Kyoto & Nara

I spent my day in Kyoto sightseeing. I got a bus pass for 500 yen, which is $5, and set out for the Golden Temple. The bus was packed, mostly with Japanese tourists. I decided to be adventurous and not get off where everyone else did for the famous Golden Temple, but instead would go find another, less known one first. Bad plan, of course I get lost. I get on the right bus, but going the wrong direction. And because in Japan they don't seem to bother with street signs too often, it took me until I was almost back in town to figure this out.











This is the bus schedule, you see my problem - I got on the number 5, that was about all I understood from this sign







So instead of my morning at a temple, I ended up at Nija Castle, touring the grounds and various rooms and of course temples too.







Then I made my way back to the Golden Temple, this time getting off at the right stop with everyone else. You can't go in, but a beautiful sight from outside.

I then headed for another temple, Ryon-Ji, known for its Zen rock garden. Me, in super sightsee-er mode walked right by the garden, wondering why everyone was sitting there. I thought I had learned this lesson in Australia, to always ask what people are looking for, but no, I walked right by it and then had to do a full loop and come back in once I realized it. Maybe you can see how I missed it...

I then took 2 buses and made my way back to Gion, for my 2nd attempt at spotting a Geisha: The night before had been entirely unsuccessful, mostly as I discovered on day two, because I was on the wrong narrow street. I was starting to lose hope, after all I hadn't had much luck in finding living creatures where I expected them to be in the past weeks. But then I spotted one, of course going the other direction. I tried to catch up, able to move more quickly than she in the wooden sandals, but trying not to be too obvious. I catch her and get a (bad) photo, but was then horribly embarrassed for being so touristy.

Luckily, the next day, as I visited even more temples, there were several geishas out, and posing for pictures, so there was no chasing required.

I visited a few more temples, bought a Buddha named the God of Business Success at one, you never know, it could help me find a job?? Found the Ginkaku-Ji, or Silver Pavilion and walked along the Path of Philosophy, with lots of cherry blossoms.

View of Kyoto - I like the new city mixed in with the old temples.

Then I got my backpack and got on a train for 40 minutes to Nara. I checked in to my ryokan, a traditional style Japanese hotel. This was my most expensive accommodation yet (though still only $45), and while I did have my own room, the bed is a cushion on a straw mat on the floor, with shared bathrooms. It was comfortable enough and fun for a change. The paper walls weren't great for quiet, but still ok.

The next day I set out on foot to explore, I had heard about the deer in Nara, but still was surprised when I saw them.

All around the parks, there are deer, apparently safe and revered as messengers of god. I think I saw kids bow to them more than once, but won't swear to that! But they just wander free, and beware if you have any type of food, they will come for it!
Todai-Ji - hall of the great Buddha, the largest wooden building in the world; apparently. And the pretty cherry blossoms.

This is not the great buddha, one of the smaller statues beside the great Buddha, but a better picture! The big one was too big to even capture really.

Meals in Japan were my biggest struggle. There weren't a lot of English menus and places that catered to tourists tended to have fake plastic food out front, which never looked appetizing and I would decide not to go in. I still managed to eat of course, and in the end found some good food, and great gyoza (dumplings).

This is the street of my ryokan. Nara is a small-ish town, so a much different feel to Tokyo; Not what I imagined as a Japanese street.