Kyoto to Hiroshima

Day 4 of the tour has turned out to be the most spectacular so far.

Packing.

We started with breakfast in the train station. Stations here are like sprawling underground shopping malls and there is always plenty of variety on offer.

People get reduced train fares and restaurant bills if they dress traditionally in an effort to make Kyoto feel authentic.

We met in the lobby and caught a train out to our first stop, the Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Christa, Ash and Brad purify themselves again.

Brad doing the same.

 Thousands of red gates called Tori gates form corridors of filtered light and it can take 2 hours to walk around the grounds.

The text is on one side of the gates only and describe the name of the people donating it.

Me doing what I do when I don't know what to do in a picture.

We learned about the Fox god, Oinari, and took many, many pictures. Every turn provided another postcard moment and it was hard to remember to keep the family in the shots, rather than becoming absorbed by composition and contrast. We picked up some very heavy stones which, if seemed light, granted you a wish, saw lots of great stone work and examples of custom.

Lots of fortunes that people didn't like. By tying them to a tree or wire, you cancel the fortune.

 We lost one of our tour mates, Shaun, a kid from Germany but pressed on.

We walked through tiny streets of ceramic waving cats and fox biscuits then left by train for Kiyomizudera.

WOW! A real trip highlight. I used most of my camera battery there. He winding street up the hill frames a tall wooden pagoda and is lined with shops selling mostly fans, chopsticks, food and souvenirs.

Street to the pagoda. Behind was a bustling street.

There are two hills here of note, 2 year hill and 3 year hill. If you slip and fall on these tiny streets, you lose two or three years of your life depending on which hill you are on. I recommend carrying a punnet of black sulfur eggs from my previous post as an antidote!

A really cool part of old Kyoto.

Sharon at the top of the street.

These little offerings represent monkeys tied up by their hands and feet. As a symbol of willful behavior, these show a level of control bought to bare over their natures.

We thought we spotted a Geisha and all got snap happy only to be told she was a fake posing for a photo shoot.

Past the Pagoda was a network of temples that Kit our guide said to think of as more a community center, a library, a university, medical facility and so on.

One two three... SMILE!!

The whole structure is built without nails and so can shift in an earthquake and not topple. Incredible. The pictures won't do it justice.

Mmm smelly incense.

The drop to the canopy below was quite far. This was taken from one balcony to the next. You can see the buildings far below where the waterfalls are.

Prayers inside the cool depths of the temple.

From one balcony across to the other and then to Kyoto in the distance.

One of the smaller temples off to the side had two rocks separated by a distance of flagstones. If teenagers closed their eyey and could walk from one rock to the other, they would find love.
Here is Ashley giving it a go...



The temple was founded in that location due to natural spring waters. We wandered  down a steep stepped promenade to the three waterfalls below where you lined up to drink from a long handled cup.

Down the steep staircase to the waterfalls.

People lining up to drink from one of the three streams.

 Each stream offered a different blessing but you could chose only one to drink from. Your choices were: wisdom, health and longevity.

Ashley filled his drink bottle with one and I haven't asked him which one it was. As a test I won't ask and see of he gets incredibly gifted in any one area.

Sadly we had to move on and left Kiyomizudera.We ambled back to the streets outside the temple and  ate green tea ice-cream and drank green tea in what Kit believed to be one of the better places in Kyoto.

Ash after his fill of all things green.

Then we caught taxis back to our  hotel where we split up for lunch. What a lot to pack into one morning!

As I mentioned, Kyoto station is like a huge mall and we climbed 11 flights of escalators (in a long straight row) to the top, and looked for somewhere to eat. Finding every place had a queue, we opted for a sandwich at the local 7/11 style place and caught the bullet train (Shinkansen) bound for Hiroshima.

(oh, and we found Shaun back at the hotel)


Kyoto to Hiroshima.

The bullet train was unreserved tickets but gladly we didn't have to sit in the smoking cars. They looked like a washed out bunch of degenerates in that car.

Brad on the bullet train once more,

After tearing across the country in 90 minutes, we arrived in Hiroshima and frantically grabbed our bags to beat the rush. We got out safe except for Christa who's arm made it out but  that's all. She waved goodbye and zoomed into oblivion.

We got to the rooms and reconvened at 6:30, giving Christa time to get to the next stop and double back to us.
Kit took us by Hiroshima cable-car (did you know they had trams in Hiroshima?) to the peace park where the US dropped the A-Bomb. There is a building left standing as a memorial to the atrocity and Kit gave us a little history surrounding the events. Quite sobering, particularly the story of the girl who tried to make 1000 paper cranes before she died of Leukemia contracted after the blast. There is a monument to her filled with cranes sent in by children from around the world.

One of 40% of structures left somewhat standing. This place was very close to right beneath the blast and no serves as a monument.

We left the park, in the dark and rain with our hearts a little heavy for a traditional Hiroshima staple, the Okonomiyaki. A pancake/omelet/meat/sauce/cabbage/bean shoots type thing that was cooked in a tiny nook three stories   up in a kind of Okonomiyaki mecca. We lost count of the number of steps, me because of the three beers I had (after the heat), anyway it was delicious (if not a little fishy for my tastes). The preparation took about 35 minutes and it was fun to chat and watch the process.

Kampai!

After the meal, we split into two groups: those heading our for a stiffer drink, and those heading back to the hotel for a good sleep. Naturally the kids and us fell into the latter camp and we caught a tram in the cooling night rain bound for bed.