Kyoto - Kinkakuji (The Golden Pavillion)

OK folks, time for a sightseeing update. We've not done many temples/shrines/ancient buildings of significance lately because, as I think I mentioned in an earlier blog; we have decided (like many of our friends) we're a bit 'Shrined and templed out'. Our friends Sam and Brent recently recounted their trip to Obama (the place not the person) for a fishing and relaxing expedition. They mentioned seeing temples and shrines while walking and thinking 'Should we go in'.....'No, they'll be the same as all the others'. Sounds terrible doesn't it? But, 'to tell you the truth'...we're all feeling that way at the moment. Certainly there are some really significant sightseeing spots in Japan, and particularly in Kyoto near where we live, but sometimes they start to blend into one another. The best temples and shrines we've visited since coming to Japan are: Hasedera (Kamakura near Tokyo) because of it's uniqueness (not a word?). It had an underground cave where little models of Buddha lined the walls, a beautiful garden, great ocean view...(sounds like I'm selling it hey?), Kiyomizudera The people's temple in Kyoto. Amazing to walk up to with streets lined with touristy shops and yummy sweets, and a beautiful view from its verandahs, Nanzenji which we kind of stumbled upon at the end of walking the Philosopher's Path in Kyoto during Cherry Blossom season; it's very rustic and you can hike around the mountains in the back of the temple and finally, more recently Kinkakuji. Kinkakuji is the really iconic, very well known image of a temple in Japan but in case you're not familiar, I'm going to do a Sam and wiki you guys...here you go...

Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺, Kinkaku-ji Golden Pavilion Temple) is the informal name of Rokuon-ji (鹿苑寺) in Kyoto, Japan. It was originally built in 1397 to serve as a retirement villa for Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, as part of his estate then known as Kitayama.^[1] It was his son who converted the building into a Zen temple of the Rinzai school.

The Golden Pavilion, or Kinkaku, is a three-story building on the grounds of the temple. The top two stories of the pavilion are covered with pure gold leaf. The pavilion functions as a shariden, housing relics of the Buddha (Buddha's Ashes). The building is often linked or contrasted with Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Pavilion Temple, which is also located in Kyoto.

The Golden Pavilion is set in a magnificent Japanese strolling garden (kaiyū-shiki). The pond in front of it is called Kyōko-chi (Mirror Pond). There are many islands and stones on the pond that represent the Buddhist creation story.

Hmm....interesting and educational. Anyway, Ross and I decided to head to Kinkakuji on a Friday afternoon because when we were trying to figure out what to do and where to go for the day Ross was like: 'Well, I still haven't seen that Golden thing'...so you could say we felt called to go to the temple. We headed into Kyoto and took a local bus (hell, 45 mins of hell) to Kinkakuji. The Golden Pavillion and its garden is very beautiful and serene but the loads of tourists that hustle in can be frustrating. The pure gold leaf on the building is dazzling and we also had the chance to stop and watch little turtles at the waters' edge clambering all over each other. Very cute. I love turtles! We walked around the gardens twice then headed back into Kyoto for dinner. We don't often get the chance to eat out in Kyoto so we decided to wander around the famous Pontocho Alley (wiki time!)

Pontochō (先斗町) is a district in Kyoto, Japan, known for geisha and home to many geisha houses and traditional tea houses. Like Gion, Pontochō is famous for the preservation of forms of traditional architecture and entertainment. Pontochō centres around one long, narrow, cobbled alley running from Shijo-dōri to Sanjo-dōri, one block west of the Kamo River (Kamogawa). Today the area, lit by traditional lanterns at night, contains a mix of very expensive restaurants—often featuring outdoor riverside dining on wooden patios—geisha houses and tea houses, brothels, bars, and cheap eateries.

So we wandered along Pontocho Alley and looked at the quaint little shop fronts until we came to a place that took our fancy - a Brazilian restaurant complete with buffet style salads and desserts and meat from the spit cut for you at your table. It was earlyish for dinner so we were the only people in there, except for the owner who was busy feasting on the buffet. We took a seat on the floor on these big mattresses and cushions, looking out a big window to the Kamo river. It was still ight out and it had a really nice view but the start of the meal had that 'we're the only people in this buffet restaurant' awkwardness. Yeah, that kind of awwardness. :) Seriously though, often in Japan because of the language barrier dining out can be confusing. You often have to peer in the windows and scope out a place before you commit to going in cos there's all sorts of different rules and expectations for places. Where you order, where you eat, whether or not your shoes need to come off, how to call waiters over (sometimes there's a buzzer on your table!), how to order something (2 serves, 2 pieces, 2....) and dining out can be overwhelming. On this occasion it was confusing because the meat for our Brazilian meat buffet was nowhere to be seen. Ross even asked 'Excuse me, where is the meat?' Very amusing. So it turned out that we needed to collect whatever we wanted from the buffet (amazing salads and incredible desserts...oh that banana cake!) then the meat comes to you, with a brazilian man (yes, a real authentic brazilian man) holding it and he carves for you. He brought pork sausages, two parts of a cow, pork, chicken etc etc etc all out to us one at a time. It was cooked fresh and he was the only was doing it so sometimes it took a little while but it was AMAZINGLY fresh and delicious. I ate so much I hurt. Watching the Brazilian man was very much the entertainment of the evening. He couldn't speak English or Japanese very well and was easily the most nervous person I have seen in a very long time. Difficult to explain but very enjoyable to impersonate, so please ask me to sometime. Anyway, we finished our night with a wander along the Kamo river past all the famous outdoor dining verandahs. Lovely.