Leila's visit, long weekend in Kyoto

  Kyoto, Kinki, Japan
Tuesday, September 26, 2006

It's been a while since I've written because Leila has been here! It's been wonderful to have a familiar face in my new home, and the timing of her visit was perfect. I had a month to explore on my own, get settled, meet friends and travel a bit around the prefecture. She arrived during the week and I met her in Osaka on Friday September 15th. I finally felt really clean after a wonderful shower and good nights sleep on a nice western bed at the Hilton! Monday was a National Holiday (Respect for the Aged Day) so we decided to spend the rest of the weekend in Kyoto.

We boarded the famous bullet train, which really was very fast!! It took 9 minutes to go from Osaka to Kyoto! We thought we would have time to eat a delicious lunch but by the time we got settled and started eating we were already there. Kyoto was so much more than I could have ever imagined. Often people ask me why I came to Japan? and honestly I don't really know. But now I can say that cities like Kyoto are one of the many reasons, It's definitely one of my favorites I've seen thus far throughout my travels.

I had booked us a traditional Japanese tatami room at a Japanese Ryokan (hotel). Hotel Matsuyi is owned by a woman and the staff could not have been nicer. We were served tea upon our arrival and then shown to our room. We were served traditional Japanese dinners right to our room by women dressed in kimono's. One night we had tofu, pickled vegetables, various kinds of fresh fish, rice, miso soup, tea, a few sushi rolls, and more. Everything was delicious and we were so happy to have booked a place at a traditional Japanese hotel. The ladies came back after an hour to clear the table and prepare our futons for sleeping on. They were suprisingly really comfortable! They even whipped up two Japanese origami cranes and placed them delicately on our pillows with a note saying that the crane means that you will have a good nights sleep and wishes you a great day of sightseeing in the morning.

DAY 1:
Kiyomizu Temple with beautiful views of the city

Osaka Shrine where we saw a traditional Japanese wedding
Shopping around Kiyomizu/Gion
We spotted a REAL geisha, on a cell phone! We were so excited!! I barely managed to get my camera out of my bag and take a picture of her before she jumped into a cab and was gone!

DAY 2:
Golden Temple, beautiful and made of real gold!
Zen Garden with 15 rocks, one of which is always hidden!
Ninaji Temple with beautiful zen and moss gardens
Gion Corner Theatre- we saw a Japanese show with samples of various Japanese arts: maiko (apprentice geisha who are from 19-25 years old) dance, ikebana (flower arranging), tea ceremony, kabuki comedy/theatre, and japanese puppetry.
Pontoccho-another area where geisha have lived historically, we walked around after dark to see if we could find one!! no luck today :(


DAY 3:
Heian Shrine (Chinese gate) with HUGE tori gate outfront
Ikendo temple (more temples and zen gardens, each a different sect of buddhism)
Nanzenji temple
Path of philosophy (an ancient philosopher used to walk this path everyday)
Ginkakuji (Silver Temple, but not made out of silver)/cone zen garden

The neat thing about Kyoto is that you don't have to go far because you will eventually turn a corner and something incredible will be in front of you - whether it be a huge bright orange tori gate, a temple complex with monks, or a giesha scurrying to her next appointment. Kyoto is a bustling city like many others, but at the same time feels so far from other cities I've travelled to. Japanese history dates back so much farther than the US it's hard to comprehend how old some of these buildings really are. I don't know much (ok, anything) about Japanese history, but I am already learning lots everytime I travel somewhere.

We barely made the train back home to Nachikatsuura, but when we finally got on we were so excited to be able to sit for 4 hours after 3 intense days of sightseeing!

I will catch up more this week I promise!