Temples, gardens but no kimonos!

There was a blanket of snow covering Kyoto when we awoke this morning. It seems that the snow is following us :) Judging from the groups of kids having a snowball fight in the local park, it seems that this amount of snow is not common for Kyoto! I was going to say lucky us but walking around being tourists in the snow without proper foot wear is not so lucky as we discovered fairly quickly.

We embarked on a new form of travel today, the local bus. Thanks to google maps, we boarded the #207, via the back door after a short walk through the snow from our tiny home. With very little English signs on the bus, Andy kept an eye out for the stop we needed and we exited the bus via the front door, paying the driver as we chortled 'arigato gozaimasu' (thank you in Japanese).

The snowflakes were falling thickly as we began our trek uphill towards Kiyomizu-dera Temple, little feet began to get cold and our girls' resilience seemed to freeze with them. Luckily a quick change of socks and shoes followed by some browsing in various little (and warm) shops for fans and kimonos seemed to stem the looming protests and potential strike on the days outing.

Conitnuing upwards, as the Nio-mon, the main entrance to Kiyomizu - dera temple came into view, the snowflakes ceased and the sunshine erupted. The orange colours of the gate against the snow and patches of blue sky was stunning.

Kiyomizu-dera temple is located halfway up Mt Otowa, one of the peaks of Kyoto's Higashiyama mountain range. Built some 1200 years ago, Kiyomizu - dera originates from the Otowa Waterfall and is named after the pureness of it's waters. In 1944, Kiyomizu - dera was named on the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

Next we wandered past Sai-mon, the west gate and a 3 storey pagoda before handing over some yen which allowed us to explore more of this wonderful place. The Honda or Main Hall was the next building, which houses the statue of the eleven headed and thousand armed Kannon Bodhisattva in the inner (and out of bounds) sanctuary. Many thousands of people pay respect to Kannon, a deity of great mercy and compassion.

Part of the Honda, is the Kiyomizu stage, a large veranda perched on the side of a 13m cliff. There are several Japanese sayings that originate from this structure - 'to jump off the stage of Kiyomizu' translates to English as to take the plunge or make a decision. According to history, during the Edo period, young men would literally jump from the stage believing if they survived their wish would come true!! Anyway, the view from Kiyomizu stage over the snowy trees and toward Kyoto was very beautiful.

We wandered following the crowd and the one way route down passing the Otowa Waterfall, opting not to join the long line of those waiting to drink the pure spring water. Before we knew it we were back to the Noi-mon gate.

Next on our list was to walk down the traditional Japanese laneways - Sannen - zaka and Ninen-zaka. Ella's and Katy's hopes were high in finding a kimono and a fan. Both were disappointed that neither of these streets had suitable wares.

Based on recommendations from the Craig family, we located the Camellia Tea Ceremony arriving in the nick of time for the 1pm session. Oh it was so nice to be warm again!! It was only the four of us for the tea ceremony. Our host was lovely in explaining the many aspects important to the ceremony, from the origins, her role and equipment, the tea equipment and the layout of the room.

After a detailed explaination,  we watched as a bowl of Matcha tea was made and served to us. The tea used in these ceremonies is the first leaves harvested in May which are then finely ground. Although we all had a sip of the tea, Andy was the only one in our group who enjoyed the traste. The final part of the the ceremony involved participation...we firsat ate a traditional Japanese sweet made with Yuzu, a cross between a lemon and orange. Next we made our own bowl of tea under the guidance of our host and again Andy was the only one to drink all of his up! Despite the fact that none of us girls like tea, the actual ceremony was very peaceful, interesting and definitely worth doing.

From there it was a quick bite to eat after failing to find Paul's excellent coffee shop. Kodak-Ji Temple was on our to-see list but the snow once again began to fall and to keep the girls happy we said we'd go hunting once again for kimonos and fans!

Through Marujama-ken Park we traipsed, making giant snowballs and playing hot potatoes with them! The Chion-in temple was under major renovations which hampered our attempts to continue walking through this nice park. We found the small canal that Andy was keen to walk down that lead to a very pretty section known as Shirakawa 'The White River' in the heart of Gion. Obviously it was too cold or possibly early as we didn't see any Geishas.

Still in search of kimonos and fans we crossed Kamo River less snowy than seen in the morning. Thinking we'd hit the jackpot in stumbling across a very long covered street  shopping arcade, Termanchi we were once again disappointed to find a few rental kimono shops. A hot chocloate and coffee stop enabled us to rest and google. By this time the sun had set and it was about 5pm. Our last chance for shopping was to try a large department store.

Walking through the Nishiki market, a famous covered street market, we came to Daimaru, climbed to the 6th floor. The kimono section was well stocked with shop assistants but not kimonos for the girls and once again we left empty handed.

We began the 2km walk home hoping we would find a place for dinner but nothing really took our fancy so it was a quick trip to the supermarket where Andy found ingredients for risotto - our first home cooked meal of the trip!