Respect for the Aged weekend brought Abby down from faraway Nagano (famed for its mountains, snow monkeys, onsens: the “roof of Japan,” says the travel guide). We spent three days ambling between Kyoto and Nara, and although just a few hours southwest of us a pretty hairy typhoon was rattling the folks on the Kyushu island, the weather in the Kansai region was just right. In Kyoto, we stayed in a kinda touch-and-go hostel dubbed the White House, which was rigged out with a beer vending machine, community bathing, and a coin-operated television. Not too shabby really (I mean, we didn’t get bedbugs or anything). Plus it was only a 30-second totter from Kyoto station. I didn’t snap any photos of the White House, but imagine a dingy ashen hovel takin’ a load off in an alley that smells like trash--and there it is, plain as day. (The inside was nice, though, really!)
When we got to Kyoto on Saturday, we stashed our bags at the hostel and took off on foot. Luckily for me, Abby is some kind of ace navigator (a helmswoman in a previous life), so meandering through Kyoto ended up being an ironically productive approach to viewing the city. We headed eastward to Higashiyama first, which is a massive
park strewn with temples, shrines--oh, and grave sites too. We circulated through the sweeping cemetery, which seemed never-ending (we eventually sat down in front of a heap of stones to eat the snacks we’d brought along. The graves were framed by green, billowing mountains, and there were a few tykes chasing each other through the aisles). Later we came upon an area called Kiyomizu, a district of towering pagodas
and ancient shrines. Tourists were aplenty here, all with cellphone-cameras absently raised to capture the perfect memory--all on a screen the size of a credit card. I’d never been to this part of Kyoto, but it was surely the bee’s knees of Kyoto’s historical quarters, plus Abby and I hit the nail on the knuckle because we arrived in Kyomizu just in time for the dragon procession, led by Buddhist monks (apparently only once a year).
This was probably the most beguiling way to start off our weekend in Kyoto: The city was lively and full of movement, it wasn’t typhooning, and it was a perfect 75 degrees outside--not 97 and humid as it had been the past few weeks. So we pressed
onward into a narrow thoroughfare of shops leading to the next place of marvel. To our surprise, we hadn’t seen the last of the rogue dragon: He came snaking down the thoroughfare through the throng of tourists, jutting in and out of shops, then whipping back down the path. (We were eating green-tea ice cream cones when the dragon hurtled over our heads.)Afterward, we found some quieter temples and kicked gravel in the shade for awhile.
Then we trekked another couple miles to the Heian Temple. It was huge, sandy, and a little oppressive.
From Heian, we were “walking with purpose” toward the Path of Philosophy, which we’d both wanted to see above anything else in Kyoto--so it was the day’s destination essentially. We ducked down a slender passageway as a shortcut to our target path. The gravel trail was knifed in its center by a slow-moving creek. On our left was a wall that retained the gardens of elaborate homes from our view. (outside the photo, to the left, a gardener diligently trims the tree above Abby’s head.) Soon after, we reached the Path of Philosophy. We were pretty spellbound with exhaustion at this point, but the path was an entrancing course of gravel and stone, flanked by a deeply furrowed stream (which would’ve been alarmingly easy to tumble into). Twilight was rooting in, so it was difficult to take many pictures (and y’all know how ill-mannered the camera flash can be), but the photo at the top of this entry was one we snapped by balancing my Canon on the stone railing of a bridge. The path is lingering in the background, and on the left is the stream. I’m actually tempted to omit this photo because it falls flat in comparison to the place (the fate of all photos--so sad). At this point, Abby and I have probably walked something like 5 miles, but I’d say we’re looking pretty gleeful--but that’s because we’re about to eat at Cafe Peace, which sported the best vegetarian food I’ve eaten in Japan yet. On the way to the restaurant we passed more interesting places. It was only early evening (6 or so?) but almost completely dark. After veering off Philosopher’s Path,
we came across this empty place. Completely silent, it had this lit from within quality--kind of a hypnotic place in general. Abby and I read some of the prayers that passersby had tacked on to the wall of the temple. Most of the prayers in English were more like wishes for happiness (may peace be bestowed upon you and other banalities.), and at that moment I had genuinely wanted to be able to read in another language--there was writing on the wall in Spanish, French, Japanese (of course) and on and on.
From there we made our way to the restaurant, which was located in the Kyoto
University area. Cafe Peace is the Kansai region’s most famous vegetarian/vegan restaurant, and it was (seriously) that good. We ate an amazing garbanzo-bean curry and some kind of soy cutlet dish. So satisfying; I’d been craving good veggie food for almost two months! And on top of all that ... Abby picked up the check.
The next night, after visiting Nara, we spent some time in the Gion district. Here it rained briefly, which made the cobbled streets glow under the lamps. We watched for awhile, crouched under our umbrellas, from the railing of a small bridge.
No comments:
Post a Comment