May 12, 2009I thought I’d be able to sleep in, but I woke up at 5am.
Today I rented a bike and set off to explore some of Kyoto’s temples. It seems like there’s a temple at every corner in Kyoto, but I had to be selective since my time in Kyoto was pretty limited. I first went to Sanjusangendo-in Temple – the temple of 1000 Buddhas. It’s a long corridor with literally one thousand golden Buddha statues, with one giant one in the center. No photos allowed, unfortunately.
I think my favorite was Kiyomizu-dera Temple, but this may have been influenced by the walk up to the temple, and not the temple itself. To get to the temple, you need to walk up a long street leading towards the hills. Closer to the temple, the street is lined with stores selling yummy snacks, ice cream, pickled vegetables, fans, chopsticks, and random trinkets. The street was filled with groups of school kids, all wearing different uniforms. All the stores had samples – so much delicious mochi!
But about the temple itself – the buildings were gorgeous, especially since they were right on the side of the mountain. One area was dedicated to the god of love/matchmaking, so there were different little shrines that were dedicated to different relationship matters. In front of the shrines and temples, there are small pools of water and people use ladles to scoop up the water and wash their hands to purify themselves. There was one where that was much larger, but you could drink the water – I wasn’t quite sure what the exact significance of this was, but everyone seemed to be doing it, so I tried it too.
Next stop was Heian-jingu Shrine. The buildings were pretty, but the most impressive part was the gardens.
I got pretty lost trying to get to my last stop, Ginkakuji Temple (Silver Pavilion). I wound up in some residential area and tried to ask multiple people for directions, including the cutest little boy ever, but it was tough. Turns out that less people speak English here than I thought. I finally made it to the Silver Pavilion – the actual pavilion is under construction, but the entire area was still really pretty.
On the way back, I rode along Philosopher’s Road, which is lined with little shops and many temples. It’s a very peaceful little path that runs alongside a small river. The rest of my night was quite a different atmosphere from this.
In Gion (geisha district), there were tons of people, lights, and stores. All the girls are super fashionable and wear heels, so I felt underdressed in my flip flops. Along Hanamikoji-dori Street, I saw one geisha in full dress and makeup – I wanted a picture, but it seemed rude. In the shopping area nearby was another experience. The pachinkos and arcades were the most amusing to me.
By now it was late and starting to rain, so I headed back to the hostel. I picked up a bento box at 7-11, which has surprisingly good food.
