Big Japan Trip Take Two: The City with the Old Soul

Apologies

I've taken blinking ages to get round to this. Frankly, I was over-walked and over-travelled and I needed to REST.  We've had two days off in back in Tokyo and I needed it. Not that we did nothing, we just did less. And had a ball at the same time.

We did a lot with our two days in Kyoto, despite the typhoon threatening to rain us out a second time. I also had a slightly costly mishap with my photos but I've restored them and it's fine and they're all on flickr now, so they'll never be gone. Unless Flickr disappears. But I'll have downloaded them onto my home pc by then. Maybe.

The City with the Old Soul

Kyoto was, of course, the capital before Tokyo was - it was also less heavily hit during the war, so its palaces and temples are far more complete and often still in use. There are a lot of temples - in fact, our hostel was in one! It was one of those side buildings that had been converted into a mini flat for visitors as a side income. It was basic but it was ok. Made our hard mattresses in Tokyo seem cloud-soft by comparison, let's put it that way. The man who did all the online bookings and checking in and stuff was absolutely lovely. So friendly, so kind and really helpful. Very sweet. So we don't feel as begrudging of the fact that the futon and pillows needed replacing a good 5 years ago.

The buildings are all older in Kyoto, temple or not. They have air conditioning and what have you, but from the outside they're quainter and more traditional, and you can easily spot a restaurant or a fllorist from the facade of the building. Although it has an old feel, there were a lot of young people about - a lot of students because of the university there, who partake in wearing the yukata during August as part of the Spirit of Summer festival. I have seen some truly beautiful cloths and patterns and what the girls do with their hair is super nice, too. 

The first day, once we had checked in, we decided to visit the Imperial Palace because it is practically by our temple, on the map. Walking distance. The nice man at the temple warned us that it was very wide and might make feet tired. It is very wide and it made our feet tired.  I kid you not, the majority of our walk was trying to find the correct kilometer long wall with the entrance. At least it was free to get in. We made it just as a quick tropical storm literally blew through - it was blowing against us and then it was gone.

Afterwards we went into town and found food and walked along the river, then headed back for a relatively early night at the temple. 

These are the photos from the walk to and inside the palace, and afterwards:

The Light and Dark Sides of Nara

The areas outside of Kyoto are, in our opinion, more interesting - they have more building variety, landscaping variety and they produce a more varied day out.  We didn't get to go to Nara last time we came, partly because with the exception of a few key things, we don't plan ahead at all! We're too laidback and "let's see what happens, we have a month to play with" in attitude to these long holidays.

Nara is one most people have heard of, even if they haven't taken in the name: it's the temple complex with all the deer.  There are loads of temples and loads of deer - male and female - to wander through and around.   We did not partake in feeding the deer for two reasons: 1, large animals that have the potential to harm you when throwing a strop make Hubbo uncomfortable, even if they were essentially just large dogs with antlers.  2. I disagree with the foodchoice that was on sale and weird touristy way these animals are being profited from. 

I have fed semi-domesticated deer at a tourist trap before, at Castle Mountfitchet, Stansted. There, you get a bag of wholesome grains and corn and things that won't be nutritionally bad for the deer.  At Nara, you got biscuits that essentially looked like wafer waffles from a distance. The deer have been trained to recognise a bow as a signal for food and if they see you with the biscuits in your hands, they hound you.  The problem is that these biscuits have no nutritional value that I can see, and, similar to the old way of feeding hedgehogs in your garden bread, these wild animals (constantly reminded by signs that the animals are wild) are filling their stomachs on these biscuits and not on the grass and greenery that is more important for them.  

When we made our way to the main temple, with the giant Buddha statue, we saw a emaciated deer, probably an older one, lying on the steps. It was hot, it was in direct heat, it was skin and bone and it had severe diaorrhea. I didn't see it when we came back, but I doubt it would have lasted the day in the 38-feels-like-42 degree heat.  I am not an expert, I did not do vetinary sciences or biology, and it could be that this deer was old and not able to stand up to the hundreds of younger deer at the park and find a shaded, grassy spot. However I am willing to bet that this deer had been fed those stupid biscuits so many times, it had not been eating and drinking properly - don't forget, animals get a good intake of water from greens (humans included: why do you think the majority of summer food is salad? Not just because it is seasonal!). 

There was also the case of one woman we saw feeding deer - there were two female adults and one fawn. It was a case of "remember you're a parent!" with the doe. She was so crazed over the biscuit, she literally would snatch it from the fawn. The woman threw some biscuit to the ground to distract the older two and then gave some to the fawn, who was frankly a bit young to be fed this nonsense anyway, cause it was barely gripping the biscuit - but the does came along and ate before the fawn could.  

I just disagree with the whole money-making nonsense whole-heartedly.  Let the deer roam. Let them be used to humans and sure, sell some sort of grain mix. Those deer biscuit stands should be curtailed and disbanded, in my view.  

The only amusing thing were the shrieks of women who were cornered by several deer because they bowed too close to a group or had the entire stack in one hand while feeding bits with the other, and not realising that deer can see and smell the biscuit stack. 

No tourists were harmed in the feeding of these animals.

We visited the main temple and then made our way.... you guessed it, uphill! Hah.  We got some food and watched the world struggle by in the heat, and then we went up one last interesting looking building before heading back for the trains.

Photos from Nara:

"That temple with the non-stop gate tunnel"

Hubbo planned the day trips, because it was his birthday but also he knew what we were both interested in. We were going to go Inari and then on to Nara, but as it happened, it's for the best we did it the other way around. Thank you rapid train for skipping that stop.

Inari is another place where you've definitely seen images of the tunnelled walk, but didn't know what it was. As soon as he got a google image up I said "Ah... THAT place. Yep. Awesome."

We got there during Golden Hour, which made me happy. Also it seems to be an entire complex with fox statues. I love foxes. It also makes a change from dragons or demonic dogs. A bit more refined and classy and local, you know?

The fox statue in the first photo is what you see when you exit the station, then just beyond it is the big Torii gate.  You go up steps to the shrines and follow the path heading up the hill. 

Honestly, what is it with religious types and going up hills? They don't even have a god to get closer to in Buddhism. (I know I'm being reductive here, it's just my thighs are going to be proper hench when we go home.)

The torii gate tunnel is looooooooonnnnnnggggg. And beautiful. Some of them have writing on, which you can see if you look behind you / as you go back out.  These are mostly gates that have been paid for / donated, kinda like a kickstarter reward.  There was one from a Russian which amused us. Fortunately, as it was evening, it was less busy, but there were still plenty types of tourist to experience.  The mother and daughter, where she got the daughter to pose, standing in the tunnel looking whistful and then later she was on a Kirin Ichiban bench and trying to pull the exact face and angle that her mum was happy with. Seriously, this woman took hundreds of photos, and was forever shaking her head and saying "no, do..." 

There were the two Japanese men in their Yukatas, pausing as though they're being caught walking through the tunnel. One had a trilby on so that was amusing.

The Chinese tourists, French tourists, American tourists and the random dude who was clearly training for something cause he ran up and he ran down. 

We only went part way up the mountain cause we (or I) were tired and didn't fancy it in the heat, either. We also wanted food and needed to head back to pack up to leave the following morning.

Still, Hubbo kept us busy and pretty much on our feet for 12 hours, so well done to him.

Photos from Inari: