Kyoto

Kyoto is an old city, it was once the imperial capital of Japan. We found it to be a mixture of vibrant modern city and very old interesting history. It was tourist friendly and realitvely easy for us to find our way around in. There was a lot that can be seen and done on foot. We three highlights for our two nights in this city, but could quite easily return and have many more adventures.

Fushimi Shrine
With our Japanese Rail pass we did take the train out to Fushimi Shrine. This is dedicated to Inari, god of rice and saki. The draw card for us was the avenue of gates (Torii) that form a walk way up through forest to numerous shrines. We spent an enjoyable afternoon explorig the hillside and wolking through the avenue of gates.

Ruth makes her way up through the gates. They just went on and on up and around the heavily wooded hillside.

Here I am at the start of the avenue, we were impressed by the number of torii and the atmosphere created by the torii. We eventually found ourselves wlaking down a narrow lane with traditional Japanese home on either side. As we arrived at the bottom of the hill we found a local restaurant and enjoyed a tasty lunch of noodles.

Nijo Castle

We had read about Japanese Castles and had seen some photographs. Our hotel was less than a Km away from Nijo Castle so we figured we could walk to this castle and explore. It was a very interesting place to visit.

In terms of castles this one does not have strong fortifications and its Keep is no longer standing.

The Shogun living Quarters here are well preserved and provided us with a good introduction to Japanese Castle life. This view is from the site of the keep looking down on the Shogun Quarters. These were a series of rooms joined by passage ways, the walls had many intriguing paintings. The floors were fascinating, nightingale floors. They make squeaking bird like sounds when you walk. It would be impossible to sneak around inside this building.

The gardens within the castle were spectacular. We visited a number of Japanese gardens and this one was one of my favourites. It was immaculately groomed and is famous for its wealth and variety of rocks. These made an interesting landscape within the garden.

It was very hot this day but the garden offered lots of opportunity for shade and was relaxing to wander through.

The most of the Nijo Castle was one of its strong points.

Gion District

Gion is famous for its Geisha district, it was the setting for "Memoirs of a Geisha". We decided to take the opportunity to explore Gion one of the districts where Geiko and Maiko still ply their trade within the Teahouses. We took part in an evening guided walk to find out more about Gion and the Geiko.

Our guide was really good, he spoke fluent English and showed us many points of interest. He also explained about what being a Geiko was about. Apparently they are highly trained entertainers who spend five years training. They have many important traditions and skills to learn, more than performing the tea ceremony. They are not cheap and one can only get a Geiko by being introduced by someone who is already a customer.

We did see a number of Geiko pass by as we wandered through. This one is a fully trained Geiko, we can tell because her Obi is short at the back, a Maiko (Geiko in training) has a longer Obi. She is passing by a traditional Japanese Teahouse.

Here is a front view of the same lady as she rushes by, it must take a lot of work getting ready for work with the hairstyle and make up. Not to mention the uniform.

We covered a number of places of interest in the Gion district passing many teahouses, restaurants and hostels that were very old and of traditional architecture. We even visited the gates of the Geiko school. BY the time we completed out tour we were hungry and on our way home found ourselves in a restaurant beside the river in Pontocho Alley another well known Geiko district. The small lanes and alleys around Kyoto were very interesting and full of surprises.