last day in Kyoto

Today was mostly a day of taking care of things besides sight-seeing. I found an internet cafe and got caught up on the blog. Found a landromat and did laundry. A bit of shopping...

The weather changed today from hot and sunny to cool, cloudy and windy.

For sight-seeing, all I did today was take a bus to Ginkakuji. One of the most visited temples in Kyoto, with a very interesting garden.

Ginkakuji is at the northern end of the Philosophers Walk, the south end of which I saw on my first day here. Wow, what a difference a couple of days makes. The wind has blown a lot of the petals off the trees, and it was nowhere near as spectular as when I saw it before. I guess I got to Kyoto just in time.

The rest of today will be packing and taking it easy, and tomorrow will be a transportation day to Koyasan.

Inari Shrine

Fushimi-Inari is a Shinto shrine in the southern part of Kyoto. It is a large shrine. Apparently most shinto shrines are dedicated to Inari, a diety that was originally for a good harvest, but which evolved into a sign of good business as well. One of the symbols is a fox, which a sheaf fo rice in its mouth.

The shrine is at the base of a mountain and the most striking thing are the trails up the mountain that are covered in tori gates so it is a like long tunnel the winds its way up.

 Each tori gate is paid for by a business, whose name is written on the columns. There is a price list for toris of different sizes.

There are lots of little shrines on the side along the way, and what I think might be graves.

I was here last year. But it was the day I had got the news about my mom's death, so I was just too numb and preoccupied to enjoy it. When I decided to come back to Japan this year, I particularly wanted to come back to this spot.

I spent a good part of the day walking the trails. I make it all the way to the top of the mountain and back, and did a few side trails as well. There are some signs about something called to Kyoto Trail, which makes me think this may be part of  a larger hiking network.

When I am finished at Inari I take a train back to the center of town, and walk to a temple called Kenninji. This was one of my favourite spots from when I was here last year. I hung for a while and did a drawing of a garden. Afterward I when to the nearby Gion area for something to eat and a beer.

Arashiyama

A major tourist spot, about a 20 minute train ride outside of Kyoto, is Arashiyama. It is known for the scenic mountain and river valley, temples, and a bamboo grove. The train station is in the middle of the ordinary-looking part of town, so when I got off the train I didn't really now where to go as the maps I had did not have a lot of detail. So, when in doubt, follow the tour groups.

I arrived at a nice walkway along the river. The mountain side has cherry blossoms mixed in with the other trees, which is quite striking. There are boat tours up and down the river. I follow the path going away from town for a while, and then follow a sign for a lookout. Turned out to be the right way to do, the view up the valley was breath-taking.

A little further and the path took me to a Japanese garden built by a Japanese silent film star, which was well worth a look and had great views back over Kyoto. Next to it is the top of the famous bamboo grove. Very magical setting, despite being full of people.

The bottom of the bamboo grove takes me to the entrance to the garden of Tenruji temple. I explore the garden for a while, but is packed with tourists. Interestingly, I hear more Mandarin spoken around me than anything else.
I leave the temple, and walk down the main tourist street through town to the Togetsu bridge. While the bride is billed as a tourist attraction, it doesnt seem like anything special. However on the other side, on a large island in the river, is a nice area with blossoms along the river, an open area with blossoms for picnicing, and restaurants and food stalls, with a real holiday atmosphere.

Afterward I make my way back through the crowds to the train station, and back to Kyoto.

From Kyoto station I walk to a temple called Sanjusangendo. This is a very old temple building with a large hall containing 1001 statues of Kannon, the bodhisatva of compassion. An amazing sight, but unfortunely no pictures were allowed.

I stop at the station again on the way back to the hotel for something to eat. I found the next thing in fast food. There is no cashier. You order food and pay for it using a machine, which gives you  a ticket. You then take the ticket to the counter to get your meal. Now that now what this is, Ive seen it quite a bit. I wonder how long it will take to come to Canada.

first day in Kyoto

A quick flight from Vancouver to Narita, I think actually slept through a lot of it. The noise-cancelling headphones I bought at the airport must have really helped. At Narita I caught the train to Kyoto easily - slept some more - and walked from the station to the hotel. Enjoyed the Japanese bath at the hotel before going to bed.

My first mission was `hanami` or viewing cherry blossoms. I was wondering if I was going to be too late, but I need not have worried. They are still out in full force, and you don't have to go far to see some. The receptionist at the hotel recommended Maruyama park, near the Gion area, about a 40 min walk from the hotel. I was up bright and early, and it was a sunny day, and I head out. The first great view is along the river, after only a few minutes walking.

I walk to Maruyama park, but it is too early and there is nobody there yet. Not far from it is Shoren-in temple, so I have a look and check out the Japanese garden inside. Its still very quiet and the little temple and garden are very peacefull, and I hang out for a while.

By the time I leave the temple, there are more people about. From a road nearby I see a giant tori gate, which I know is near the Heian shrine, so I walk towards it.

By now it is quite busy with people, both tourists and Japanese, coming to take part in hanami. In back of the Heian shrine is  a park. I remember this from a previous trip to Japan many years ago, and I go inside to see it with the trees in bloom.

Then I continue to the Philosophers walk. This was quite a distance to cover, but it was well worth it. The blossoms along the canal by the walk are spectacular.

I head back to Maruyama park. It is an open area with cherry trees, and tatami mats spread out for people to sit on and picnic. It is very popular. Lots of young people, but also people of all ages and families.There are food stalls all around, like a real festival.

While walking around I often see Japanese dressed in their finest traditional dress, posing for pictures with the cherry blossoms. Mostly girls, but also couples with the guys dressed traditionally as well. I also saw a few people getting wedding pictures taken.

That was definitely enough for the day. I grab some food to go and head back to the hotel and crash.

Japan - take 2

Almost a year since the last trip to Japan was cut short, and so I'm going to continue where I left off. Kind of a closure as well.

I'll be 4 weeks in Japan, during April, but the itinerary is somewhat different from what I had planned last year. Also I'm doing the whole trip on my own this time. I start in Kyoto, as I did last year. About 5 days, hopefully in time to catch the cherry blossoms. Then a couple of nights in a temple at Koyasan, a complex of Shingon Buddhist temples in a very picturesque setting on a mountain. From there I travel to Kanazawa. I'll spend a couple of nights in the city, and then a week at a zen temple. Next I spend a few nights at a hotspring town called Yudanaka, in the mountains near Nagano where the Olympics were one year. Finally a week in Tokyo. I've been to Tokyo once before, a long time ago, and I remember feeling that a few days wasn't enough to check out all the interesting areas. So hopefully a week will be better. One of the things I've already arranged in Tokyo is a ticket to the Ghibli Museum. Ghibli Studio produces the anime films of Hayao Miyazaki, such as Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and the latest one The Wind Rises. I'm a big fan.

My goal was an itinerary that was not too rushed, and allowed enough time to really see and do the things I wanted most. Everything is booked and all I have to do is pack. 

last day in Buenos Aires

On our last day in Buenos Aires we bought a ticket for a tourist bus that went all over town and you could get off and get back on again when the next bus came. We got off at the Boca area, which we'd seen only briefly before as part of  city tour. All the buildings are brightly painted and it is a lively tourist area. It was a nice sunny day and plenty of souvenirs were for sale along the walkways or in courtyards full of shops.

In another street, the restaurants had tables out in the pedestrian area, and each restaurant had performers doing either tango or flamenco dancing.

Also near this area is the huge soccer stadium and the importance of the game in Argentina is very apparent. Storefronts are painted in the yellow and blue colours of the team.

After Boca we caught the next tourist bus and continued around the city without getting off. We saw very nice areas with parks, and a field where polo was being played on horseback. The bus took about 3 hours to go around it's circuit.

In the evening we walked along a busy shopping street called Santa Fe, where we had dinner at a popular, funky restaurant.

Something I noticed here is that there are still a lot of bookstores, especially used book stores, and they seem popular. I like this, and it makes me feel a bit nostalgic. I saw one bookstore with shelves all the way to the ceiling.

After dinner and walking around a bit we made our way back to the hotel, to pack and get ready for the very long flight to Vancouver the next day.

Penguins!

Today we went on a boat tour up the Beagle channel. We left Ushuaia early in the morning, and it started out sunny, but as they say is typical in this area, the weather changed quickly. It started raining a bit and got quite windy. Nevertheless we were able to get on deck and take pictures.
We first stopped at some rocks where sea lions were sleeping. There were also comorants. These comorants had white bellies which is different from the all black ones I`m used to seeing in Vancouver.

After a couple of hours we reached an island about 60 km to the east of Ushuaia, which has a penguin colony. One of the only colonies around here, I think, and I was surprised there was one this far north. I thought they´d only be in the Antarctic. The colony is not very large, and they seem to mostly hang out on the beach, although some were higher up on the island.

 The penguins were not disturbed by the boat and it pulled right up to shore so we were able to get very close.

Afterward the boat stopped at a little place called Harbourton, which is the first ranch on Tierra del Fuego, and some people got off there. The rest of us stayed on the boat for a very windy, wavy, and bumpy ride back to Ushuaia. Felt a little green by the time we got back.