No more free breakfast, and the fact that the hotel's breakfast isn't exactly cheap meant heading to the neighborhood Starbucks the next morning, and indeed every morning after that. Fortified with Gordon's favourite - cinnamon rolls, we took the subway to Kyoto station, and then the bus to Sanjusangendo. Unfortunately, the wonderful stuff inside is not allowed to be photographed, but it is truly a "wow" place. There are 1000 statues of the goddess of mercy - Kannon, made of wood and covered with gold leaf along with a pantheon of other statues representing other deities. Most are familiar to us from Hindu mythology. The sight of all these statues lined up in row after row is truly worth seeing.
The gardens are also very beautiful, and the orange colour really makes the place come alive.
We took the bus from Sanjusangendo to Kiyomizu Dera. We walked up the Chawan Zaka or "tea pot lane", which is lined on both sides with souvenir shops selling much more than tea pots. One of the main things on sale was local pottery called Kiyomizu pottery.
As we were trudging up the hill, we chanced upon these "dress up" geisha. For a fee, one can visit establishments that dress you up as geisha and take you for a walkabout.
The lady in the photograph beneath was just someone we kept bumping into. She is Japanese and lives up north and was visiting Kyoto as well, We kept running into her, at the train station, at Ryoan-ji, at the bus station, and even here !
Let me annunciate here one of our experiences with Japanese hospitality. We were walking up the hill and stopping at intervals to browse through interesting shops. We stopped at one such shop and when we emerged it had started raining. The storekeeper came running behind us and asked us to wait, while she went and fetched two umbrellas for us. We thanked her profusely and told her that we would return them on the way back from the temple. In her broken English she said " No, no, you keep, you keep". She did not want us to be without. We were so overwhelmed by her kindness, I cannot think of any other country where I could have had this kind of experience.
We passed several shops and old structures, as well as beautiful courtyards like this along the way.
We reached the temple, but before we went further we stopped for what I can describe as the best Y 100 I spent on the trip. I will probably spoil the fun for a lot of people, since all the guidebooks just say go in and be prepared for a surprise.
So you take off your shoes and descend a few steps. There is a noren or curtain, which leads into a dark passage. As you enter, you realise its not just dark, its pitch black. You cannot see or hear a thing. There is a rope along the wall which you feel and move along very slowly. After about five minutes of complete disorientation, you see a faint light in the distance. It is coming from a round stone. You reach the stone and then are supposed to rotate it, making a wish. then its back to the darkness till your hand brushes a noren and you come back into daylight. You are supposed to have made a journey through the womb and are now reborn.
This was great fun, and it does kind of tell you how dependent we are on our senses and how sensory deprivation can cause one to lose all orientation.
In our new avatars, we walked up through the complex of shrines towards the top. The gardens here are said to be spectacular in full bloom sakura season, which was just beginning to show.
At the top is Kiyomizu's balcony. Apparently, the Japanese have a saying, that if someone does something irreversible, its like jumping off Kiyomizu's balcony.
With the "gifted" umbrella and the balcony in the background.
One gets a good view of the city from above, as well as all the surrounding foliage.
We made our way down from the temple, and down the hill through the main Kiyomizu street which is lined with shops and eateries.
At the end of the street, turn right to descend the stairs into Sannen Zaka, one of the quaint and atmospheric streets of Kyoto.
We stopped for a quick bite at this cafe on the street which looked out onto a beautiful courtyard garden.
A further set of stairs leads to Ninnen Zaka, another small atmospheric street.
We emerged at the foot of the hill. With a lovely garden or two and a line of rickshaws, it was a nice spot to stop and plan where to go next.
Some cozplay Kyoto style, including make believe geisha.
We walked through some quiet areas towards Gion. This wishing tree, overburdened with wishes caught the eye.
We were finally on Hanami-koji, the main street of Gion, which still retains a lot of its old character.
We stopped at the Gion Corner to enquire about their cultural shows and were told that ticket sales would open half an hour before the show at 7 pm, giving us plenty of time to wander around.
This has to be one of my favourite parts of Kyoto, its so evocative of earlier times. Especially at this time, just before dusk.
The time of the day also meant hordes of........ geisha paparazzi !!
And they were onto something, as pretty soon, we got our own look at the real deal.We did not know it then, but today was apparently being celebrated as the first day of spring when maiko or apprentice geisha get together with their big sisters or senior geisha for an elaborate tea ceremony ritual, which is why we saw so many of them leaving after the tea ceremony.
We made our way back to Gion Corner and lined up for the tickets for the 7 pm show. The show started right on time and its free seating, which means first come first served. Most seats were full. The performance consisted of 7 different parts, each showcasing local culture. We started with a demonstation of ikebana accompanied by music, followed by a dance. Then a comedy skit followed by a dance performance by two maikos. We ended with a part of a traditional puppet play.
Its definitely a touristy thing, but is also the only way most tourist will be able to experience any of this, so in that sense its well worth a look, but in case there is no time to do it, no worries, have not missed something extraordinary.
We headed out of Gion and into Teramachi where we had dinner at an Indian restaurant before heading back to the hotel.
