Stacy: Day 10 - Mystical Avenues
The Real Bamboo Grove and the Philosopher's Path
While the secluded forests of yesterday were neat to experience, there is definitely something special about the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. Maybe it's because it is manicured, and the others were more wild. I don't know, but it seemed almost magical– even with the crowd of people.
I'm very glad we stopped there. Walking towards Tenryuji Temple, we passed a sign for handcrafted sodas, and had to stop. I got the yuzu, and Nando got the ginger. That yuzu soda was absolutely amazing. I had a smile on my face for at least 15 minutes. Nando enjoyed his, too, and said the ginger was fresh and quite strong.
Like the bamboo forest, this temple was also quite popular. And I can understand why! This was yet another gorgeous Japanese garden. The fall colors are starting to poke their heads out!
Then, back to the other side of Kyoto, to our hotels for a break before we wandered the Philosopher's Path--albeit shortened and backwards.
It was a long walk, so Nando decided to sit this one out, again. At the end of the day, I ended up walking 11.66 miles! Smart call, Nando!
Kristen, Aaron, and I all headed towards our starting location, a shrine dedicated to several different animals (rat, snake, monkey, and some sort of bird--possibly parrot).
We walked and walked, in the cold, and as we walked, we came upon a craft fair! We meandered down some of the paths, but didn't stay long because we needed to hit three/four places before they closed. We said we'd return when we were done (around 4:45pm; and we did), but most of the stalls had already packed up). Kristen and I, both, regretted not purchasing straw wreath-like creations. They're a typical Japanese style decoration, but these were Christmas-like!
Since Aaron was born in the year of the rat, hitting this shrine marked the end of their side-quest of visiting shrines for their Chinese Zodiac!
It was an adorable shrine! The statues made us squeal with delight when we were trying to remain respectful.
And, the Goshuin was adorable, too! I wanted the snake one, but the miko (shrine maiden) told me it was already made on a piece of paper and that she would write the regular one. Tired of gluing pieces of paper in my Goshuincho (I came prepared with acid-free glue!), I opted for the one she would create. Worth it!
It's now that things start getting a bit crazy and confusing (as to where we were, and in what order were visited). But, I know they were all temples. Two might actually be on the same premises--I have no idea, and it was difficult to tell from the location meta data on the photos.
The first one that sticks out in my mind we weren't expecting at all. We believe they were having a special exhibit that we stumbled upon. We walked up, and paid a fee we believed was for visiting the garden (which we did just earlier today).
However, we were ushered to a large building, and instructed to take off our shoes. We followed the line into the structure, and didn't exit the premises (put on our shoes) for a good 30-45 minutes!
We must have walked through 5 large temple buildings with various exhibits and religious relics on display. We're talking climate controlled display cases with original sliding door art from Masters from the mid 1500s. At least two buildings were filled with gold and relics. One was likely the main temple worship area, she I can't even describe it to you it was so gorgeous and bright with gold.
Obviously, no photos were allowed inside the buildings. But, here is what I took of the outsides! The first 9 images are off the first interior garden and surrounding area.
Then, I got ballsy, and started taking (not great) photos of the corridors that were technically outside (I mean, come on--they didn't have any exhibits! And, I wanted to document some of the amazing architecture.).
Then, on to the second temple that made an impression--this one has an aqueduct! And, was very popular, so I couldn't get the best shots I wanted sans humans (as is my preferred style).
And, then we made our way back to the craft fair, which we discovered was mostly closed down.
We then joined up with Nando, and went out to dinner at a Nepalis restaurant he randomly found (that had GF reviews)! My first Nepalis experience--it's slightly different than Indian food, but is very similar.
Along the way home, he wanted to show us how he spent his day, and we ended up at an arcade, where he wanted to play his favorite video game, from his childhood, in the country of its origin: Street Fighter 2. Nando played that game over and over in the arcade, when it first came out.
