Kyoto - Day 1

We arrived in Kyoto after 24 hours of uneventful travel. We flew to LA then to Tokyo, took a train to Shingawa and then a train to Kyoto. We left home at 5:15 AM on Thursday and arrived at our hotel Friday night at 10:00 PM, but we are 16 hours ahead of SF time.

My body is totally confused about what time it is but after a glass of wine in the bar and Advil PM, I slept for 8 hours and I am assuming I have converted to the Japanese time zone.

Everyone has been incredibly helpful and many people speak English...it was a bit confusing in the airport figuring out which train we wanted (even though I had done research ahead of time). But there are employees standing around just to help! A very nice young woman helped us figure out the trains and then smoothed the way at the ticket counter.

The trains are great and function efficiently...similar to Europe. We were on an ultra high speed express (bullet) train and the trip took about 3 hours.

The train station was very crowded (Friday night commuters and travels) and everyone was dressed in black, white or some shade of gray…except the obvious foreigners.

After Chris hours spent making our airline reservations utilizing frequent flyer miles…business class - a luxury that made the long flight endurable, Chris assigned me the task of booking our hotel, etc. for Kyoto. And as much as he tends to scoff at my desire for slightly more luxurious accommodations then the barebones he would chose...I got high points for this selection solely on due to the magnificent shower in the bathroom...”the greatest shower ever.”

After talking to the concierge, we decided to go sightseeing on our own (armed with a map and our Lonely Planet Guidebook) rather than take a tour.

We had a great day exploring the hills, temples and lanes of the southeastern section of Kyoto. We left our hotel...headed north for a couple of blocks. This was described as the “must see” section of Kyoto if you only have one day…it was within walking distance of our hotel and we followed the “walking tour” outlined in the guidebook. and then headed up "Teapot Lane"...so called because it is lined with pottery shops selling local pottery...we resisted the temptation to purchase items (a choice in line with my "resolution" not to keep accumulating "stuff". I think this trip so far has only enforced the desire...the Japanese minimalist decorating style was clearly very soothing. It is much easier to relax and feel restful without a lot of "stuff" for distraction.

We spent most of the morning at Kiyomizu-dera. This is a temple (or really a whole area) first built in 798. The present buildings are reconstructions dating from 1633. It is described as having survived through the many “Buddhist intrigues” in Kyoto and is now one of the famous landmarks. It had a number of interesting parts…including the main hall with a huge veranda that juts out over the hillside supported by 139 columns .

Below the hall is the Otowa-n-taki waterfall where visitors drink the sacred water which is purported to have therapeutic power and also help with school test scores! There was also a three storied pagoda housing a statue of a goddess responsible for the safe delivery of babies (there were a lot of pregnant women there).

We paid 100 yen ($1.00 or so) to descend into Tainai-meguri (total darkness…while holding onto a bead railing) to spin a stone and make a wish…this is referred to as entering the womb of Daizuigu Bosatsu, a female Bodhisattva who has the power to grant any human wish.

There is also the Jishu-jinja (two love stones)…you walk between them with your eyes closed and if you can actually walk from one to another you will find true love. We watched a number of teenage girls attempt the walk…with help and encouragement from their friends.

We ate a lunch of a type of noodle soup on the temple grounds. After lunch we walked along a couple of quaint shopping streets and then visited Kodai-ji, a temple founded n 1605. It includes gardens designed by a famous gardener and two tea horses designed by a renowned master of the tea ceremony. It had a attractive pond and a bamboo forest.

We finished our sightseeing with a walk through a local park, through the downtown area and then walked along the river heading back to our hotel.

We ended the day with an multi-course Japanese dinner in our hotel…there were definitely some new tastes for me including “fish guts” and sea urchin…I enjoyed it all. Our waitress told us for “westerners” we were very “adventurous” eaters. As I started to fall asleep during dinner...we decided an early night was perhaps a good idea...maybe I wasn't quite as adjusted to the same as I though.