Japan Day 13 - Homeward Bound

I was so afraid I might oversleep, I set 2 alarms and asked for a wake up call! I just couldn't afford a repeat of my last day in Tokyo.

I had pretty well packed the night before so I wasn't rushed at all. Since I knew exactly where to go, I found my 'standing spot' easily.

The train system in Japan runs incredibly efficiently. There are markings on the floor that tell you where to stand for your car number. A screen above tells you which train is coming and the exact time it will leave.

They literally stop for about 60 seconds before shutting the door - no time to dilly dally.

I caught the Nozomi train, the fastest in the fleet. Despite it being a thanksgiving type of holiday in Japan, there were empty seats.

The scenery goes by very fast at 300 k/h! We went through a lot of small cities and towns. I don't know what classifies as a town or city though.

I heard a city of 400,000 referred to as a town. Not where I come from haha! I dozed off for awhile which is a good thing. 

It was recommended that I change trains at Shinagwa Station instead of Tokyo and now I know why. Hardly anyone else got off there and I was practically alone on the platform! Then it took only 2 or 3 minutes to find where to catch my next train! Smooth indeed. It was called the Narita Express bound for the international airport. It took about an hour. I paid dearly for the convenience and speed of the trains but it was worth every penny to me. 

Terminal 1 of the Tokyo Airport is huge!

I had a few yen left so I visited several shops to see what to spend it on. I found some green tea matcha, Japanese socks, fake sushi key chains, a small wooden Kimmidoll and some wasabi flavoured KitKat bars! 

How amazing to wake up in Kyoto and go to bed in Alberta in the same day! I will miss the beautiful fall leaves, the nicer temperatures, and warm Japanese toilet seats!!

   

Japan Day 12 - Kyoto's Kiyomizu-dera, Chion-in, & Kyo-Yuzen

Today was the last day of our tour. It was supposed to be a free day but we spent the morning touring two places on our agenda not covered yesterday. Our Japan Rail Pass ran out yesterday so our guide gave us a day pass for the city bus system. The transportation system in Kyoto isn't as extensive as Tokyo's. It's been awhile since I rode a crowded stop and start city bus and I'm glad it's not a regular feature of my life.

Our first stop was at Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple that is a World Heritage Site. The grounds are quite extensive, the primary features being a beautiful red pagoda and a main hall building.

 It is located on a hillside and the views are fabulous.

Jishu Shrine is also located on the property. It is a shrine dedicated to the god of love and "good matches". I rubbed both of the ‘love stones’ just for the heck of it!

Below, there are 3 different fountains which promise long life and happiness to those who wash with the water.  The fall colours were spectacular.

We then walked through several touristy crowded streets to the Chion-in temples.

Enroute, a young girl noticed the Canadian flag on my backpack. Turns out she was from Toronto, teaching English here for 3 years. We also met a small group of schoolchildren who wanted our help with a project, who we were and where we were from. They were very friendly and the interaction was fun.

Chion-in is home to Japan's largest temple bell, commissioned in 1633 and weighing 74 tons. It requires a twenty-five man team to sound it.

There were many, many stairs and I climbed to the top of a shrine offering wisdom to all who climbed. We shall see!

By then it was lunch and I had a small bowl of shredded chicken with rice. There was an almost raw egg on the top of it that I wasn't expecting! That got set aside :(

I returned to Kyoto station on my own by bus and set off in search of a particular store for some souvenir shopping. I wasted quite a bit of time navigating, even with Google Maps, and I found very little I was interested in.

Soon it was time to catch the train to my appointment at Kyo-Yuzen‘s for my 'pattern painting'. I had one heckuva time locating where to go in the station and nearly had a meltdown. It is HUGE! Sometimes travel sucks! Finally after asking 4 people, I found where to board and arrived at the studio in plenty of time.

There was a large class of tourists already working but the staff welcomed me, gave me some catalogues to look at, then showed me what to do. I chose to put bamboo and ginkgo leaves on a fabric pencil holder.

Then I did a wall hanging of a geisha, a Torii gate and some fall leaves. Soon I was the only one working in the large room and thought I should quit. But they said no rush, they didn't close until 7 pm. I was in 'the zone' and truly loved the experience!

They had a wonderful gift shop and I also purchased a black and gold change purse as well as a tablecloth. I had been looking for one all over Japan. I could never find one until now.

The train trip back to Kyoto Station went well, with the kind assistance of a local.

Then I met the group for our farewell dinner. We went to a nearby mall and had a buffet. It was quite unremarkable but no one went hungry.

There were speeches and thank yous, and we said our good byes. I went over to the station to see where to go tomorrow morning so I feel much better about that now.

22,230 today! That's a record!!!

Japan Day 11 - Kyoto's Arashiyama & Fushimi Inari Shrine

We checked out and set off this morning at 8:15 am with a 10 minute walk to the Kurashiki station. After a short train to Okayama, we changed to the Shinkansen bound for Kyoto. The ride was smooth and took less than 90 minutes. 

Our Kyoto hotel is right across from the station and we did a luggage drop as it was too early to check in. Since it was the last day for our Japan rail pass, our guide took us to Arashiyama. That is what I was going to do tomorrow on our 'free' day but she has changed the plans. 

  

Arashiyama was super crowded - noon was a bad time to get there. Oh well. I saw what I really wanted to see - the beautiful bamboo forest groves. I took SO many photos until I just couldn't think of another shot to take. I was happy. Bamboo is so awesomely beautiful!

I wanted to find the famous bridge but I had no map with me and our time was limited. For lunch I grabbed a Japanese sausage cooked in bread. It looked a lot like a hot dog but the soft, yummy bun was actually cooked around the sausage. I looked in a few shops for something made from bamboo to no avail. 

We caught another 2 trains then visited the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Wow! You can walk through over 10,000 Torii Gates, large red pillars with a third pillar across the top of each one.The gates straddle a network of trails which lead into the wooded forest of Mount Inari, standing at 233 meters.  

Fushimi Inari is the most important of several thousands of shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice. Foxes are thought to be Inari's messengers, hence, there are many fox statues across the  grounds.

They are engraved with the name of the donor who sponsored the gate. I walked through quite a few levels, but not to the top. There wasn't enough time and I likely didn't have the energy. It is at least a 90 minute return trip.

I found a couple of nice fridge magnets and a cool shopping bag before I had to meet up with the group. 

It was back to the hotel by train then on a slow, crowded bus to a tea ceremony for 5 pm. 

Unfortunately we couldn't take any photos during the ceremony but we could afterwards when we were given the opportunity to make our own tea. The procedure is quite a number of complicated steps.

The cloth used for wiping the cup and utensils is folded just so. The cup is turned one way while drinking the tea, and another way when the cup is empty. There is even a ritual for finishing up the ceremony when the tea cup is empty. It was most interesting.

Supper was at a restaurant near the station and our hotel (comparatively speaking). We sat at a counter and were able to watch our food being prepared in front of us. Our guide called them 'Japanese pizza'. It was cabbage, flour and some other stuff cooked on a flat grill.

Then the additions we ordered were put on (pork, cheese, etc.)  It was served on the part of the grill closest to us and we were given our own metal spatula and a little plate. You cut off a piece, put it on your plate, and then ate it with chopsticks.

After supper, we went through the mall in the train station to get back to our hotel. There are 11 escalators all in a row with a few steps in between each one. 

The biggest Christmas tree I've ever seen was lit up and standing in the center.

There were rows and rows of benches facing the tree and they had lights positioned so that you could see them from one direction but not the other. The lights flashed with different colours and patterns. Oh! My! Gosh! What a lot of money went into that display!

It's been a SUPER long day! Sayonara!!

Mall Skywalk