Going to Kyoto

NOTE:  Two new photo albums 

Woke up to sunny skies - good start. Took another leisurely bath and shower and got ready for breakfast. We chose the traditional Japanese breakfast which was served in a lovely room overlooking the river. We have absolutely no idea what we ate but it all looked and tasted incredible. Still had some time to kill before our 10 o'clock check out, so I called my brother and chatted with him and my nephew till it was time to say good-bye to our ryokan.

We left our luggage at the inn and explored Arashiyama. First we hiked across the bridge and up and up to the Monkey Park. Here there are about 170 macaque monkeys. The northernmost monkeys in the world. They roam free. We got there just at feeding time, so it was pretty exciting to see them all come running for grub. They are fine around humans. You just cannot stare at them. The views from up there were pretty impressive as well.

Walked back down and strolled into town. Went into the Tenryuji Temple and the Japanese gardens. Quite different from the pagodas we had seen in Vietnam. This is one of the most famous temples in the area and is now a World Heritage site. 

Town started filling up with tourists. We couldn't decide what to have for lunch so we settled on green tea ice cream - yummy. Went back for our luggage and since it was such a nice day, we walked down to the train station. At the station, we spotted a vegan/organic restaurant that looked really good. One problem, it was up two flights of stairs and elevator. Geoff was determined, so he carried both suitcases up there! Well worth it. The food was great and I could name everything on the plate.  Plus, it turns out that the woman had visited Cape Cod and cooked for a yoga retreat. Karma.

Boarded the train for Kyoto and was there in about 20 minutes. Checked our luggage into a locker. For the next 4 nights we are staying with an ATC member (our b&b club). He will not be home until 6, so we had to keep busy until then. With our luggage out of the way, we were free to start exploring yet another city. Tourist information had maps and a few suggestions of where to go in the immediate area. Mostly more temples.

Our first temple was really fascinating - Higashi Honganji  - They are working on restoring the temple and have built a whole other structure around the original site. It was amazing to view from within.

The Higashi Honganji complex is the head temple of the Otani-ha branch of the Jodo Shin denomination of Buddhism, which is popularly known as Ohigashi-san. This was built on donated land, which the 12th abbot, Kyonyo, received from Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo period (1603-1868). While the Founder's Gate (Goei-do) is one of the three largest in Kyoto, the Founder's Hall (Goei-do) is one of the world's largest wooden structures, containing 927 tatami mats and the wooden image of Shinran Shonin, the founder of this denomination

From there it was down the street to Nishi Honganji Buddist Temple. 

Nishi Honganji was established in 1602 by the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu split the main Honganji in Kyoto into two temples, Nishi Hongan-ji and Higashi Hongan-ji, in order to diminish the power of the Jōdo sect.[1] Nishi Hongan-ji is listed as one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Getting hungry and tired, we started back to the train station. Stopped in at Bic Camera, which is this immense electronics store, for a new camera case. With a whole wall to choose from, we had no problem finding one that would fit. Great - have been looking for that for a while now - guess we had to come to Japan for a reason. This place sells everything, including drones!

Back at the train station, we went underground where there's a gazzilion restaurants. Picked one, and had some dinner before boarding the train out of town. Made it here in about 20 minutes, our host picked us up at the station. It is a beautiful home in a quiet little town which will be a nice change of pace. Lots to do around here if we don't want to schlepp into Kyoto. There is never a shortage of temples.

After a glass of wine, and some good conversation, we said our good-nights. It'll be good to be in one place for a while.


Next time... Temples, temples, temples