Kyoto Shrine Travels

So the first day in Kyoto was a travelling day.  Travelling by shinkansen meant that I really could have gone to at least one temple that day, but I didn't realise I'd be so relaxed by the time I got here.  So I did nothing bar more relaxing, which incidentally seems to be a strong theme in Kyoto.  Japans' relaxed capital.

So the next day I went with Pascal to visit temples and shrines around the Kyoto area.  I took about 200 photographs; far too many for here, so I'll try and pare them down a little.

Here goes...

So of course blogger is being stupid again, so uploading the pictures is proving rather difficult.  I just have to write with no paragraphing I think.  Anyway, here goes for a second time.  This is the entrance to the first temple grounds we entered.  It's quite big, and is every bit as impressive in person, as it is in this picture.  It has a number of temples inside, unlike a lot of places that have simply one entrance and one temple.

I should probably use my space more wisely, rather than posting a non-descript picture such as this; however I like it, primarily because of the generic nature of it.  Most of the places look like this.

So yet another pond with a bridge over it.  As stereotypical as it may seem, there are lots of these in Japan.  This day was actually really bright, so the challenge was reducing glare, more than trying to find a nicer position.  In this spot it looks cloudy or dark even.  I assure you it wasn't.  The hundreds of steps in Kyoto definitely wore us out.

And here we see an example of those many, many steps.  Above this point were another two sets of steps  like these; even the native Japanese were resting when they reached the top.  Then again they may have been travelling from Tokyo, where every incline has an escalator.

This is the view from halfway up the stairs.  I was too tired to take any pictures once I reached the top!

Here is another shrine peeking over the top of some stairs.  It's difficult to distinguish the differences between them, other than their size and colour.  That is until you go inside, where they all have a different arrangement of religious paraphernalia, along with varying amounts of gold.

You can just about see the leaves starting to change colour for autumn in this picture.  The Japanese are very proud of their seasons, and the distinctive weather and foods they bring.  Kyoto is also especially beautiful in Spring, with the cherry blossoms (a national obsession over here) and in autumn, with the orange and red leaves.  Unfortunately I've come to early for the leaves, and months too late/early for the cherry blossoms.

So this is the view from another of the sets of stairs we climbed.  It was even better in person, but I think it gives you a good idea of the size and scope of the mountain we were climbing.  And just how many people live in such a small area, Kyoto only has a population of 1 million or so!

So I'm also including this one for no real reasoon.  It's not a spectacular photograph, I just like it.  Erm...  That's about all the description I can give really.

So lots of women wear the traditional dress in Kyoto; getting them to pose for a photo is somewhat difficult though.  At least I thought so, until we met a Japanese girl who was extremely forceful in asking for photographs.

So this little tea room marked the beginning of a fantastic walk along a street that sold traditional crafts and clothes; coupled with a bizarrely out of place boutique fashion place selling lime green items of, presumably, fashion.  Who would buy such things is beyond me though.

This is the street.  It extends for a long way and takes a number of gravity defying climbs and claustrophobia inducing streets to reach the end.  It's full of shops and restaurants, and quite a few people.  It screams asia to me.  You could transplant this into any far eastern country, maybe add a little fish gutting in the mainland areas, and it could be in a movie.

I was so proud of myself for managing to get a good quality photo of some girls wearing traditional dress.  How easy it would later prove to be...

Look at how many people there are!  Tons of loud kids too.  Despite the large volume of people it was still a great site.  This is the second temple/shrine area we visited, and contained a number of brilliant things.  These included a couple of fellow tourists who we later explored a shopping area of Kyoto with.  Unwillingly on my part, it must be said!

I'm not sure what this building does, or did, but it was recently painted by the look of it, and deserves an honourable mention for the brightness of the paint standing in contrast with the dark woods of the rest of the area.

The mid afternoon sun peeking out from behind the building above.

So this is overlooking the city.  It was a really great view, I just hope some of it can be translated in this picture.

A view of the pagoda that's one of the main features of this area.  You can see it from a fairly long way away, despite it only being a few storeys high.

So everyone knows mountains are a real pain to build on; yet they insist on doing it here.  Why why why...  The result is that basically the views are fantastic both from the platforms, and looking back at them.  Good job, monks!

So this is another shot of the temple.  Inside is  a shrine to (something), but despite not knowing what, I do know it matches the splendour of the outside by being loaded with gold.  Everything is gold; gold as far as the eye can see.  Inside at least.

I include this picture for comedic value only.  This girl was having photographs of her taken by a professional photographer, so she's either a model, or she's some kind of model.  Therefore I figured I'd go and ask for a photograph and try to make her laugh; which I succeeded in doing, but only  after the photo  was taken.  Damn her professional attitude!  But yeah that kind of getup takes an extremely long time to put on.

The leaning tower of Kyoto!

There was a shirt shop...  I really badly wanted to get a shirt here, but they were 20 pounds for a single stupid slogan, and 30 for one printed front and back!  To expensive for my tastes unfortunately.  I took a photo of all the different options available, and corrected the guys English in the hopes of buttering him up enough for a discount.  No dice.

I should probably have spent more time putting in pictures of Kyoto, rather than these stupid shirts; but come on now, who doesn't love the bottom left one?

Five great big gold stars for effort, but only two for execution.  Still, this will be the last t-shirt one I promise.

Ok this is the last one.   It's a shame this one is so blurred, but you can still make out the writing.

And that was a couple of days ago.

I'm super expert!