Ohayo mina-san !
(English version of the post named "Derniers jours à Kyoto")
Monday, Augst 16th
South of Higashiyama
We decided to visit this part of Kyoto monday, but it wasn't a good idea. Almost everything was closed, because of Daimonji,the last part of a celebration for the Dead.
Nevertheless, we were able to visit Kiyomizu-dera temple, a temple above Kyoto. We had a nice view of the city. But it was crowded! On our way, it was so hot that we couldn't resist buying an ice cream. Yummy!
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| Kiyomizu-dera is built on piles |
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| Kiyomizu-dera on its piling |
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| View of Kyoto |
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| The water that comes from this fountain is supposed to bring luck |
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| Ceremony |
Then we wanted to go and see Chion-in. So we took a bus, exhausted by the heat, we climbed to way up to the temple and we found a panel "is closing now" (I know, it doesn't mean anything, but I didn't write it).
Direction Kyoto Tower: we wanted to have a nice night view of Kyoto... but we forgot Daimonji! The tower was closed. They had placed a panel...that same day...in Japanese... to warn visitors about the closure... Instead of going to Kyoto Tower, we hang out in Kyoto station. Its design is quite nice. A little bit contemporary and futurist. We climbed all the way up to F12 (11th floor) and surprisingly, we saw a wonderful scenery of the city and far off... guess what... Daimonji!
'What is Daimonji?', you're going to ask. It's the fire of a gigantic kanji (Japanese character, derivated from Chinese) meaning "big". This kanji is located on the top of a mountain.
We spent the evening in a Chinese restaurant and in Mister Donuts because Solinette wanted to taste donuts. But, strangely, in Japan, donuts aren't cooked long enough; I mean they're quite raw. Beurk !
Thuesday, August 17th
Kyoto
I decided to have a break from visiting: I was exhausted, I had enough walking all day long and I wanted to stay dry, that is to say I wanted to stop sweating! That's why I let Solinette make a tour in the city.
She started to go to the Nijo-jo or the Shogun's castle but she soon realized that it was closed (once again the "closure curse" struck but it was only the beginning)
Then, she went to the Kinkakuji or Golden Pavillon, un magnificent building covered with gold. Fortunately, it was open... but crowded. Nonetheless, she was able to take beautiful pictures. That's the most important thing.
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| Kinkakuji Temple |
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| Kinkakuji Temple (detail) |
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| The Kinkakuji Temple is covered of gold |
Next, she visited a zen garden, with a lake, a stone garden and raked white bits of gravel: the Ryoan-ji temple.
At the same time, I went and saw the main temple of the biggest bouddhist sect in Japan: Higashi-Honganji temple. Very beautiful. Very calm and quiet. Nevertheless, it's right next to Kyoto Station.
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| Purifying fountain |
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| How to take a picture of what is inside the temple |
That is exactly what I like about Japan: this contradiction, this mixture of modernity and tradition. Japan, a wonderful oxymoron.
Then, Solinette and I met at the Imperial Palace in order to visit its gardens... and the closure curse struck again.
Never mind, let's buy these sweets we saw earlier near the Silver Temple. Err no. Curse, curse, curse. The shop was... closed!
Thus, we comforted ourselves in Yami Yogurt shop. A good ice cream. Yummy!
Wednesday, August 18th
Monkey Park and Bamboo Forest
Direction Saga Arashiyama, a suburb of Kyoto. Once again, it was hooooot! We started with Monkey Park. We climbed, climbed. No monkey. -_-". The 550-yens fee were hard to accept. Then, suddenly, lots of monkeys, everywhere: on trees, on the road, near a bench. We even entered a small hut to give food to the monkeys. Some were tiny. It was sooo cute.
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| Arashiyama |
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| Monkey Park |
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| Hut from where we were able to feed the monkeys |
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| Monkeys can walk freely in this park |
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| We're allowed to feed the monkeys |
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| Geishas |
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| Arashiyama |
Then, Solinette didn't feel well, thus we came back, after eating an ice cream (of course). Don't be afraid, our food weren't only based on ice creams. We will talk about Japanese food at the end of this post in "Japanese short stories".
When she arrived at home, Solinette slept from 5 p.m. to... 10h30 a.m. It seems she needed some sleep, doesn't it ? ^_^
Plans for today, Thursday, August 19th:
- Ice cream at Yami Yogurt (we're regular customers),
- Kyoto Tower and a shop where I can buy a Yukata (...),
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| Kyoto Tower |
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| Sunset from Kyoto Tower |
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| I tried on a Yukata but I didn't buy it |
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| Solinette at Kyoto Tower |
- Buy these sweet we couldn't get and R-E-S-T!!!
Coming soon ( in Tokyo, we leave tomorrow):
- Tokyo Tower and Shiba-koen (park)
- Ueno Park
- Café Gigi and its crêpes and the Rainbow Bridge
- Shibuya (maybe)
Now, your favourite column:
Japanese short stories:
- Food. It is omnipresent! It's amazing. Everywhere in the street, in ads on TV, in shops. Everywhere. Moreover, Japanese have a real balanced diet: coated with breadcrumbs and fried meat, noodles and rice at the same time, no fruit, no vegetable except cabbage! Solinette bought an apple at 180 yens (1,5 €)! It's great to live on an island! In any case, I don't know how they manage to stay slender. Well, we have a theory. Their secret weapon is cabbage, tofu, red beans and above all green tea! By the way, here, in Kyoto, tea taste like... coffee o_O ?!
- Vending machines. They are everywhere. Even more than food! Even on the top of a mountain! Here, drinks have misleading names.Aquarius? water? No! It's an energy drink. Imagine the surprise when you're thirsty and you expect water.
- Sleep. Japanese have a wierd particularity. They sleep in every type of public transport. Bus? Hardly settled, they're already asleep. It's the same thing for the train. We even saw a woman who seems to sleep on her bike. o_O ?!
Jane (see you)
Gaellou and Solinette
