Nov 5
Our first day at the temples in Kyoto. Grabbed a local train in the morning and headed out to the foothills on edge of Kyoto to see the ancient Zen temples and gardens and explore the river and mountains with Gio and Scott.
I finally felt the deeper poetic side of Japan that I had been looking for in the other cities. Kyoto was the ancient capital of Japan during the Shogun times up until the early 20th century and all of the ancient temples, palaces and religious sites are preserved. Very very beautiful there.
We walked thru a small shopping district near the river and made our way into the first temple compound that is nestled into the foothills, wandering through giant bamboo forests along the way. We spent a good amount of time at a huge Zen Buddhist temple and garden and checked out the tatam'e houses there. Very nice. Back into town for an excellent meal of Udon (which I love!) and tempura. Almost got hit by a bus before lunch as the traffic runs on the other side of the street and I looked the usual way and stepped out into oncoming traffic right in front of a huge bus, close call.
Anyway after lunch and ice cream we climbed up the side to the mountain to visit the monkeys! A whole gang of monkeys live on this on side of the hill. It was pretty crowded with people and monkeys when we got there, lots of kids on field trips. We hung out for a while but it got sort of unnerving as these are wild monkeys and occasionally they would all start screaming at the same time and start running around the little house we were all gathered at.
Spent the late afternoon and twilight hours strolling thru absolutely gorgeous traditional temples and houses, the Japanese maples were turning bright red and it was really beautiful there. Gio mentioned that David Bowie used to live here and the track "Moss Garden" Lodger is homage to Kyoto.
Made our way back to the train in the rain and got cleaned up for dinner in the old quarter near the river in downtown Kyoto.
Wandered thru the very narrow streets of downtown Kyoto, passing by one after another of fabulously appointed tiny little places with a minimalist design framed against willow trees leaning into the river, lanterns reflecting on the wet pavement. So beautiful, wish the night would never end, very romantic place. Stopped into a sort of opium bar cave sort of place and had a drink, felt like were we went thru a portal and landed in cave in Tibet or something, had some food and ended up at Zappas, another Bowie sighting there as well as Bono among others. Apparently they liked to spend time in this little tiny bar as well.
Nov 6
Third day in Kyoto
After a long conversation over coffee about music, genres, marketing gear etc (one of many)
We set off for another round of temples, this time in the center of town. Gio had gone to college here back in the day so he really knew his way around Kyoto. So great to be traveling here with him. Can't really imagine doing it any other way.
Happened upon a Shinto wedding procession heading down a quiet backstreet, with the bride in a cool giant white headdress. Also passed a pair of geishas on the street today, very interesting to see them. I wondered if they were part of the performing troupe that has in the theater down the street or if they are part of a cultural program or if they were real geishas. Anyway, got a few candid shots for the files.
Saw so many big temples today, actually started to get temple fatigue. This happened in Ankor Wat, too. It seems I have a thresh hold for everything including fabulously beautiful Japanese temples. Our last stop was the temple of 1000 Buddha’s and its true there were 1000 of the in there, an army of gilded Bodhisattvas, all staring back a you with the distant calm that comes from being a deity. Stunning and sort of psychedelic.
Night train back to Tokyo, back to our old neighborhood. Felt like we were coming "home" after a long journey, but it had only been a few days, but as always when you are traveling, days are so full and rich.
photos up @
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefstott/
Kyoto Japan part 3
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