My all time favourite place in Japan is Kyoto. Despite having visited the city three times already, I decided on Wednesday that I would jump on the train there for the fourth time. A couple of days really aren't enough to see the best parts of Kyoto; a week might be sufficient. About a month ago one of my best friends left JET for health reasons, and whilst I was distracted initially by my boyfriend's second visit to Japan, I've since been moping a bit and not really seeing very much. Most other people I knew were busy on the Wednesday but I was determined not to stay at home, especially when the weather has been picking up recently. So off I went, map in hand and ipod fully charged.
The station of Kyoto is massive. The scale of it is impossible to describe here. It's so big that they have weddings and performances in it, as well as a department store and a ramen village (noodle village). Last time I was there, my boyfriend wanted to do the sky walk (walk through a tunnel attached to the ceiling from which you can see the city). I have a bit of a thing about heights, however, and only managed it halfway up. He took me back down to the ground floor and left me with donuts before going back to do it alone. Sorry about that :S
On the Wednesday, by myself with no one to notice if I failed in my task, I decided to do the skywalk. Why? Because I'm a bit of a moron in my own right, and stubborn with it. I walked through the ticket barriers into the centre of the station and made the split second decision to do it. Before I could think too hard, I stepped on the escalator. Then the next one, then the next one. Before I knew it, I was at the final escalator. It was long and thin and very exposed to the wind, making it seem all the more precarious. The only way I made it up was by staring at my feet the whole time. Stepping off it into the tunnel, my feet felt like lead and my legs felt like jelly. That feeling did not disappear the whole time I was up there.
But I did it! And I took some pictures.
This is the Kyoto Tower as seen from the skywalk.
This is the inside of the station as seen from the very top floor (called the 'Happy Terrace'!). It is very high up for someone as small and scared as me, click on the photo to see a higher res version.So, with that experience under my belt, I slowly made my way downstairs (still feeling slightly sick) and jumped on a bus to my real destination: 金閣寺 - Kinkakuji temple.
No long description is really needed here, just take a look at the photo:
金閣寺 is a temple coated in pure gold leaf. It's a national heritage sight, and it is absolutely breathtaking. It seems to float on an island in the water, and the gold reflection shimmers. There are random little rock islands in the water where trees are growing, and despite the huge crowds it still radiated tranquility. I stood for a very long time staring at it.Beyond the temple, there was a bit of a walk you could follow. Everywhere seemed to be surrounded by green.
There were large koi carp swimming in the water...
and there were small cascades of water by the path...
which led to a smaller shrine where prayers can be said:
There were stalls selling souvenirs and food (including Kyoto's famous 'dango' which I was given free samples of), at the end of which you could find an even smaller shrine with foxes in (foxes are the guardians of the larger Fushimi Inari shrine, more about that in a different post):
This more or less sums up my trip to Kinkakuji! So, one last photo for good measure, a vending machine I found close to the exit of the temple, just in case you had forgotten your camera and wanted to run back and take pictures before leaving.
