A worthy 2000km trip (Muroran - Yamaguchi) - Part 2

Assalamualaikum w.b.t (Peace be upon you)

Now, the second part of the trip.

29 December 2010 - Kyoto (京都)

The day began when we arrived at Kyoto station at around 0615 in the morning. It was a cold morning. Woke up fresh and excited to start the one day journey in Kyoto. We were supposed to put our luggage at our friend's house. Went to his house and had our breakfast there. He was our guide for the whole day. At around 11:00 a.m, we started the journey and went to our first destination, Kyoto's proud Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺) or the Golden Pavilion. Before I went there, I thought the place are secluded from the city, far into the forest and untouched by modern developments. My thought was wrong. The place are only about 500 meters than a main road nearby. Also in Kyoto, you might opt for a one-day pass (available at any tourist info center or public transportation). As for us, we bought a one-day pass (city bus only) at 500yen inside a city bus. The one-day pass may include unlimited subway-pass, city buses and JR buses.

Walk from the bus stop will take around 10 minutes before you reach the main entrance. A very beautiful garden full of greenery will greet you at the main entrance. From the main entrance continue walking until you arrive at the ticket counter. The admission for adults would be 400yen. I like how they design the ticket. It's quite big but rare, you don't find other places with this kind of ticket. You might don't want to even fold it.   

The admission ticket to Kin-kakuji. You may try to understand what is written on it though. Good luck then.

Let me remind you, we went in winter season, yet so many people were there. Mind you, this is one of Japan's top tourist spot, so how'd you expect the crowd will be in summer? Well, I suggest you to come in low peak season such as winter, so you don't have to get in the crowd while struggling for the best picture with the golden temple on the background. You DSLR maniac out there, I do understand your passion.....................................really I am.

No matter how many times you push the trigger, the picture itself is such an addictive. The more you snap, the more you gets addicted. Go experiment your camera!

Additional note: Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺) (Temple of the Golden Pavilion) counterparts also in Kyoto is Ginkaku-ji (銀閣寺), the Temple of the Silver Pavilion. Unlike Kinkaku-ji, the GINkaku-ji exterior is not silver in colour.

Go try your luck. Throw the money into the bowl (it's in the middle, see that?)  and ...... you just made the temple's man richer. Or, is it counted as a donation? Why waste your penny? This is not the only donation 'checkpoint' in the temple. There are two or maybe three 'checkpoints' in the temple area, if I'm not mistaken. Just...................... why the hell people are throwing money man! There are lot of poor people, homeless on the street. Why the hell you don't throw those pennies to them? They needed those money more than the temple I guess. Why, because the temple are getting financial support from the government. Come on guys......wake up!

This is where the visitors hung their wishes........... only to be read with other visitors. Well, it's pretty normal if you write "I wanna get married soon", "Oh god please let me pass the national exam" or maybe "God, please cure my cancer. I swear I didn't do it. They forced me.", some stuffs like that.

But if you were one of the temple authorities, what would you do with this kind of wish?

Read it loud and clear fellas

I would tolerate with that, considering him as young boy who haven't hit his puberty yet..... but, I wouldn't tolerate with this dude who wrote this:

Obviously he/she is a Muslim, yet why he wrote the wish and more importantly with the Arabic word, Allahuakbar (Allah is great)? 

Bad luck tickets

This is where the visitors hang the 'bad luck' kuji (籤),a lucky draw ticket. Some visitors will visit the temple in the first day of a new year for example, and draw a ticket. If the ticket writes kyou (凶), which means bad luck, evil or disaster, they will hang it here. Maybe to get rid of the bad luck I think. What would happen if the 'bad luck ticket' gets loose? No idea. Release to the world, perhaps.

Yatsuhashi, the famous souvenir in Kyoto. More types of yatsuhashi here.

Oh, don't forget to grab your souvenirs from stalls just before the temple exit gate. They'll be lot of candies or traditional Japanese sweets. Try some before you buy. The hawkers understand some English, though very limited. If you don't know which one to buy or if you're on a short budget, yet you don't wanna miss your souvenir, look for a traditional Japanese snacks called Yatsuhashi (八橋), which I could say a MUST if you ever set your foot here in Kyoto. 

Next destination will be Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺), also one of the famous landmark in Kyoto. Along the way to Kiyomizu-dera, you'll find a shop districts selling souvenirs and traditional confectioneries. Nothing interesting for me there, though building here looks traditional and antique. You could really feel how Kyoto looks alike hundreds years ago. Imagine the lights were once lanterns, car buzzing on the street were once horse-cart, people who are wearing western clothes today were once wearing kimonos, everything you can imagine (from anime maybe). This is Kyoto, heart of the ancient Japan.

Actually you don't have to imagine that. If you're lucky, you may catch a sight of few women in kimono walking nearby those temples or tourist sights. My wild guess is, those two girls in kimono were being rent to accompany those two men. Plus, one of the guy is a white guy. Hey! Asian girls look high to you white guy. Come to Japan and go hunt them cowboy!

Also, don't forget to look for a man with his rickshaw. Just like the one below:

Experience walking at the back alley of the houses to get the feel of how the ancient Kyoto was like. Don't afraid to explore any paths or back alleys you find interesting. Just be careful not to trespass into other people's property. If you find yourselves in the middle of nowhere, go ask the locals. If that doesn't help, look for where the crowd is. Then work your way to your destination.

This is a shopping district area at a sloped hill leading to the Kiyomizu-dera. There are simply too many choices. Work your way up through the crowd. Good for your stamina.

The harmony of the old and modern buildings.

Finally arrive at the Kiyomizu-dera main entrance. Another flight of stairs to go.

A close-up view on the landmark

I realized something strange here in Japan. In temple area, mind you this SHOULD be a religious and sacred area, you could find couples dating, publicly. There's even kuji and o-mamori (御守り - refer part 1) specially designed for couple. Wh...What? To promote love? I understand that. Any human will need love. But I don't think those couples show some respect at the temple. No wonder there are saying in Japan, "Born as a Shinto, married as a Christian, died as a Buddhist". Strangely when I asked my friend 'which religion are you?', they don't have answers. This is the problem of youngsters in Japan nowadays. 

You tell me

A komainu, a common sight at temples.

Note:

• My trip in Kyoto was a ONE-DAY trip. Depends on the season, you could visit up to maybe 4 to 5 temples or other tourist sights in Kyoto. If you are the type who savor every places you visit, every food you try and the kind of "I wanna try everything", you'll gonna be probably need a week or more for yourself in Kyoto alone.
• You can opt for an English guide. My suggestion, try Johnnie's Kyoto Walking. It receives good reputation for it's service and English tourist friendly.
• For those who loves a real backpacking challenge, or traveling alone to challenge yourself, try this Kyoto Walk map. Mind you, there are hundreds maybe thousands of temples in Kyoto alone. This map provide a very useful information (opening/closing time, entrance fees, nearest station etc.). I personally recommend this downloadable booklet.
• Refer wikitravel about Kyoto for more information.

to be continued on Part 3