Travel

[World Traveler]

@beach-mom How very interesting your post was. Sometime you should share more about your time in Japan. 

I’m depending on you to let me know if I get any of my reporting/information wrong. 🤣

And, we are going to Nara tomorrow! We have already been briefed on the deer, so I am eager to meet them! 🦌

[World Traveler]

April 1, Easter Sunday

We are still in Kyoto and will remain so until we leave on Thursday.

Kyoto was Japan’s first Imperial capital from the 8th thru 19th centuries. It remains an important cultural center and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Among Kyoto’s many wonders are some of Japan’s most impressive Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.

We started the day with a visit to Sanjusangendo Hall, which was built in the 12th century. It contains an impressive 1,001 statues of the thousand-handed Kanin, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. We were not allowed to take photos inside, but suffice it to say.....that’s a lot of statues!! The first question out of my mouth was, “Can you imagine having to dust all of these?” Our guide said that once a year they are taken down and cleaned. Reminds me of the terra cotta statues in China.

In the middle of the 1,001 standing statues is one humongous Buddha sitting with a whole bunch of decorations surrounding the area. Quite breathtaking. I imagine if you google it, someone has taken a photo of the inside, but there are signs all over the place telling you your camera will be taken if you take a photo, or words to that effect.

Then we walked the grounds and enjoyed the gardens and structures.

No Dyson vacuum here! The monks use these brooms to tidy up the grounds.

[World Traveler]

April 1, Easter Sunday 

We visited Kinkakuji Temple. The striking architecture of the temple, also called the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, dates from 1397, when it was built by the third shogun, military commander, of the Ashikaga Shogunate.

The reflection of the pavilion on the water of the adjacent pond produces a beautiful and world famous view.

[World Traveler]

After visiting the two temples, we drove to Kameoka, a city in the countryside near Kyoto, where we visited Heki-tei, a 300-year-old house where a famous samurai once lived. The house is now owned by the Heki family, whose ancestors were notable property owners in Kameoka. 

Our task, once again, was to make our meal; this time...makizushi, rolled sushi, for lunch with the help of the local women, who gave us insight into their daily lives as we ate.

This is what we hoped would be the finished product! We each had to make all four pieces.

Each of us received the same ingredients.

These fun loving gals were our teachers.

Then they brought out the rice.

You have to fan the rice to cool it down.

This is what the finished sushi should look like.

As you can see, my four pieces were not perfect!

Their backyard.

[Alter Ego]

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@World Travelerwrote:

@Alter Ego Not here in Japan where we are. When I was in Vietnam one Christmas, many places had Christmas trees up, even though it is a communist country and doesn’t have a lot of Christians there.

But even our group did not mention anything about it. Quite frankly, when you are on a go, go, go, schedule, you don’t even know what day of the week it is!

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Thanks - just wondered if there would be any kind of mention given you were an entire group of westerners (and I was thinking there was a possibility of the commercialized bunny - a western icon.) I follow a resort in Thailand and they posted their Easter dinner celebration yesterday and they just had an egg hunt today.

Kyoto photos are beautiful, but I expected them to be! LOL I was surprised to see how empty everything looked and finally saw some photos with people. Given the cherry blossoms are still in bloom, do you find everything is a bit too crowded? (There’s a slideshow of touristy areas that aren’t as great as the photos make them seem- they make Kyoto during cherry blossom season look worse than Disney during Spring Break!)

[World Traveler]

@Alter Ego I have not seen any commercialization of Easter. Nothing in the stores, no human-sized bunny standing outside the store trying to get you inside. Absolutely nothing here in Kyoto.

As to your comment on not seeing lots of people in my photos, I am doing my best to get photos of the buildings and landscape without the people. Sometimes it means I have to wait a long time to get the shot I want or I have to push forward to get to the front of the line of people taking the same photo I want.

That being said, there are a lot of people, not only because of the cherry blossoms, but also because of vacation time for many people. They are taking off work to travel and sightseeing like we are.  I really don’t notice the crowds because everyone is no polite and gracious. They are a quiet crowd! It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.

[World Traveler]

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s review that when it comes to food, Japan’s government encourages the “30” plan. We have the pyramid and inverted pyramid food plan, the Japanese are told to get 30 different things each day in order to get a variety of foods. This is actually what the couple we had tea with said they do....eat a little of a lot of different foods.

That doesn’t mean 30 WHOLE things, like a whole apple is one, then a while orange is another of the 30. You don’t eat the whole thing. If you look at the photo of my lunch yesterday, there were probably 15 foods, or more, that I ate. The soup had a little onions in it, a little carrots in it, a little mushrooms in it......get what I mean? And our sushi had so many little ingredients that we combined. And after the lunch, we were each given two slices of an orange, so that counted as one of the 30 different foods.

So, it is the variety of foods that is supposed to ensure they are getting all the nutrients they need. When I think about what I eat, it’s probably closer to ten things in a day, one of them being ice cream. Oh, wait! Ice cream contains lots of ingredients in it, so I guess I am safe! 🤣

[World Traveler]

Here is my official sushi roll making certificate!  

Front

Inside

What was handed out at the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto.

[qbetzforreal]

Wonderful travelogue! @World Traveler  Thank you for sharing your journey.

[World Traveler]

Monday, April 2

We are still based in Kyoto and checked out one of the beautiful temples called Fushimi Inari Shrine. The colors of the buildings are really pretty, and it is near a wooded area.

Head monk being escorted by police from one building to another.

People come and pull on the red and white ribbons, which ring a bell, and then they pray.

People pull out a white paper from a container, which gives their fortune, and then they tie the paper to the railing.

I think this monk is taking down the cobwebs. He was quite intent as he used the branch all along the eaves of the building.

Cherry blossoms all over the place and around Kyoto. They are in full bloom.

Sign explaining how to use the running water.

 

Cute couple taking selfie.