Japunzel

We heard that the path lined with a thousand torii gates were a sight worth seeing, so we got on the train to Fushimi.

The train station was close and we easily found our way to a temple decorated with two huge fox statues. From there started the path, and with it, the gates.

All the shops before the temple sold fox-themed gifts, just like in Nara they were deer-themed. It seems the disctricts each have their spirit animal.

There were also warning signs about monkeys, but the only animals we saw were cats.

Up, up and up the mountain we went (and occasionally down only to go up again). The gates were all of varying ages, some so old they had rotten away, some looked as new as yesterday. The forest was wet and even though the sun couldn't properly shine on us, it was warm climbing all those stairs.

 

My last post ended with those hungry deers nibbling at my clothes in Nara. Have a picture!

 

We fed the deers for an hour or so (they were pretty much insatiable and new ones kept coming all the time) while slowly making our way into Nara town. We heard of a few famous temples (yes, MORE TEMPLES, always more temples!) and a beautiful garden on they way there.

The garden was next to a bigger garden with an entrance fee, but the smaller one was free for foreigners. It was beautiful so I recommend it. A little waterfall, stone garden design, beautiful flowers and cherry trees everywhere.

 

We then reunited with some people we lost in the deer chaos (I can really recommend buying a SIM card here to get internet in your smartphone. Great for checking Google maps and keeping in contact with fellow travellers and family back home) and headed to the great temple.

 

 

The temple is alled Todai-ji, meaning the great eastern temple. There were originally seven great temples around Nara but they took turns burning up (giant wood structures as they were) and getting rebuilt slightly different. The temple was truly great in size, it also holds the world's largest Buddha statue. It used to be golden but is now of bronze. A single hair curl (symbolizing enlightment) is the size of a very large head. We were very lucky to get a free english speaking guide who took 5 minutes to talk about the history of the place before we got in. It used to be a lot bigger but everytime it was rebuilt the size diminished. The had golden ornaments on the roof looking like fish scales, this to symbolize that it was under water and therefore wouldn't burn down. Doesn't seem too reliable so far.

On the way back from the beautiful temple we ran into a lot more deers and saw them actually chase after tourists, and we saw baby deers learning to bow.

 

After all this commotion and walking we were pretty exhausted and luckily we found a place with udon/soba (noodle soup).

I have ultimately left Japan and am now in Korea!

For some reason I can't upload pictures to this website as of now, I'm trying to fix it.

 

But I wanna tell you about the town I've come to love, Kyoto!

That first night we went up the mountain. It was the best thing so far on this trip. The air was heavy with water and scents of the forest, it smelled of pine trees and cherry blossom and moss. Lights were aimed at the shrines and temples, as well as a few beautiful trees.

Monks were walking about, or drumming, or hitting gong gongs. Loads of tourists participated in rituals involving incense cleansing and water cleansing. Prayers were said and written down, words of wisdoms sold by the shrine maidens. Waterfalls and moths and koi fish created an ambient sound that the tourist occasionally couldn't silence.

Of course my camera died right there, so I didn't have much time to take many pictures.

I can't tell you how or why it was so amazing but it was like balm for the soul after a long day of travelling and all the busy life of one week in Tokyo.

 

On the way down from the mountain we found the perfect shopping street, filled with weird japanese "candy" and kimonos, as well as wooden geisha dolls and fortune cats. At the end of our 5 days in Kyoto, this was where I bought most of my stuff, the souvenirs and gifts for others. And on the mountain is where I felt alive, in all and every way.

 

The first proper day in Kyoto, we finally could sleep in. While the others were off to yet another temple we slowly got started and started walking around town. We found a steet parallell to the river with a cute little canal and cherry blossoms and old buildings, only two stories tall, and walked along it hunting for breakfast. We cowardly opted for another Tully's. After a 30 min walk we wanted to know what we were getting the first morning. In this case, pancakes.

 

Then we walked around in a partly in door shopping mall but not for long, we had a deadline. Us girls had made plans long before we came here to get dressed up as a Meiko, a Geisha in training.

IThe process took hours, getting prepared, make up and trying on kimonos and underskirts and belts and whatnot. We were 5 girls doing this together and it was so much fun! We got to pick kimonos ourselves, and what positions we wanted pictures taken from. Apart from that there was nothing to do except sit down/stand up and enjoy being pampered. Three of the guys came along for the ride too, but their process was much shorter. They were merely dressed up as traditional japanese men, no make up or hair. I'm not sure they even got to pick their robes.

 

We got to go out for about 10 minutes after the photo shoot to take pictures with our own cameras and phones. Our other friends were there and took lots of photos. Some japanese people walked past and looked at us with smiles and adoration. They told us we were "kawaii" and "beautiful". Soon a crowd gathered as we were partly blocking the tiny street. The people stopped and one by one they seized the opportunity to capture our looks. Suddenly people stood next to me and we agreed to let them photograph us with their friends. We weren't really prepared for this attention and it was hard not smiling. But with ruby red lips and skin painted white your teeth will always look more yellow than corn (and for that reason some geisha blacken their teeth to not show at all).

That's when my man comes up to me and whispers "It's happening! I think he proposed!" I look over to two of my friends who are separated from the group and sure enough, she's wearing a new ring.

Afterwards we went out to a chinese-japanese restaurant and celebrated their engagement. All in all it was a perfectly spent day.

The day after wouldn't prove worse. We had previously heard of a town where there'd be deers roaming the streets, bowing to humans. I had dismissed this as an exaggeration in at least three ways but stayed curious as we took the train to Nara. And o m g. I was not disappointed in any way. The first things we saw were traffic signs warning for deers. We assumed it was a tourist thing. But then seemingly from no where, there was a deer, right in front of me. And then there was another. We saw a stand where one could get little biscuits for them and after buying that we were utterly surrounded. And they bowed. They nodded their entire neck in an elegant bow, sometimes letting you bow first, sometimes taking the initiative themselves. They could be pretty pushy.

A few times I felt them nibbling on my clothes (my cardigan was the same color as their biscuits).

 

I'll tell you more about Nara in my next post..

Second to last post was so huge because I hadn't written in a few days. You can't expect a lenghty one now as well, but here's a sliver. I'll get back when I have time, most likely tomorrow and not later tonight.

 

I forgot to tell you about Ueno Park! The last whole day in Tokyo, I went to Ueno Park. It was the height of the cherry blossoms and it has beautiful scenery with a little temple and shrines and ponds and koi fish and everything. It was just me and another friend so maneuvering through crowds and deciding where to go was alot easier than with the whole group.

We strolled around and took like a billion cherry blossom picturea and went for a ride in a swan-shaped boat in the pond.

 

 

We left Tokyo two days ago, and took the bullet train to Kyoto. The trip would normally take between 6 and 9 hours but was completed in less than 2,5 hours. Everyone was very excited. We lost a friend in the chaos while boarding, and she had to get on the next one. But that left just 10 minutes later so all was well.

 

Kyoto is much warmer and more humid. There are mountains on 3 sides of the city (at least!), which I didn't expect. The buildings are all much lower and more beautiful, it feels like a city that has grown with logic and dignity instead of "how do we fit more people into this very small space", like in Tokyo. I instantly loved it.

 

Great birds soared in the sky and a wide but shallow river goes through it, like in Rome. The first night we just had dinner and then headed up the closest mountain, where a temple that was supposed to be partically beautiful in the night light. And I will tell you more about it later...