Catching up on our blog ..... Kyoto, Japan

We had plenty of things lined up for Kyoto and being one of the most ancient cities in Japan it was jam-packed full of temples, shrines and other traditional Japanese sights - quite different from the more modern feel of Osaka.  Fortunately we'd managed to get ourselves into one hotel near the train station for the entire time we were there, so that made things much easier and more relaxed - no unnecessary lugging of suitcases!

So to give a flavour of some of the things we got up to, check out the list below:

• visited Sanjusangendo Hall which is the home of 1000 Buddha and warrior statues (couldn't take photos inside though - it's sacred apparently.  Rob was not impressed.)

• spent a while at the Golden Pavilion which is an absolutely gorgeous building, but I must confess I got a tad bored standing around for over 2 hours whilst Rob took photos - guess that's what buying a new camera does?!?

• visited a place called Fushimi Inari which is a shrine, but is most famous for the thousands of tori gates dotted around the place - and it had a cool kind of tunnel made from them.  This was quite an interesting place and something very very different.

• spent some time in Gion which was very good for shopping and the home of some Geisha girls.  We did happen to see a few whilst we were wondering around - we think they were authentic and very fascinating.  We also spotted a handful of western tourists dressed up in traditional Japanese wear - frankly they just looked like tools!

• went to the Gion Corner which is a theatre where they play out some of the traditions in the Japanese way of life, like tea parties, flower arranging and dancing.  It was quite entertaining but not something you would want to see every week.

• took a long bus ride to the Sanzen-Inn Temple and Japanese gardens.  This was a really relaxing place and it was so peaceful wandering around the gardens (which had some really cool moss covered buddhas).  As it was completely out of the city it was a nice way to spend a few hours and take a look in some lovely little Japanese shops that paved the way to the temple - mmm, souvenirs!

Moss covered Buddha

• got the train to Arashiyama just outside Kyoto and is apparently well known for a its bridge across the river.  Well we saw the bridge and we didn't think it was up to much really - that said it probably looks great in the Autumn with a backdrop of autumnal colours.  We just had a general wander around which was nice enough and spent a while walking around the giant bamboo grove seeing them sway in the breeze.

• there were loads of temples to look at (too many really) and after you've seen a couple they can become a bit samey.  However a couple that were really good were the Toji Temple which has an amazing weeping cherry blossom tree in the grounds and looked especially nice when lit up at night and the Kiyomizudera Temple which is only lit up a couple of times a years, so we had to check it out.

Toji Temple by night

Toji Temple by day

Rob at one of the shrines at Toji Temple

Kiyomizudera Temple

• wandered along the Philosophers Path - a stretch of canal lined by a variety of cherry trees.  Very nice, but sadly we were a bit early for most of the cherry blossom.  We also watched a women feeding the local cats - they seem to have lots of strays in Japan but they all seem pretty well looked after - no wonder Hello Kitty is so popular!

• As well as seeing the various sights we also chatted to lots of friendly Japanese people, with some of them just wanting to practise their English (which was unsurprisingly much better than our Japanese!).  We took the opportunity to experience lots of new foods such as curry dumplings, pork filled things (yep, vague, but tasted good), curry doughnuts (sounds weird, but really nice) and other stuff that we have no idea what it was - looked ok so we tried it, some was disgusting (sushi rolls mainly)!  Japan also did a nice line in ice creams and Rob bought lots of Giants (the cookie one was the best) - I think he was actually hooked as he had to have his daily fix.

Curry dumplings

A man cooking octopus balls

We actually spent longer in Kyoto than we first anticipated.  As with anywhere you go there is always still more to see and Kyoto was no exception.  But everyone was right, it is a beautiful city and has a very traditional Japanese feel to it - not just the buildings but also the people with lots of men and woman dressed in their Kimono's just going about their business.  It was just a great experience and a place we'd happily go back to.

Next is our 2nd time on the bullet train to the biggest and brightest city .... Tokyo....

P.S.  We have to thank the general population of Kyoto for their honesty.  Whilst we took a break in the Gion Corner area of the city, Lisa managed to "temporarily misplace" our camcorder.  Basically she left it on a wall in a very public place for anyone to take (no, this wasn't some form of social experiment, just incompetence!).  After realising the camcorder was missing nearly an hour later, we re-traced our steps expecting to find nothing.  To our shock/amazement/joy, some kind sort had actually picked it up and placed it out of the way on a window sill - nothing was missing, so thank you whoever you are!!