Kyoto: Arashiyama Area Tenryu-ji Garden

On Friday morning, our second day in Kyoto, we ventured off to the Arashiyama area via bus. While Tokyo is very much a train city, public transport in Kyoto was more bus oriented. They do have two subway lines and a few tram/trains, but buses seem to be the preferred mode of getting around - other than bicycles that is. Kyoto is not all that expansive so you can do much of the city via bike. We took the bus to Kyoto station, transferred to another and headed to the outskirts of the city to the Arashiyama area. Then I took about a thousand pictures, a small percentage of which will follow.

The Tenryu-ji Zen Garden was one of the more pleasant landscapes I have encountered in my years of paying attention to such things. The season helped as certain trees had already started their autumn display of colors.

Posing zennishly in the zen garden.

Artistically blurry.

Photo #352.

And so on ... 

Nice lines.

 Dutifully posing

Kyoto: Arashiyama area - Bamboo Forest

Bordering the Tenryu-ji Gardens was this bamboo forest. It is quite a remarkable resource when you consider its functionality: you can eat it, build stuff out of it, use it as flooring, feed it to pandas and so on. It is also nice to walk in and take pictures of so that is what I did.

Just barely getting Emmerson up over my head. She still has great form and is a willing participant but she is dense. Fortunately, I had about 40 Japanese students behind me to cheer me on. - which they did with enthusiasm.

 How I felt lifting Emmerson up over my head.

Bamboo fence in the bamboo forest.

Sounds like they are trying to stop someone from bringing a panther or some other wild carnivore into the forest.

After the garden and forest we headed back to Kyoto station to get the train to Inari Shrine. Most large train stations in Japan have large underground shopping arcades. The girls enjoying the Halloween festivities of the Porta shopping arcade.

And then we enjoyed okonomoyaki (meaning - whatever you want cook it). It is a wonderful combo of cabbage and vegetable batter and other stuff grilled into a large pancake looking thing. It is topped with shaved bonito flakes which melt into the top of the okonomoyaki. Rice and pickled veggies completed the set lunch.

Kyoto Inari Shrine

Alicia plans out trips which I like for a variety of reasons, one being that I am surprised a lot as I don't preview too many of the things on our agenda. I had no idea what Inari Shrine was and the "steps" involved in getting to know this unique part of the Kyoto landscape. We went here the afternoon of our final full day in Kyoto - which I believe was Friday the 31st - Halloween!

Alicia described this as the famous place with all the orange gates that everyone knows and is an iconic part of Kyoto - you know .... No, I didn't know ... the first of many, many orange gates. 

Neat whatever you call this in construction where beams meet at a corner.

When I had my first look at the map, for some reason, what was to come simply didn't register. I think it is simply due to the reality that scale on maps is often difficult to conceptualize. Very pretty map - I wanted to take it home but might have gotten in trouble with the shrine tender ladies.

And then the gates began in earnest, as did the ascending walkways and steps ... the girls have got posing down. I just now have to say - "girls, picture" and point and they get right on it - they realize just getting it done is the best way to go about this part of our existence together. I just like having a human in most photos and they are the humans that best oblige.

I was taking picture after picture because it was good picture taking stuff and I did not realize that their were about 20,000 more gates to come .... and more ascending stairs, lots, lots more.

More gates, seems orange is a reoccurring theme. 

Obligatory selfie.

And a happy looking one for good measure - even though I was in the exact state of mind as the previous one which I took about 3 seconds before this one ... 

Workers touching up some of the kanji characters.

"Kitsune" or foxes were quite prevalent.

More gates and stairs and the girls posing dutifully. 

Shrine cat. Read Tama cat if you get a chance and it will explain the relation of cats and temples. Basically, its a story about a stray cat that was taken in by a temple and it brought good fortune to the temple.

Another temple kitty imbibing in some temple water.

Big spider.

Everyone once in a while if the girls had scampered off, I would get Alicia to fill in. She is a good poser too.

I had know idea what this shrine involved. You basically climb a mountain on these paths that are framed by the orange gates. At this point, very sweaty and not tired - just sweaty, we came upon some gringoes who said we were about halfway - I was shocked as we had already been walking for about a half hour and were quite a bit higher than we were at that first gate! I was not expecting to climb a mountain when I woke up that morning. The girls enjoying a mid trek ice cream, a view and sharing a bench with another poser.

"Pozu"

Ada is definitely improving which is good because my "hefting Emmerson up over my head" days are numbered. I almost dropped her on my head when I attempted the lift in a bamboo forest earlier in the day.

The only English characters I saw amongst 100's of thousands of Kanji characters just happened to spell out the word larva ....  a curious world in which we live.

Kyoto Nishiki Shopping Arcade

After the Inari Temple trek we found our way to Nishiki shopping "street". It is actually several bloks of pedestrian, covered streets selling all sorts of things from cheap trinkets to high end designer stuff. We began in the food section which was quite interesting and then after that I kind of lost interest as the girls were on a mission to get a few things - "kimonos" and wooden sandals at the top of the list. So I went into power save mode and kind of shuffled around while the girls did their thing.

Cool rice shop in the food area of Nishiki. Rice is serious business in Japan and they place considerable efforts to protect their rice industry and the farmers involved.

The pickled vegetable stall. Like so many food items around the world, this began as a way to preserve food and has become part of the staple diet of the Japanese. Served as condiments with almost every meal. Good stuff.

The girls showing off their purchases in "Japanese" style poses ....

More accurate Japanese style "pozu"!

Ada displaying her purchase at the 7-11 on our way home to the hotel.

And Emmerson showing what she wanted to purchase at the 7-11 - I had to pry it out of her little ice cream loving hands.

The girls on the way to our last nights dinner in Kyoto. We found a fun Japanese style restaurant close by with a varied menu so something for everyone. We got our own tatami room the two nights we ate their - neat experience.

The next day was rainy - our first non sunny day all week so we headed back to Tokyo bit early. A few shots from the shinkansen of scenery between Kyoto and Tokyo.

And finally - back in Tokyo - we spent the last evening in the town of Narita so we could get to the airport efficiently in the a.m. The girls playing "Where are Ada and Emmerson" in the bike lot at the train station.