Kobe: Exploring Kyoto

Our plan for day one of our two day call on Kobe was to spend it in Kyoto … about 30 minutes away on the Shinkansen … the bullet train.

But first, we had to get to the train station. Since we were docked at the Naka Pier Terminal instead of the Kobe Port Terminal, using the driverless Kobe Port Liner to get ourselves to the train station was not an option. I suppose we could have taken a taxi there, but we opted for an alternate plan that would allow us to stretch our legs first. It took a walk + two metro rides to get to the Shin-Kobe Station, but it worked out nicely. By 8:45a, we were rumbling down the tracks to Kyoto. Well, rumbling is not the right word, really … the train ride was very quiet.

We had this crazy idea that we could walk to everywhere on our sightseeing list for today. We were abused of that notion soon enough. But not before we walked to the first stop of the day — Sanjūsangen-dō … a Buddhist temple that was originally founded in 1164, lost in a fire, and rebuilt a century later.

We began our visit with a stroll around the grounds … primarily because we thought the central door was where we would be entering the temple. Turns out that door is for staff only. There was a bonus to walking in that direction, however … we had a front row view of the welcome ceremony for a senior monk.

Eventually, we found the visitor entrance to the main hall. The temple is famous for the 1,001 statues of Kannon, the goddess of mercy lined in tiers in the main hall. A large statue of the 1000-armed goddess dominates the center of the building. It is flanked on either side by 500 human-sized statues of the same goddess. A very impressive sight … and by purchasing a postcard, I can share a photo of it.

Next up was Gion — aka Kyoto’s Geisha District. Since it was a considerable distance away, we hopped in a cab to get us there … our first experience in a Japanese taxi where the left passenger door opens and closes automatically at the push of a button by the driver. The seats were covered with white lace; the driver in a uniform of sorts that included blacks pants, white shirt, white gloves, and a hat. Uniquely Japanese.

Gion was a bust … geisha-wise. The streets — narrow, cobble-stoned, lined with restaurants and tea houses in traditional buildings — were practically deserted …. except for the traffic guards at each corner, ensuring the safety of the few pedestrians present when the occasional vehicle drove through. The only geishas we saw were tourists dressed in geisha costumes for photo ops all around the district.

We weren’t totally skunked in Gion, however. Here we found the Kennin-ji Temple. Founded in 1202, it is the oldest Buddhist Zen temple in Kyoto. The grounds of the temple complex are open to the public, but entrance to the main temple buildings require admission. Leaving our shoes in the designated cubicles, we strolled around the rooms and gardens of the first building. Then, putting on red slippers, we crossed over to the Dharma Hall, which was built considerably later in 1765.

In this hall, the ceiling is the highlight. A real jaw-dropper. Depicting twin dragons, the mural was painted in 2002 to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the founding of the temple. It is apparently drawn in ink on traditional Japanese paper. It took the artist just under two years to complete it. Definitely worth the price of admission.

Before leaving the Gion District, we crossed the road for a quick look-see at the Yasaka Shrine. Founded over 1,350 years ago, this shrine is very popular with tourists dressed in geisha outfits. Passing the dance stage, with hundreds of lanterns that get lit in the evenings, we wandered around to a couple of the smaller buildings. Then, we stopped to watch the people lined up in front of the main hall for their prayer petitions. The video I attached tells the story of the ritual better than I can do so in words.

Kyoto Imperial Palace was next on our list. To get there, we hopped on bus #205 just down the street from Yasaka Shrine. While an efficient and inexpensive option, the downside to the bus was that the stop was near the back entrance to the Imperial Palace Park. No signs telling us which direction to take to get to the visitor gate for the walled palace compound. We went straight and had to walk 3/4ths of the way around the surrounding walls before we found the right gate. Going right would have been much shorter.

The Kyoto Imperial Palace was the residence of Japanese Emperors until 1869 … when the capital was moved to Tokyo during the Meiji Restoration. The palace dates back to the 8th century. The walled compound is the greater palace. It is home to the imperial residence, and a number of ceremonial palaces and government offices. The current compound served as the Imperial Palace for 500+ years. During that period, many of the buildings were destroyed by fires and reconstructed. With each rebuilding, the compound grew in size, and the architectural style and layout changed.

Despite being unable to enter the buildings, it was an interesting DIY stroll around the complex. Photographs of some of the rooms in front of the more important buildings gave us a hint of what was inside. I especially enjoyed the Gonaitei Garden, which fronts the Otsunegoten. … the building that served as the emperor’s living quarters.

As we were leaving the Imperial Palace Park, we came across a restaurant that we decided would serve us well for lunch.I ordered the hot udon soup with prawns and vegetable tempura. Mui opted to order the wagyu beef sukiyaki over rice … served in an “Imperial Carriage Set.” A unique presentation for sure. We wrapped up our meal by sharing a chocolate mousse cake.

A not to be missed site in Kyoto is Kinkaku-ji Temple … better known as the Golden Pavilion because the top two floors are covered in gold leaf. After lunch, we hopped in a taxi to get there in order to make the most of our quickly dwindling time.

Overlooking a large lake, the Golden Pavilion is reflected on the water, making for an exceptionally beautiful photo-op. We had a bit of wind, so the reflection wasn’t very clear, but the whole setting was beautiful nonetheless. The original building was the retirement home of a shogun, who asked that it be turned into a zen temple after his death in 1408. The pavilion has burned down several times … most recently in 1950 when a mad monk set fire to it. Thus, the building we saw today was the 1955 reconstruction.

While I was taking my last few photos of the Golden Temple, Mui found another temple for us to visit that looked different because it had a pagoda-style building somewhere on the extensive grounds. The bad news? It was due to close at 6:00p. We made it through rush hour traffic OK, but our time at the temple was rushed.

-Dera, one of the most celebrated temples in all of Japan and a UNESCO World Heritage Site is a Buddhist temple founded in 780 near the Otowa Waterfall. One of the unique architectural elements of the main hall is a wooden stage that juts out more than 40 feet above the hillside. A lovely view of the surrounding area is afforded visitors from the stage. I found the stage to be more impressive when viewed from afar and also from below as one can then see the wooden scaffolding that supports it.

Since we wanted to see the Koyasu Pagoda before closing time, we didn’t dally much around the main hall. The added bonus of our destination was that we left the majority of the crowds behind by heading uphill. We had to skip the trail to the waterfall because it was already closed. While we didn’t see the waterfall, we did pass the small building where the water from the waterfall is diverted into three small streams. Here we saw visitors using cups attached to long poles to drink from the streams. I later read that each stream has a different benefit … longevity, success in school, and a fortunate love life.

As a hard-to-ignore voice boomed out over a loudspeaker, announcing that the temple would be closing shortly and instructing visitors to start leaving the grounds, we completed our quick stop at the pagoda. We then headed through a downhill path through the forest. We had no idea if this would take us to the exit, but the arrows seemed to be pointed the right way. It was a more pleasant way to leave the temple, with photo ops along the way.

The brochure we’d been given with our admission tickets indicated that the main approach up the steep lanes of the Higashiyama District to the entrance of Kiyomizu-Dera is half the fun of visiting this particular temple. In order to get to the temple before it closed, we had rushed up without dallying along the way. That this was a popular area was obvious from the crowds patronizing the shops on either side of the street. The place was hopping. We figured we could leisurely explore the street on the way down. Best laid plans and all that. Turns out that the street starts shutting down when the temple shuts down. In fact, the stores were shuttering in pace with our downhill stroll. Oh well … another time.

Our meandering walk down the Higashiyama District ended at the back entrance of the Yasaka Shrine. We were now back in familiar territory. Our feet were screaming that they had been exploring long enough. My watch said it was almost 7:00p. Time to pack it in and head back to the ship. At the nearest bus stop, we hopped on bus 206 to get ourselves to Kyoto Station. From there, it was a simple matter of reversing this morning’s route to get back to Kobe.

Shortly after 9:00p, we were back on Insignia. After a day of 33,000+ steps, any thoughts we’d had at the outset to return to Kyoto tomorrow had now been replaced with plans to explore Kobe instead.Read more