After a number of very busy days it would have been good to have a slightly later start this time around, but our wish to see the Katsura Imperial Villa meant it had to be reserved online and our only option was at 9:20am. Hence, we were downstairs for a continental breakfast by 7:30am. It made a nice change from our muesli and milk. I opted for a Western breakfast because I was craving eggs and toast. John opted for the Japanese breakfast and was a little surprised by the oily mackerel (multi-boned) and pickle as part of it. Good though.
It was only a 10 minute walk through an attractive area to get to the train station, then a short ride before another walk which got us to the Katsura Imperial Villa in good time.
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| Nice low-scale streets on the way to the station |
It was freezing. The temperatures have surprised us. We had expected cold temperatures in Hokkaido in the north, but more spring-like temperatures much further south in Takamatsu and here in Kyoto. Apart from a few days when we'd been able to relinquish one or two layers, we are now back to wearing full merino, sweatshirt, puffer jacket and rain jacket, plus woolly hat and often gloves. The reported weather temperature is about 5-9 degrees but a cold wind makes it feel much colder. The forecast when we woke up predicted snow for the day. It didn't eventuate in Kyoto, but looked as though it was snowing up in the hills behind.
The one hour tour we were assigned to for the villa proved thoroughly worthwhile. Our guide was rather charming and shed real light on the use and construction of the villa and its gardens in 1615. It has been in the hands of the Emperor's extended family since its conception, though it now purely opens to the public, but may perhaps be used by the current Emperor when he retires.
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| Katsura Imperial Villa gardens |
The various teahouses, ponds and garden features were thoughtfully designed and executed, in a way that even now appears modern despite being 4 centuries old.
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| Four century-old modern design |
We are getting pretty used to negotiating the train network, and easily found our way back onto the local train to Arashiyama, a suburb in the northwestern outskirts of Kyoto. We soon realised that this place is seriously on the tourist map. Arashiyama is a quaint area, full of well-preserved old dwellings, though a number have been converted into galleries or eateries. The Tenryu-ji Temple was impressive, though we are both starting to get a bit 'templed-out'.
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| Tenryu-ji Temple garden |
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| Lovely interior at Tenryuji |
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| And more of the gardens |
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| A dragon wall painting |
The walk along the pathway through a tall bamboo grove was a lovely experience. What we enjoyed most though was getting away from the crowds and heading uphill through the winding streets into the old residential area, where the buildings were so pretty, small-scale and clearly still used as houses. Many had their own exquisitely sculpted corner gardens on their frontages. The ability to develop such impressive gardens in small spaces is really in an art.
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| The Bamboo Grove walk |
With a little drizzle and some cold wind we were getting a bit frozen. After popping in to a eatery for a quick bowl of noodles, we felt a lot better, despite a lack of cleaning at this place - quite a rarity as mostly everything is spotless. We had both got seriously cold, despite being well prepared with all our layers. I made the decision not to leave home the following day without also taking my scarf and wearing my thick ski socks and walking boots. Even John is feeling the cold, and that's unusual.
We don't have to worry too much about either of us getting lost. John stands out amongst the locals because he is so much taller, and I'm usually wearing a bright red woolly hat. We also have blue jackets. Everyone around about seems to be wearing dark wintry colours, mostly black. However, there is a major exception, with plenty of Japanese women and some men, typically in their teens or 20s who hire a kimono for the day to wear it when out sightseeing in the streets. It's lovely to see. Both because they look so bright and cheerful and are obviously enjoying themselves, but also because it means they want to keep the spirit of traditional dress alive.
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| Girls in kimonos |
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| A clever play on the bamboo grove with kimono fabric or paper in columns |
We had to go to yet another train station to get a train back on another line to Kyoto's main terminal, this time on our Japan Rail pass.
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| Kyoto Station is a fabulous piece of architecture if you take the time to look |
From there we decided to walk home via Kyoto's downtown shopping area. After a few false attempts we found our way to the night food market street, which was both very extensive and full of a range of surprising and unusual foods. We had no idea what a number of them were.
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| Kyoto food market |
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| Food market |
By 5:30pm we were even colder and opted not to look in any shops but to head home. The Korean restaurant we had spied the night before was open so we went straight there. Clearly the first customers of the night at 6pm, and early even though it supposedly opened at 5pm, the owner was a little surprised but very cheery and soon set about cooking us some very tasty dishes of vegetables and beef. It made for a welcome change from noodles and rice. She was very chatty, in Japanese, but we just nodded and smiled and she seemed content with that.
Just before we got home we happened upon a bonafide geisha. The area we are staying in is apparently the most likely place to perhaps spy one. We could tell she was the real deal because she had full white makeup on her face, as well as wearing a full kimono with all the trimmings. She was past us at a jog before we realised - she was moving remarkably fast given the difficulty in taking anything other than small steps in her tight outfit. Perhaps she was as cold as us and wanted to get home too? Or just sick of all the attention?