Mallika's Travels

So the last place we were recommended to go by Marichan was known for having 2 boulders placed 9 m away from each other. If you could walk from one to the other without looking then you would have good luck in love along the way. Being single girls, me and Ming wondered if happily married Marichan had sent us there for a purpose…

We checked out of the ryokan that morning, leaving our bags there and purchased a day pass for the day. It was a good thing as I think we hopped on and off a few buses and went the wrong way around etc. We spent a little time in Gion (where you may be able to spot a Geisha, but we didn’t) waiting for another bus. It seemed like a pretty interesting place, and downtown Kyoto looked like a great place to shop as we passed it by bus.

Eventually we made it to the temple, Kiyomizu-dera. It was interesting, as it seemed to be a complex and made up of different areas and shrines as you went through it. It was a sunny, hot day, and there were a lot of tourists about, too. The first area we checked out was a place where you paid to go into a basement. It was in the dark, no lights, and you followed a thick rope handle around with your left hand. Apparently there was a statue of the Buddha down here, that we couldn’t see. After stopping and starting, bumbling into a stranger (Mingaling just kept bumbling into me) we got to a large stone boulder which had an inscription on it, and it was lit with light from above. You turned the stone with your hand and were supposed to make a wish, or pray. It was a bit odd.

Next we went further up the hill, it has some good views of Kyoto, but it was a bit glarey, and there was a lot of scaffolding, so not that great photos. We could look down on another part of the temple where some holy spring water was flowing and a long row of people were lined up to be able to drink some for good health. But the next stop for us was up near where there were a lot of smaller shrines and the infamous boulders.

Let’s just say I won’t be having luck in love for a long time. Then Mingaling and I got our fortunes, and mine was a little bit bad again (Mingaling’s was a little bit good)! It was not my day! So I tied it to a pole to let the bad luck flow away and offered some coins to the various shrines around. There were a lot of them, and they were all quite cool.

We went further round and had some more good views and some more areas to offer and pray. After all the heat, Mingaling and I decided to forgoe the holy spring water and just head home. But along the hill, one of the little tea/rest stops caught our eye (plus my feet were killing me again) and we sat amongst the trees, with a lovely breeze drinking a delicious homemade ginger ale drink. The drink was weird, in that it was really sweet and not fizzy, I’ve never had anything like it, but it was so good.

After getting back to the Ryokan we grabbed our bags and we got a cab for the train and away we went looking for Osaka!

We only had 2 nights in Kyoto and we didn’t want to waste our time there! We had 3 sights to see which had been personally handpicked by our friend Mari-chan, and we decided to add one more which the other people staying at the Ryokan had raved about.

Firstly we grabbed our Kyoto Bus day passes from the hostel. These were really useful, as we often got on the wrong bus and had to switch after only 1 stop! Then we headed in the direction of Nijo-Jo Castle.

I really liked the Shogun’s Castle. It had a beautiful garden and sweet nightingale floors which were fun to squeak along. I wish we could have taken photos inside, because the paintings on the walls are beautiful! It was here that I first realized that you could get a Hello Kitty exclusive key chain for every monument you visit. Awesome.

Next we went to the golden pavilion temple, Kinkaku-ji. The way it reflected in the lake was really beautiful, and the whole complex was fun to walk around, although, there were a lot of tourists as can be expected. We lit candles and incense and rang the bell at the temple, and prayed for our loved ones to be happy, healthy and safe. I hadn’t managed to go to a temple in Thailand, so I also prayed for my wonderful workmate’s family, and her husband and son who have recently passed away.

Our final stop on the day was to the silver pavilion temple, Ginkaku-ji, it was recommended by fellow Ryokan stayers for having the most beautiful garden. The pavilion is modeled off of the gold one, but the setting seems quite different. It is really lush and green, and it felt like whatever direction you placed your camera it would come out with a good shot. Even though there were a lot of other people there, it felt really relaxing and serene. I think it was Mingaling’s favorite site we visited. We bought some cool souvenirs around here, had some shaved ice, and also walked along the Philosopher’s path.. The path was okaaay, but the other Ryokan stayers had kinda built it up, maybe it was better during the day when they visited. Basically it was a nice walk next to a river/creek.

So on the Friday we woke up early and left our lovely 4 star hotel and dragged our suitcases back to the JR to catch the Shinkansen fast train to Kyoto. It took us about 3 hrs and was a pretty relaxing trip. We even bought train station bento boxes to eat for lunch. Mine had a cute flowery pattern.

When we got to Kyoto we decided to catch a cab, even though our Ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) was only 10 mins walk away. Our suitcases are pretty darn heavy and I didn’t want to lug mine around, especially if we got lost.

It actually took our taxi driver a few twists and turns to get there as the street next to ours was cordoned off for people to visit the near by temple for it’s anniversary. According to our hostel staff, they celebrate every 50 years and the shops on the street which sell Buddhist altars for your house make a killing.

Mingaling had suggested that Kyoto would be way more touristy than Tokyo, and she was right! But I loved all the souvenirs. Seriously, why are NZ souvenirs so cheesy/slightly tacky? There are some nice ones, and some cute ones, but not to the level of the Japanese ones. Although, yeah, there are some cheesy and tacky Japanese souvenirs too.

That evening we decided to go check out the nearby temples, the first one (Nishi Hongan-ji) was really crowded due to the celebration crowd, and we were melting in the heat. It had a pretty cool giant picture of a monk (I’m guessing the famous monk that started the temple) which was made by school kids out of bottle caps. We had read that it was pretty gaudy, but we didn’t/couldn’t go inside. The pictures at the souvenir shop certainly looked gaudy enough, but me and Ming had been to the temples of South India, where a gaudy temple could encompass an entire town, so we thought it was a bit understated in comparison to that, at least on the outside.

The other nearby temple (Higashi Hongan-ji) was a bit more empty, but still massive and awesome. On the way there we stopped at some kinda hall with stalls that were set up and had some delicious gelato. When we got to the temple we actually thought we had missed the opening hours and took pictures of a closed gate, until we walked a bit further and realized that that gate had been only half the size of the actual gate. It was a bit nicer and peaceful here. My feet were killing me again, though, and we headed back after taking some fun snaps. Pretty much through the entire time in Kyoto and Osaka just imagine me in pain with stabbing pangs shooting up the soles of my feet and that is what it was like most of the time. But we couldn’t let that stop our tour! So we tried to take breaks often, and I really need to get my feet checked out when we get back to Thailand.

Back at the Ryokan we set up our mattresses on the tatami mat floor, so we could go straight to bed when we got back from dinner. That night they were celebrating an autumn chrysanthemum festival and they gave us yummy appetizers, then we got to catch noodles in flowing water. I was excited about this because I had seen people doing it on one of the Japanese morning shows at the hotel in Tokyo. They make a half tube out of a thick bamboo pole and prop it up on an angle. Then they use a hose to run water down it. We got given cups of broth, and a pair of chopsticks. Then someone drops some noodles down the bamboo and you have to catch them with your chopsticks before they flow down and hit the bucket at the bottom. Then you dipped them in the broth, and they were super tasty! Everyone got to try it, and we also got to try catching jelly for dessert! We also wrote a haiku which they stuck on the wall and enjoyed chatting to the other folks there about the best places to visit in Kyoto.

After that we were still a bit hungry, so off we went to an Okonomiyaki restaurant/bar at was recommended by the staff. Pretty tasty, although we had the grated yam special, and the texture was kinda gooey, which I don’t think I like that much.

It was really fun sleeping in our Japanese style beds.