hiking was well worth it. Kyle took some amazing shots.
Fun Facts about Kiyomizu-Dera:
*Kyle and I were not sure where we were going. Once we paid to get in we just sort of followed the crowd. At one point everyone was stopping at the temple and taking off their shoes to pay to go in. We were thinking okay, this must be the way up to the illumination. Yea....we were wrong...really wrong. What happened instead? Instead we were greeted by a sign that said no pictures and do not let go of the hand rail. We immediately found out why you should not let go of the handrail. The entrance leads down the stairs into a hall way which is PITCH BLACK. You cannot see anything at all in front of you and you just sort of keep walking holding the rail until you run into the person in front of you. Now I was thinking we paid for a haunted house or something but no one popped out and scared us. Eventually we did run into a very large stone with a carving in it and then moved on to where we were led back out.
**I have now researched this trek and it is supposed to represent the womb and is dedicated to Buddha's mother. Good Times!
***This structure was made completely without nails.
****At one point in history people used to leap off the balcony for the purpose of having a wish granted. If you jumped and survived you were supposed to have a wish granted. If you jumped and did not survive, well...they did not say anything about that. Apparently the survival rate was about 85% which I think is pretty good. For some reason this practice has now been banned.
After all of this we were completely beat but still had not eaten dinner so we decided to walk back home and see what we could find along the way. Kyle was in full tourist mode and got some cool shots on the way back.
Eventually we did stop at a restaurant right around the corner from the Machiya. Kyle had a hamburg steak with cheese and Chrissy had a pork cutlet meal. We both had a beer and it was wonderful after a long day!
Spectacular photos!
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