Today was another full day in Kyoto. I think I really liked today a lot. We went to places we had never been before, and they weren't crowded with tourists, and they were all beautiful or fun. In the morning, after another delicious breakfast of toast at the cafe near the hostel, we went to two temples. The first one being Shimogamo Shrine, one of the oldest original shrines in Kyoto. Not many people were awake yet, so it was just us and a few others checking out the shrine. While it was small, it was peaceful with a lovely ginko tree near a stream. We went live on Facebook from there, so we enjoyed walking around and showing everyone online what we were seeing.
The second temple of the day was a 15 minute train ride and a 15 minute walk away from Shimogamo. Enkoji is in a really small, quiet part of Kyoto but we noticed something about the residents and the other visitors there we had not yet experienced: they actually said "hello" to us in passing! Such a weird thing we didn't notice we were missing until someone greeted us and I was like, "Oh yeah! Konnichiwa! People are actually greeting me!" So that made me happy. What also made me happy was that Enkoji had the best fall colors I have seen so far. It was beautiful! It had a sand garden, a bamboo forested area, a beautiful, calm, pond, a graveyard, a walk up a hill with a view of the temple and city, a small museum, and even one of those giant bells. And all the trees were in peak color. It was spectacular. What I'm really loving about Kyoto and these gardens, and what I wish we had the right conditions for, is the moss. It's a whole different kind of gardening medium they use and I love it! So cute and soft looking, but so complex up close. I want to replace my grass with it! I'm sure it's hard to maintain, but I did not see a single weed. Just beautiful moss, plants and trees.
After leaving Enkoji, and catching the hoards of Pokemon there (seriously, I've never seen so many), we made our way towards Kyoto Station for lunch. The station has 11 floors, and on the 10th floor is an area called "Ramen Alley". There are about a dozen ramen shops all in this hallway, all with their menus out front, boasting their own special spin on ramen. I honestly just wanted some tonkotsu ramen, but the closest I could find was a Super Chashu (pork) ramen. It was delicious! Soooo good! We also had some of their chicken karaage, but it had to strong of a ginger taste for my liking. No matter, the bowl of ramen was more than enough and it was delicious!
Next up, and a 5 minute bus ride from the station, was the Kyoto Railway Museum! Choo choo! We learned all about the history of Japan's railways and the secrets of the shinkansen! I'm telling ya, no one is more efficient than the Japanese. Less than ten years after being bombed and obliterated by war, Japan rebuilt their ruined railways, reopened the ones they had closed, and made it better than before. We watched an adorable little presentation of a giant miniature landscape where all the different, tiny, model trains came out to cute little tunes. Super Japanese-y. Not much was in English, but there was a lot to see anyway!
Our feet were once again starting to take a beating from all the walking so we decided to head back to the hostel. I guess we're gluttons for punishment, because not even an hour later, we were back out and walking to Kodaiji temple for nighttime illuminations. But first, dinner. We broke down and stopped at McDonalds. We wanted cheese SO BAD. I swear, our bodies are making us eat more ice cream and to seek out cheese from lack of our usual, American calcium intake! No regrets.
I've forgotten to mention that it had started raining while we were leaving Enkoji at around 11 am. It had continued to rain lightly all day, but we were smart and bought some cheap umbrellas from a convenience store. We still carried those with us as it was still raining and about 7 pm as we walked from the hostel to McDonalds to Kodaiji. I think the temple would have been more beautiful in the daytime (and less hazardous when not dark and wet), but the spotlights on various areas in the temple grounds illuminated buildings and trees in full, fall foliage. It really made them pop! Too bad it was really hard to get that effect on camera. The dark night, lack of flash, holding an umbrella, and crowds of students made it hard to replicate the experience on film. Even so, I did my best and just enjoyed the rest. One part of the temple had a light show with images and lights projected onto a building where their sand garden was. It was a really neat effect and a good idea! I learned that the temple's main theme was Hideyoshi and his wife Nene, and to bless married couples with a happy and unbreakable relationship like they had. It was really adorable. Just ignore the other details about Hideyoshi's life, like that time he crucified 26 Christians. Instead, the focus was more on Nene and her love and happiness.
By now our feet were two lumps of pain at the end of our legs, so it was obviously time to go buy ice cream from a convenience store and hang out in our room. Tomorrow we leave for Tokyo and we get to see BUCK TICK in concert!! I can't wait!
Yawn, I'm too sleepy to caption all these right now. Make up a story yourself about what is going on in them. Good night!
These are some gorgeous photos. Want to steal one for my FB background. OK?
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