No Call Number: Eastern Kyoto

Friday, September 9, 2011

Eastern Kyoto

I had planned to spend our only whole day in Kyoto in the temple and shrine district, which is the “must see” part of Tokyo. I suspected that we would get temple and shrine fatigue after awhile, but we held up pretty well. First on the list was Ginkaguji, which had the loveliest zen garden I have ever seen. We walked down the “path of philosophy,” a peaceful trail bordered by a stream on one side and some old style houses on the other. We wandered into a shrine that was in some disrepair, but had a lot of animal statues. While headed towards Heian Shrine, we stumbled across a shrine that was said to promote easy childbirth. We bumbled around the structure like the clueless foreigners we are and ended up dumping money in the money box in the hopes that that would be enough to get me some good childbirth juju. I think we were supposed to ring a bell, clap, or tie something on a tree, but we were not sure which. Heian shrine was massive, as promised, and had some nice gardens. While walking towards some more temples, we came across a cafe and had lunch. The nondescript looking place made a surprisingly good vegetable curry and honey ginger iced tea. We walked up a hill, stopping periodically to look at temples. We ended with Chion-in, another massive structure with “nightingale floors,” which deliberately creak so that occupants can hear intruders. We headed back, but not until after I bought and consumed ice cream from a vending machine.