Day 15 - Kyoto

It was a cold morning here in Kyoto* when we got up after our all-too-regular sleep-in. After the usual in-house rituals, we ventured out of the apartment at around 1000h, making a bee-line for the nearest bus stop, just a leisurely few hundred metres away. 

We took the Kyoto City Bus route 207; which does a loop run around Kyoto; however, we caught it on the wrong side of the road, so instead of having to travel a mere eight stops to our destination, we travelled a massive 28 stops. Also, when we hopped on the bus, there was nobody onboard; however, during the journey, it became so crowded, I thought that people were going to start sitting on other people's laps. But we made it and go to see a lot of Kyoto that we hadn't expected to see.

Our bus, number 207.

We arrived near the Kiyomizu-Dera or Kiyomizu Temple complex which is situated to the east of Kyoto. The Kiyomizu Temple complex features a wide array of Shrines, Torii (Gates), Niōmon (also Gates), Pagodas and other assorted Buddhist monuments. However, the key feature that we came to see was the Kiyomizu-Dera, which is an incredible structure and an engineering marvel. The building is a giant hall with verandas, held up 13 metres from the ground by giant stilts. Unfortunately for us, it is currently undergoing a major renovation which will not be complete until 2020. Nonetheless, we still got to walk through it and gain an awareness of this incredible building.

Heading towards the Kiyomizu Temple Complex.

A Shrine along the way.

The huge crowd, heading to the Temple.

 The Kiyomizu-Dera is one of the historic monuments of Kyoto and listed as a UNESCO Work Heritage Site. It was founded in AD788, though its present structure was constructed in 1633, without a single nail being used in its construction.

The Niōmon

Getting closer to the Kiyomizu-Dera. You can see that it's the wrapped building in the background.

The Autumn vista.

 An interesting fact was that the local equivalent to the English phrase, 'to take the plunge' is 'to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu'. Apparently, during the Edo period, it was a widely-held belief that if you jumped off the 13 metre high verandas and survived, your wish would be granted. 234 jumps were recorded during the Edo period and of those, only 85.4% survived. The practice is now prohibited...Obviously.

Underneath the Kiyomizu-Dera.

Lighting incense candles.

The Kiyomizu-Dera will be finished refurbishment in 2020.

One of the main reasons we visited here is that this is one of the prettiest sites in Kyoto during Autumn, and that's exactly what it was. Beautiful brown Autumn leaves were abundant and looked stunning in and amongst the many shrines and the Temple. While we were there we were also accosted by a group of school girls who must have had an assignment to practice their English. They even wanted a photo with Maureen and I.

The view towards Kyoto Tower.

Maureen looks out at yonder.

A beautiful Pagoda.

Collecting water for cleansing.

Afterwards, we wandered through the Higashiyama District. The Higashiyama district is a historic area of Kyoto filled with old wooden buildings housing shops and thin lanes. Power lines have also been removed to give the area the authentic old-feel. Adding to the authentic feel was a large presence of Kimono-wearing ladies. This seems to be common-place at major tourist areas around Kyoto, largely because Kyoto was the former capital of Japan for more than 1000 years and the Japanese see it as the city which holds on to the old Japanese tradition.

Brightly coloured Kimonos.

Higashiyama rooftops.

Colourful bags to buy.

A beautiful park in the middle of the Higashiyama district.

The Hōkanji Temple. 

Nearing the end of the Higashiyama district.

By this time it was around 1330h and we were famished, noting that we hadn't even stopped for breakfast. So we headed off on foot to our next destination, the Nishiki Market district in the hope of finding food along the way. We finally found food after walking 1.2 kilometres to the Nishiki Market.

The Kamo River.

The Nishiki Market is a narrow lane five city blocks long of shopping. It is known as Kyoto's Kitchen because of its focus on food and the stuff you need to make food. It is also very crowded, even on a lazy Monday afternoon. Lots of the shops were handing out free samples, some of which we were keen to try, and others, not so much. The markets date way to 1310 when the first shop was established, and they have lived on through the centuries. Nonetheless, they seemed pretty modern, so I'd say that there have been numerous iterations of the Nishiki Markets continually operating in this part of Kyoto.

Maureen still manages to find a fabric shop near the Nishiki Market.

Inside Teramachi Plaza.

Maureen gets a set of Chopstick personally engraved.

The end of the Nishiki Markets.

When our trek through the Markets was complete we headed to the Shijo Subway station and caught the Karasuma line to Kujo Station, not far from where we caught the bus this morning. We then walked home for a short rest.

Shijo Subway Station.

Our apartment.

We headed out for dinner around an hour later at the Aeon Mall, Kyoto. Afterwards, I headed out alone to try some night shots, Sky, headed out exploring some of his favourite shops.

The Kyoto Tower.

A giant Christmas Tree in Kyoto Station.

Well, that's todays report from Kyoto (I just realised that Kyoto is an anagram of Tokyo). Tomorrow we head off to Nagoya, our last stop before we hit Tokyo.

*Interesting fact: Kyoto was originally at the top of the USA's list of targets for the Atom Bomb in Japan; however, the US Secretary of War, Henry Stimson persuaded President Truman to remove it on the basis of Kyoto's cultural importance. Unfortunately, Nagasaki was added in its place.