A day in Kyoto
This was my second visit to Japan and I was staying over the weekend. As I was thinking about how to best spend the two days, I booked myself tentatively for Kyoto. Unsure if I would want to go solo or if the weather would be conducive to walk around, I made bookings which were cancelable if I decided not to go. I soon learnt few of my other colleagues had plans to visit Kyoto and I decided to tag along. I had a weekend plan — Yay!
Tokyo to Kyoto was a fun ride on the bullet train. Plenty of confusion around each of us having booked separate train tickets, landing at an incorrect station, canceling and rebooking made it a good start. I was traveling with colleagues from various countries — middle east, Pakistan and the states. And this was interesting in its own ways. My colleagues were all in the same team and knew it each much more closely. Nevertheless, they made me feel welcome in the group. We checked in at the hotel and went for dinner. Post which we called it a night.
Our next day began with our tour guide arriving at the hotel. We had booked a walking tour of the city which meant there was a lot of train, bus hopping as well. I was totally dressed for the north pole :)
Our first stop was at the Kinkakuji_Temple. There was a lot of crowd around. Our guide explained the history of the temple and how someone had once burnt it down, out of jealousy for its beauty and that it had turned into a tourist attraction and was not sacred anymore for a shrine. The temple was subsequently rebuilt. The guide also explained how the Buddhists believed that paradise was surrounded by water and gardens and hence this temple depicted the same.
On our way out, we did some shopping and boarded the ‘super-local’ train to go to the Bamboo Forests. On the way to the place, the crew had engaging conversations with the guide who told us a lot about the local culture, the royal family and of our own life journey. She was a consultant at Accenture but how she decided to be a tour guide and what interested her in her job, which included so much walking.
Our next stop was at the Bamboo forest. It made an interesting walk amidst tall trees. There were also a few cemeteries along the trail and I got to know how members of one family were buried under the same stone. There was also a place to pray for a good life partner and having gone through the difficult journey of finding one, I expressed my gratitude to the universe for sending my soul mate.
We saw hand-pulled tourist rikshaws, did some local spice shopping and headed for lunch.
I was not sure if I would find something vegetarian to eat. And so, I was carrying my food along. But the guide took us to a place and spoke in local language to get food custom made for me.
Our next stop was the Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine. Thousands of orange colored gates had been donated by people whose wishes had been granted at this shrine. These gates eventually went up a hill and it was fascinating to imagine what the view would be at the top.There was also a stone point where you made a wish and lifted a stone. Depending on how light it felt, the wish would get granted soon. I had a tough time lifting one :(
The shrine had a lot of local food and souvenir shops for the tourists.
We then headed to the Geisha district — the place where the Geishas lived. Over the train, I first learnt about who Geishas were and the whole tradition of becoming a Geisha. The district in itself was pristine.
We wandered around to do some local shopping and finally eating dinner. I loved the whole day, the concept of walking the city with a local person and absorbing the city. It was also my first experience of traveling with colleagues from so many different cultures and I learnt so much from each of them. The one thing I am totally carrying with me is that the trip was about all of us. If one of us was missing the train, the others rescheduled their train as well. If I had dietary restrictions, people worked around those instead of isolating me for it. The experience of being a group and the beauty of Kyoto would stay with me forever!
