Imperial Mountain Retreat

Today we woke up and headed out for a quick breakfast at a boulangerie in the bus stop by our hotel. The Japanese bread was cheap and tasty. Amber had some chocolate bread and I had a little cream filled pastry. We then met up with Ian and headed off for our first site of the day, Ginkaku-ji. The temple of the silver pavilion was on beautiful grounds butting up to the mountains of Kyoto. It dates form the 1400s and we really enjoyed the sand garden. On flickr you can see a picture of a Cohn by a cone. Japan is amazing in that you can be in a high rise downtown train station hotel one minute and the next a zen mountain temple retreat. Chion-in was next. Its giant gate entry and imposing steps made for a winded climb unless you were a 4 year old Japanese kid. Check out the picture of the kids running up the steps. Chion-in's bell was made in the 1600s and is the largest bell in Japan.

After Chion-in we grabbed some lunch at a little store. I had the shrimp and rice bowl. Amber had the chicken bowl. We then walked around the Gion area where one can see real life Geisha's preparing for their evening of entertainment. Then we went to Shoren-in, a temple with a neat house where one could sit on the tatami and listen to the trickle of a small stream feed into the picturesque pool. We saw a grove of bamboo, some tall, some small, and some cut down and curing for next fall. From the top of the hill we could see a large orange gate. We headed that direction and discovered Heian Jingu, an 1890s ¾ replica of the imperial palace built over a 100 years ago to celebrate the 1100th anniversary of Kyoto: and I used to be impressed by Nebraska's sesquicentennial.

We concluded our sight seeing at the huge Kiyomizudera or clean, beautiful, water temple. The giant wood truss supported temple is built on the side of a mountain. Tradition has it that drinking the water from the stream at its base will make one healthy, wise, and rich. Naturally, we all stood in line to get a drink. Amber was drinking for two. We went for dinner and had shabushabu, a meal one cooks themselves in a boiling pot with prepared vegetables and beef. The waitress had some costumes for tourists to wear for pictures. How did she know we were tourists? My accent must have given it away. A minor in Japanese isn't worth what it used to be. We took the subway back to the hotel, ending our first day in Kyoto. In the spirit of our host country, let us end with a haiku.

Cool grey breezy day
Mountainous Kyoto Shrines
Feeling natures peace