under another sun

Up early again, drinking tea and packing in our tiny roomed Ibis Styles hotel. It had served us well, however. Leaving our bags in reception, we ended up in the same place for breakfast having coffee, a panini style thing and a little scoop of tasty ice-cream. Then we made our way on foot, a 25 minute walk from the hotel to the Sanjūsangen-dō temple. I had been here before but my second visit with Lorraine the place absolutely blew me away. You enter a massive oblong hall with 1000 life sized golden statues of The Thousand Armed Kannon, it is like an army of Buddhas and quite overwhelming. As well as these there is an enormous thousand armed Kannon as a centrepiece. Additionally there are 28 statues of guardian deities. You are not allowed to take any photographs there,  however some exist on the internet. This done, we crossed the bridge over the river and arrived back at our Hotel and picked up our cases. The shinkansen part of the station could not have been nearer, we simply ...

Up early having slept long and heavily in our hotel. Gradually got ourselves sorted out and found an italian style cafe in Kyoto Station's vast station building's restaurant zone. Managed to score ourselves two heated panini rolls full of vegetables, and two good cups of damn fine coffee. Thus braced off on our adventure. Caught a cab driven by a gruff old man who took us to Kiyomizo Dera which I particularly wanted Lorraine to see. The whole area crowded and lively with people drawn out by the imminence of the new year, and the stunningly beautiful day.We happily joined the ant lines threading through this majestic place. Everyone snapping away with their cameras or smartphones at the temple complex and the views of Kyoto and the mountains beyond. People queuing to buy their fortunes or to adore Buddhas, or gulp down a draught of health promoting spring water. From there Lorraine and I took a long walk north, guided by a map from the tourist office. I had done tho same walk ...

Kayotei Ryokan is famed for its Japanese breakfasts which Lorraine, Toby and I opted for this morning. An unbelievable feast. One element kelp leaves, the size and shape of rosemary leaves, but they carried an unbelievably lovely savoury punch, a bit like marmite, and delicious when added to a bowl of rice. There were eggs, and fish and pickles and kipper like fish that were grilled over hot charcoal at the table. Amazing. After breakfast the slightly sad business of packing. I loved being at this Ryokan. There is a shrine to the poet Basho nearby, and Jiro was kind enough to lend me some wellingtons and took me to it, and showed me a posting box nearby where poets post their haiku which are then judged in a yearly competition and prizes are awarded. The shrine itself was locked but peering in you could make out a small statue of the poet sitting in a Buddha like pose. We also discussed the chrysanthemum poem, and Jiro explained that chrysanthemum tea was something drunk by the Chine...

Of snow and eel intestines My cold somewhat abated, I got up just before dawn and opened the curtains, then climbed back into bed to watch the falling snow. Kyoto is bordered on three sides with mountains and gets very wintery. Met Toby Romy and Hiroko and we set off in the cold to a nearby Starbucks which overlooked the snowy river, and was a wonderful place to enjoy hot cofee. Toby busy saying it was the world`s best Starbucks and he is probably right. Thus fortified we went back to the hotel to pack. Popped out then to a particularly lovely shop to look again at its prints and brushes and expensive pottery. Then after settling-up at the hotel, we taxied to our final temple. Sanjusangen-do was unheated and freezing. Inside was a structure like a long wooden football terrace, with 1000 life size sculptures of the Buddhist deity called Kannon. They flank one enormous seated deity. Spaced between them are a 28 other deities representing thunder, wind and other forces of nature. The scul...

A climb up monkey mountain Somewhat worse for wear this morning - a hangover, a gathering cold and jetlag all making themselves felt. Undeterred I was up with the lark and Toby and Romy and I went off for more coffee and a walk through the pine tree planted gardens of the old imperial palace. We also stopped off at the same early morning coffee shop, Toby kicking me in the shins because I was staring at a man on a nearby table openly reading soft porn first thing in the morning. Felt full of ideas about how to re-engineer my working life this morning and Toby and Romy were inspiring me. Back to the hotel and collected Hiroko (chuckling guiltily about how rough around the edges we felt) and met Jennifer. Another taxi ride to the Golden Temple. Literally a golden temple that gleamed across a lake that could have been designed by Roger Dean with tiny islands and strategically placed rocks that seemed to be afloat in the water. At this temple Romy went for her third attempt at getting a sa...

A day of wonders Woke in the middle of the night and wrote a poem, then up again at 6 to catch up on my diary, which is eventually making its way to this blog when I get the opportunity. Set off out into Kyoto with Toby and Romy early. Lovely sunny morning. The hotel is near a river and it looked at times like a woodblock print because of all the birds seeming like emblems of Japan. There were big black crows, snow white cranes standing next to dignified herons, black snakey necked cormorants. And scooting about on the water were the odd familiar mallard. Ghosting about above were hawks of some description which our taxi driver said had come to feed on rubbish. Kyoto is a lovely city. We threaded through backstreets which reminded me faintly of Paris until we found a coffee shop run by a very pleasant lady, and dominated by a big stuffed seabass . We returned to the hotel, met up with Hiroko and Jennifer and set off for the historic part of town. The loveliness of Kyoto had not prepa...