Anyway, we made it to the station and our departing terminal with time to spare!
We figured that with a 2.5 hour train ride, we would be able to catch some Zzz's on the train. Um, well, evidently when you're so tired you can't get comfortable, this plan doesn't work out so well...
The train was actually very spacious and comfy! We ended up arriving in Kyoto around 8:30, where we found the subway and made our way to our hotel. With check-in not starting until 12:00, we dropped off our bags and headed to the Kiyomizu-Dera Temple. On our way, we crossed the Kamo-Gawa river, where a very, very long group of people were walking along the side.
My guide book had said to look for the Tainai-meguri when we got to the Temple and that it would be located just to the left of the main entrance. Well, we ended up at the wrong temple. I doubt this comes as a surprise! :-) But, after asking around, we found out we were only 10 minutes from Kiyomizu-Dera.
It's located at the top of a hill in East Kyoto and is surrounded by a huge cemetery. During our walk, we passed many people carrying flowers and incense to specific markers throughout the entire cemetery.
Once we got to the temple, we immediately found Tainai-meguri, which is actually quite an interesting experience. Once we took off our shoes, we descended into complete darkness with only some "buddha beads" along the wall to lead our way. Once we got to the center, there was a circular tablet, that is spun while the spinner makes a wish. It's all supposed to represent the descent into a female bodhisattva's womb. Interesting...
This temple is unique because it actually sits over the hillside and is supported by hundreds columns. Plus, it's huge.
It was pretty crowded, but since we don't practice buddhism, we just looked around and stayed out of the worshippers' way. Another popular spot is the waterfall underneath the large temple. It is said that the waters, when drunk, have therapeutic properties.
Like all popular tourist attractions, they had silver "holy cups" for sale for 400 yen. Probably 99.9% of the people in line just used their hands. :-)
Here's a picture from the bottom of the temple grounds, as we were leaving:
The road to the temple is lined with touristy shops selling things like fans, chopsticks, and a lot of pottery. The lane is actually referred to as Teapot Lane. I would have taken a picture, but about this time, Tim and I were feeling like this:
So instead of continuing our trek through Kyoto, we headed back towards the hotel for lunch and a short nap. Ha! Short nap! That's funny. THREE hours later we were refreshed for our evening stroll to Maruyama Park.
Situated in front of the park, is the Yasaka-jinja Shrine, which we decided to wander through on our way to find the huge cherry blossom tree this park is known for. We had started to realize that something huge was going on in Kyoto, and it just so happened to be a Spring/Cherry Blossom Festival! So the city was more crowded than usual!
But, when we got to the center of the shrine, we noticed that a large group of people were gathered around a stage, so we joined the crowd and waited.
What were we waiting for?! Geishas!
Here's a video of the Geishas performing in a rare public appearance...It was incredibly fascinating because there are so few geishas left in Japan, only about 1,000. And they're treated like celebrities! Once the performance was over, they had to have a police-escort back into the nearest building.
We ended our evening with dinner at Miyata Grill, the best steak in Japan! We had it recommended to us by friends, but even TripAdvisor ranks it #1 out of 727 restaurants in the city.
And it was SOOOOOOOOOOOO good! Mr. Miyata loves when foreigners come to his restaurants and has each one sign a bill from their country of origin. He also speaks wonderful English and could not stop giving us food and drinks (even Tim drank Sake!). Yes, we paid an arm and a leg (and then the other arm and leg), but it was totally worth it!
Here we are saying "We Love Miyata Grill" with Mr. Miyata. :-)
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