Eve and Nigel Drop in
Kinkakuji Temple
It was great catching up with Eve and Nigel on their whirlwind stopover in Japan just a few weeks ago. Martin led them down from Tokyo to Kyoto where I met up with the old London crew.
Eve and Nigel had a real appetite to feast their senses on as much culture as they could handle. Though it was my second excursion to Kyoto there were many sites I also hadn’t laid eyes on. Kinkakuji was one of them, a glistening Zen temple coated in pure gold leaf. The garden setting too would have been idyllic but for the Saturday crowds. We walked Tetsugaku no michi, (or, Path of Philosophy) to Nanzen Ji temple, enjoyed its raked pebble gardens and drank macha tea on tatami mats in view of the temple waterfall - all very Zen.
Nanzen-ji Raked Gardens
Even come dusk we had more walking in us. We made our way to the fantastic Kiyomizu-Dera as dusk was settling. The temple, originally built in 798 (rebuilt in 1633), has a huge veranda supported by hundreds of pillars jutting out over the hillside. Just below visitors drink from the waterfall believed to have therapeutic properties.
We checked into our Ryokan room and soon made our way out for a sushi dinner in Gion, drinks downtown in some tiny bars where Eve had the Dutch courage to try out every word in her Japanese phrase book, rounded off by an inevitably messy Karaoke session.
Himeji
Ambitiously, (were they tripping?) the others had wanted to hit Nara and Himeji the next day. This obviously was never going to happen after a Karaoke-a-thon. When we were forced to rise at 10:30am we made our way to Toji temple with a packed lunch and mellowed out in the temple’s garden.
The plan to visit Himeji was still a go. I took the normal rapid train and left an hour earlier than the others on the Shinkansen (Bullet train). Himeji-jo , built in the 15th century and in original condition is famed as Japans most beautiful castle, and I have to agree. I took the winding walk up to the Inner Keep and chatted with an old Japanese gent in Japanese while I waited for the others. The peaceful setting was only disturbed by the frequent taped recordings – ‘Himeji is a Unesco world heritage site…please put your rubbish in the bin… smoking is prohibited…’ and so on. A sign at the entrance would’ve done.
The London 4
We met back up and removed our shoes and scaled the steep wooden steps inside Himeji’s Keep. We surveyed the grounds of the castle and looked back on a great weekend. Great seeing you Eve and Nigel, and Martin, I’ll get to Tokyo in the New Year 
Himeji photos in the photolog>japan>himeji
Kyoto photos are only the 2 on this page, click to view larger (as with all my blog photos from now on
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