Osaka-Kyoto, 18th April
Today, we are going to leave Osaka for Kyoto, about 45 minutes away by train. Still in the Kansai area, Kyoto is more known for its temples, shrines and laid-back pace. We stayed in Tour club, sleeping in dorm beds. It was comfortable and has very good facilities, considering it’s a dorm. (Everything’s immaculate here, down to its zen garden and I can safely say it has the most comfortable bed of all 3 of the places I stayed in for the whole trip.) Since we are not to check-in until 4.30 in the afternoon, we left our luggages in their storage room and headed out.
Our first stop for the day is Hirano Shrine. It is required for everyone entering the shrine to wash up with the water provided near the entrance. It even provides instructions for unknowing people like me as how to wash up, the right way. The shrine was a beautiful place but it was small, somewhat a community shrine. Not many tourists venture here. I decided to drop by because it charges no admission fees( yes, cheapskate, I know. But when all other places charge an average of 500 yen a pop, I’d rather soak in some Japanese culture here).
We tried Omikuji, fortune telling of sorts. A stick with a number on it is obtained by shaking a cylindrical container and the number is then matched to a piece of paper disclosing the secrets of heavens about what the future lies for you. I had bad-luck. Bad, bad luck.
After Hirano Shrine, we walked up to Daitokuji and among its many sub-temples, we went into Daisen-in where it is famous for its zen garden. It is apparently some national treasure of a zen garden. As pictures were not allowed to be taken in there, I cannot really describe to you how boring it is. Okay, since it IS such a famous zen garden, I thought I should at least attempt to be zen(whatever that meant). So I sat there staring at some rocks and patterns on the sand. It was raining, cold and hard to concentrate. So I actually sat there for quite a while, not to be a zen-master, but to wait for the rain to subside.
It was already evening when we got back to Tour Club. After being shown our dorm, washing up and all, we walked to the nearby convenience store to grab some dinner. Apparently, that’s a norm in Japan, to buy meals from a convenience store. I got myself a pack of yakisoba and milk. Yakisoba was superb!! It’s my newfound favourite..wahahah… But I can’t seem to get Soba noodles here…*sigh*
So we brought our loot back to the hostel and they were showing The Last Samurai in the common room. Perfect! I landed my butt on the tatami mat with yakisoba pack and milk in hands and watched away merrily, though it’s for the 14321874th time .
Kyoto Eki(station)’s amazing architecture
The road to Kyoto Eki, from Tour Club
Self explainatory
Sakura trees leading to the shrine
Washing up before entering the shrine compound
An altar in the compound
The stand where you get omikuji notes, tie it to a structure next to the tree if it says bad luck and look at the amount of people with bad luck.
The grounds of Hirano Shrine
Lunch of MOS rice patty burger (the one in the upper pack)
Near the entrance of Daitokuji
The map showing how many sub-temples in Daitokuji(and there were many). Daisen-in’s entrance.
Somewhere along the way to Daisen-in, another sub-temple.
