Oh So Promising

When first investigating things to do around Kyoto, Andy and I were keen to try to get out to the city and into the surrounding hills. We found the perfect hike in the Kitayama Mountains from Kibune to Kurama. This hike had it all! A short train trip, a one way 4km hike with many interesting sites along the way and an outdoor onsen to relax in at the end.

We awoke to beautiful blue skies with much of the snow gone and were eager to get going. The so called short train trip was slightly more complicated than we first thought due to different railway lines being owned by various companies. However further investigations revealed we could reach the said station in a single bus trip so off we went.

Ready to purchase the cheaper combined train/onsen ticket, we were told that there was a problem with the track and the train could only go as far as Ichihara Station, two stops before our destination. Undeterred we continued on while discussing possible reasons as to why the train couldn't go further...derailment, car crash, problem with overhead lines, pedestrian accident and so on.

Disembarking from the train, we joined the large group of people waiting for the bus which arrived a short time later. It was a cramped 15 minute ride up to Kibune-guchi station and the start of our hike. Outside of the bus we saw what the 'accident' was - large cedar trees had fallen, thanks to the recent snow, across the train line. It was a hive of active, with chainsaws roaring and very small utes carting away the tree branches plus electricity guys fixing up the wires.

Onwards we trundled, up the small mountain road with steep hills covered with towering cedars on one side and a snow covered rocky stream on the other. It was another world and just beautiful only for the numerous cars and buses passing by. It wasn't only the traffic we needed to dodge, the occasional breeze would dislodge a clump of snow from the branches above and send it crashing to the ground with a thump! An instant ice shower! Thankfully we made it through unscatheed.

WIth the incentive of grape flavoured lollies, we made it to the end of the unexciting part of the hike arriving at the little rural mountain town of Kibune. The track notes indicated that the hike over the ridge started at a small red bridge off to the right. It was easy to spot. However our excitement levels plummeted when we saw this...

There was to be no Oku no in Shrine; no Kinone Sando (path of cedar roots); no Yoshitsune Sekurobe  Ishi (height comparing rock); no Reihoden - the museum housing local fauna and flora; no Yuki Shrine with its enormous Kitayama sugi (pine tree); no Inochi Sculpture representing the god of Kurama love, light and power or Tengu the Long nosed goblin. Andy and I were devastated. The girls were oblivious.

Continuing a little further on we thought we'd look at the Kibune Shrine, the god of water but it too was closed! Eventually we found a small bench by the side of the stream to eat lunch, gather ourselves and re-evaluate our plans. Options were to head back into Kyoto to explore the historic and famous Nijo castle or venture up to Kurama for an outdoor onsen.

With both adults slightly grumpy, we walked back down to Kibune-guchi station trying to decide which path to take for the rest of the afternoon while the girls took great pleasure in throwing snowballs into the stream, watching them bob up and down in the current as they melted. 

By the time we arrived at the station we thought an outdoor onsen may improve our mood so another short bus trip dropped us outside Kurama Onsen. Purchasing tickets we made our way upstairs to the outdoor hot baths. Being gender specific, we separated from Andy and made our way inside.

Now the Japanese Onsens  are fantastic but one must know the strict procedures to follow. Firstly shoes are taken off at the doorway (as is done in all homes). Next is the undressing room where all clothes are left. Then you make your way into the showering part of the onsen. Everyone sits on a small stool, in front of a hand held shower head positioned on the wall above to wash themselves before entering the hot bath. Despite being a little self conscious, the girls love lathering themselves up - doing a much better job than they do at home! Final step is to immerse yourself in the hot water. 

The special thing about today's onsen was that it was outside with snow within arms reach and beautiful views of the mountains and tall cedars. All the disappointment of being unable to do the hike melted away. After a good soaking we dressed before walking  back down to the bus stop, throwing snowballs into the stream once again.

There was only enough time to walk up the lantern lined steps to the gate of the Kurama-dera Temple but not to go inside. It too had been affected by the recent heavy snowfall with trees fallen across the main path.

At the bus stop the girls continued making snowballs although there was no stream to throw them in so snowmen were built instead.  It was a diffeent route home taking the bus to the subway station followed by a change of line. Despite our best laid plans being disrupted we did have an enjoyable day out.

Arashiyama

After two pretty long and cold days touring Kyoto, we opted for a shorter day today. This allowed for a slow start before we headed out to Saga Arashiyama station on the JR line. Arashiyama is a hill on the north-western edge of Kyoto, and is a pretty nice, compact region with a few different things to do. First cab off the rank was Tenryu-Ji, a Buddhist temple with one of the most famous Zen gardens in Japan. As with all Japanese temples, it's been burnt down numerous times but is nonetheless listed as a UNESCO world heritage site. The snow had stopped falling by now, but there was still plenty on the ground (and the occasional clump still sliding off the roof to keep you on your toes).

The temple garden led us into the Arashiyma bamboo forest, which is pretty amazing (while also being pretty crowded). From there we headed into Kameyama-Koen park, which was much less crowded and had a great view over the neighbouring Katsura River (as well as bountiful snow for making snowballs and snowmen).

From here, we headed down to the river and along to Togetsukyo bridge, an old wooden bridge across the river. Apparently, young children were forced to walk across this bridge as a rite of passage, without their parents. The rule was that if they didn't look back, then they would have good luck. We didn't test it. Personally, I was more interested in the mini-hydropower project there, where a small canal takes river water from a weir, and uses it to drive a turbine and thereby power the lights for the bridge...

There are many other interesting things to look at around here, but we had no time for that. Instead, we directed our energy towards the critical task of buying Katy a Japanese fan. This involves walking into every shop within a 2 mile radius to see if they sell fans; if they do, then we have to open each one, then we decide they are too expensive before moving onto the next shop. Anyway, on this occasion the task come to a successful conclusion:

We headed home early today, and sat at home for a couple of hours (listening to audiobooks in our kimonos) before braving the darkness for dinner. It was sushi again tonight, but nowhere near the quality of our sushi house in Yudanaka. Tomorrow we hope to head up into the hills north of Kyoto and try to find a nice walk through temples and villages, hopefully culminating in an onsen...

Golden Day in Kyoto

Our plans today were to traverse Kyoto from the far north-west to the south-east taking in two spectacular sights - Kinkakuji and Fushimi Inari Taisha all whilst looking for kimonos and fans! Again the local bus, #101 seemed like the best option to take us to our first place of interest Kinkakuji. Unfortunately it arrived on time but we were unable to squeeze in. The trailing #12 was also too full get in.

With the snowflakes once again falling thickly, we changed plans and hopped on to the rather empty #9 which was going in a similar direction. A short while later, we arrived at the Nishijin Textile Centre in search of the elusive kimonos. We finally struck gold with both girls choosing a beautiful kimono. After being fitted, we timed it perfectly to watch a Kimono show!

Back outside, the snowflakes were clearing and the sun even threatened to shine as we boarded our 2nd bus for the morning (the 101 again) bound for Kinkakuji. It was a short walk following the masses to this well-known temple.

Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavillion looked spectacular in the snow and sunshine! It was a bit of a fight getting to the front of the crowd in order to take photos overlooking the partially frozen Mirror Lake but it was well worth it. This Zen temple has been rebuilt several times since 1400's most recently in 1955 after it was burnt down by a young fanatic monk. The top two stories of this beautiful building are covered in pure gold leaf. Gold was thought to purify any negative thoughts towards death.

The one-way path continued around and behind this wonderful temple before meandering through the  snow covered zen designed gardens and depositing us back outside.

From here it was another short bus ride to the train station, followed by two small train trips to get to Fushimia Inari Taisha. Before tackling this next walk, Andy led us to a great coffee spot, Vermillion, a Melbourne inspired cafe.

Fushimia Inari Taisha, is the head Shinto shrine of Inari, the God of rice.  It sits at the base of the mountain known as Inari, and includes over 32,000 sub shrines and 10,000 Torii gates spread over 4km of trails. Torii gates depict the entrance to a sacred site. These gates are often painted vermillion red, an amulet against evil  forces.

Behind the main shrine, is the entrance to the torii gate-covered hiking trail which starts with two dense parallel rows of gates known at Senbon Torii or a thousand Torii gates. Each gate is donated by a business to give thanks to for their prosperity and in hope of good fortune in the future. The company name and date is inscribed on the back of each gate.

As we wandered through the Torii gates, we counted the foxes. Not real ones but two little statues usually positioned either side of a shrine. These foxes (kitsune) are regarded as the messengers of the Inari. Although Andy and I would have loved to do the full circuit, neither girl was keen, so our aim was to get to the Yotsutsuji intersection, roughly halfway up the mountains and the point where the trail splits for the full circuit. This spot also provides great views over Kyoto. Our kitsune count was roughly 160!

On the way down, we veered away from the main Torii trail on to a smaller side trail enjoying the peacefulness and fewer people. We bought a little Torii gate for back home, with Ella and Katy's named written each uprights as well as today's date on the back. A little memory to remind us of this lovely day.

We came across Vermillion's other cafe so stopped for a coffee there too before boarding the train back home. Our day finished with our very own Kimono show!

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!

Onwards to Kyoto

We woke up this morning to a thick blanket of snow over Yudanaka, and snow continued to pour down all morning. According to our host it would snow all over Japan today, and there may even be train delays! The snow was so thick that a 1 minute walk to the supermarket turned into an epic.

We managed to get ferried down to Yudanaka station, and then caught four trains to get to our accommodation in Kyoto. The first was the NagaDen line to Nagano, then we activated our Japan Railway pass and got ourselves a Shinkansen ticket. We decided to take the northern route, via Kanazawa, thinking that it might be quite scenic. It turns out that a blizzard viewed from the Shinkansen is just a white blur, and not so exciting!

From Kanazawa, we changed to another train for Kyoto (a Limited Express, so not as fast as the Shinkansen, but still twice as fast as Australian trains!). We had a brief respite from the snow along the coast, but on our way through to Lake Biwa we encountered some pretty deep snow, which the train would plough through. Nonetheless, this train was late ... about 10 minutes over two hours. But at least we did have some nice scenery on this one.

Finally, we took a local train through Kyoto to our apartment for the week. It is small, but pretty cute -- the girls have a loft to sleep in and we have a small bedroom as the main room. We are in a nice little district, with small laneways, a covered street nearby and an over abundance of hairdressing salons. A good base to explore Kyoto over the next week.