Kyoto- the Sights

After living in Japan for an entire year, I finally made my way down south to Kyoto.  I was excited to get away from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and maybe even get to see some of Kyoto's famous red leaves.

Sogenchi Garden, a United Nations World Heritage site

Lucky for us, some of the leaves were just starting to change colors.  This meant a nice splash of contrast for all our pictures, but none of the crazy crowds of tourists that will flood Kyoto in a few weeks.
Before this trip, I had heard that Kyoto was "basically a bunch of temples" and stuff.  To be honest, I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy it.  There are many temples and shrines in Tokyo, and I kind of felt that once you've seen one, you've seen them all.  Of course, I was wrong!  Kyoto is about more than religious buildings.  It's about gardens, mountains, parks, historical places, and great people and great food.  I'll save the food talk for another post.

The sun sets early behind one of Kyoto's red trees

That first night, we stayed in a ryokan, or traditional Japanese inn.  Our room was equipped with traditional wear- cotton yukatas and slippers.  We had a large tatami mat style room, and we slept in Japanese futons, just like Big Bird!

A nice lady set up our futons for us

The next morning, we got an early start (for us), and headed to Tenryuji Temple in Arashiyama.  This area of Kyoto is very touristy but has some very scenic spots.  We thought this would be an in and out visit, but we stayed for quite a while.

Gorgeous changing leaves

Bamboo Avenue, behind the temple- this would have been a very peaceful street, had it not been for the occasional taxi driving lazy tourists by...

These lovely ladies were rushing off to work- not before I managed to snap this shot as they went by!

Not far from where this picture was taken, we were approached by a TV crew.  It was basically two dudes being followed by two cameras.  At that moment, our interpreter was not standing with us, but I think the conversation went something like this:

TV Dude: Hey Japanese girl- can we interview your pretty blonde friend?
Me: Sorry, I don't speak Japanese!
TV Dude: Haha, very funny Japanese girl!  So we're coming over to talk to your friend, okay?
Me: nervous laughter- umm really I don't speak Japanese (hand gesture for no Japanese).  Oh boy...

Whether or not we actually made it onto TV, we'll never know!

From Arashiyama, our next stop on the site seeing bandwagon was Fushimi.  The shrine and it's surrounding area here, is perhaps Kyoto's most photographed spot.  Can you count all the thousands of red gates?

One set of smaller red gates, or torii

The backs of each gate had names on them.  After searching each one, I finally found one with my name.  "Wang" or "Ou" in Japanese means KING!

Candles and offerings- see the open containers of One Cup Sake?

The next morning, we visited Nijo Castle.  The grounds had another beautiful garden.  Inside the castle, the floors are Nightingale floors.  They sort of whistle and creak to warn the castle inhabitants of intruders coming in.

Nijo Castle from atop a viewing platform- sorry, no pictures allowed from inside!

Call me inappropriate, but I love taking pics of the school kids (shorts in November!).  These boys were crossing the castle moat.

After Nijo Castle, we headed to Nishiki Market (more on that next time).  From there, it was off to Nara where we saw a giant Buddha, and met many friendly (and unfriendly) deer.  It was an exhausting trip, but I loved it!  And even now, weeks later- I'm still singing that darned Big Bird song...