At 02:00 we were wide awake
due to jet lag, but later dozed off to be woken at 07:00
by an alarm call thoughtfully requested by Chris for us
all. Breakfast in the restaurant provided more wonderful
views over the city - and more raw fish. Also my first taste
of aloe vera in syrup - I had no idea you could eat it:
it was very good indeed. |
At 09:00 we all got on
to a coach and were soon at the Ryoan-ji Temple, founded
in 1450, with its beautiful grounds and famous Zen gravel
garden. |
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The grounds had a Kaki (persimmon)
tree laden with bright orange fruits. We were to see many
more during the course of the tour. |
Back to the
coach and another short trip to the Rokuon-ji Temple with
its astonishing and beautiful golden pavilion (Kinkaku-ji)
reflected in the mirror pond (Kyoko-chi). The pavilion was
built in the 13th century by the Shogun Yoshimitsu as his
retirement villa. It was unfortunately destroyed by fire
in 1950, but was carefully recreated. The site is very popular
with the Japanese and we were often overwhelmed with groups
of school children wearing yellow caps. |
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In the grounds there is
the hall dedicated to the God of Fire, decorated with typical
red lanterns. |
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Back to the coach and on
to Nijo Castle, created in the 15th century by Shogun Ieyasu.
It is a huge complex of buildings, surrounded by a massive
moat. |
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If attackers got over the moat, they then
had to go through a number of offset gates, leaving them
subject to a rain of arrows.
Left: main entrance |
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Above: The Chinese-style Karamon
Gate with its gold plated fixtures
Right: The Ninomaru complex: the Shogun's
reception rooms. They can only be approached on nightingale
floors which creak and squeak gently to warn of intruders. |
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Behind the
Ninomaru complex is a Japanese garden. It was beautiful:
a balance of the artificial and the natural. |
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Chris dragged
us away reluctantly from the delights of the garden to the
coach and after lunch (in an Italian-style restaurant!)
we moved on to the Teji temple where there was a monthly
flea market. It was very, very busy and there was a bewildering
array of food, antiques and bric-a-brac. We witnessed a
small girl lose her balloon and David (over 6 foot tall)
gallantly tried to rescue it. We bought some dried baby
figs - delicious! |
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Back to the
coach and on to Sanjusangendo. It is the popular name for
Rengeo-in, a temple in eastern Kyoto which is famous for
its 1,001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy. The temple
was founded in 1164 and its present structures date from
1266. The main hall, which houses the statues, is, at over
100m, Japan's longest wooden structure. In its centre sits
one large Kannon, flanked on each side by 500 smaller statues,
standing in neat rows side by side, each as tall as a human
being. Unfortunately, photography inside the building was
forbidden. |
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Finally, we
moved on to Shishen-do Temple, built in 1641 by the Samuri
Ishikawa Jozan as a Zen temple and his retirement home.
It has a famous garden divided into two levels. We found
both house and garden beautiful and serene. |
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That evening, we were taken by Chris
to a traditional Kyoto restaurant, where we were served
at individual low tables (underneath which was a pit for
European legs) by a trainee Geisha - a Miko, who also
danced for us to the sound of a shamisen (three stringed
lute). The food was - interesting. Beautiful to look at,
but a little unusual for English taste, although some
was delicious.
Afterwards we wandered around the Gion
district where Geishas are often seen.
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