Kyoto was the Imperial capital of Japan until relatively recently (796-1869), consequently it has many cultural sites to visit and is spread over a vast distance. I was up early and training my way to Fushimi Inari Taisha Senbon Torii (Thousands Torii Gate). Getting here early was a great idea, because I got much of the gates and the shrines to myself. I decided I may as well climb Mt Inari at the same time. There are gates and shrines going all the way up the mountain side. I honestly couldn’t tell you how many shrines were dotted along the trail. As per usual, I was put to shame by lovely old Japanese people trotting up past me and quickly disappearing from view….. how good is their fitness?!
My body was quite conflicted climbing Mt Inari, it was snowing while I was climbing and the temperature was frigid, but I also climbed up 240m over 4kms or so…. So overheated and was sweating! It was a juggling act between cooling off and cooling off too fast! I guess that is what layers are for. The mountain itself was quiet, there were not many people choosing to climb the hill at that time of the day. It was a really lovely spot to be and would must almost be tropical in the summertime.
From my hike at Mt Inari, I headed to the heart of Kyoto, Gion, the heart of the tea house and Geisha district. To be fair, I was there at the wrong time to being seeing Geisha, but compared to Kanazawas’s tea house district, I actually found it to be a bit of a let down. I did see a Geisha flitting through the streets (no photos), but other than that, I wasn’t overly impressed with Gion as a district.
Wednesday morning I was up bright and early to head off to the Golden Pagoda, otherwise known as the Kinkaku-ji Temple, a Zen temple. Built in 1397, it has been used as a palace by a shogun, as well as a meeting place between trading partners (China and Japan).
On my way to totally templing out my last day in Kyoto, I took a cross town bus over to the Jishoji Temple. You know you’ve fallen off the usual temple trail, when you’re the only European on the site. The gardens here at Jishoji were lovely and had’ve it been a bit warmer and drier, it would have been a great place to sit and think about the world.
My final site for the day was the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the residence of the Japanese emperors until 1869. This site is actually one of the “temporary” residences (since 1331), as the Palace regularly burned down and there had to be temporary accommodations made.
It’s hard to picture how the series of buildings worked together, how people moved about the Palace, where they kept all their “stuff”…. And how they kept warm. More than anything, it looks like a drafty place to me! Again, I was wondering where the Palace kitchens were. The voice guided ap told me on the way out, in an area that was full of gardens, that this was the site of the Imperial kitchens. It had been all pulled down for fear of causing a fire hazard to the actual palace in 1945, as Japan was getting bombed in the final gasps of WW2. I’d have probably preferred to see the kitchens!
With all the early starts and breakfasts from the local connivence store (usually a ham & salad sandwich), by 5pm most days, I am SOOO ready for dinner. Last night I felt obliged to finish a “cup noodle” contraption that I had been towing around with me since Nozawa Onsen. Tonight I wanted anything other than a Japanese sandwich or cup noodles, or noodles in general…. And so, traditional gyoza and beer was on the menu….. and my, it made me smile!
Dinner: As said above, + 2 beeru 3450 yen $37.50
Temperature: 10 degrees Celsius (yes, I have dropped off a thermal layer!)
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