Boog's Blog

Another perfect day, almost as too hot!

Free day until 18:00 when we join up with the nakasendo way group for an introductory dinner.

First to this most excellent temple. No pictures allowed, marking everywhere within the temple, great 1001 statutes, beams, etc.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjūsangen-dō

Then off to another tourist and local area,
Gion. Shops, old tradional architecture, many restaurants and temple of course. Very large assortment of pickles pictured.

QB found an excellent birds and water furoshiki. Will get a book on folding when we reach Tokyo.

Shower, very long. Kyoto has a 1000 year water table. Now a bit less.

In Album 11/4/15

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Another perfect day

City tour of Kyoto via oku Japan.

Palace First. The palace is open to visitors for a week in the fall and we got in on the last if crowded day. Standard impressive palace keeping in mind that Kyoto was the capital for 1000 years and has 1000 temples-shrines. Extreme social hierarchy, enthronement ritual as well as gates for different levels of visitors.

Nijo castle – build by a shogun as a Kyoto residence while he was ensconced in what is now Tokyo. Painted screens in each tatami room, each a treasure, with an excellent garden. Pictured are two women with rented kimonos, something done for visiting attractions. Saw this style in other parts of town as well.

Myoshinji zen temple, head temple of this strain of zen. Has several hundred sub temples. Probably the best of the temples we visited as it is working temple with people copying sutras, taking meditation classes, rooms to rent for visits. Wonderful gardens of course. Many pictures on flickr from both Boogs.

Off to this tourist area with more zen temples, shrines, restaurants (udon eaten), bamboo garden, shops.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arashiyama

Tenryuji temple – zen and zen garden Connected to bamboo garden

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Rain,glorious rain! Nicely it easier until after all the hiking and step climbing to shrines.

Yesterdays ryoken was even more officious than the others. Threw a small group of us out after dinner, no bath or shower in the morning!

Some in town wandering before a bid and train ride to Kyoto. Nice high speed train, of course.

Waiting for the train we stopped in a coffee shop by the station. Small but nice. Siphon coffee, only choice.

Outstanding ramen in Kyoto. Local variety.

Laundry with excellent conversations, Japanese American, Canadian, Frenchman. Topped all off with a visit to Starbucks

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A bit cooler and overcast

A bus day visiting shrines. A number of steps, possibly numberless, involved.

First, shingu shrine, pictured. One without a thousand steps to heaven. We got to witness a Shinto service, chanting, some sort of ritual with two women, beautifully dressed in white, holding branches with leaves, going through a kata like set of slow movements.

Nachi shrine. A great bit of heaven. Guardians guarding with great views.

The shrine and temple are adjacent. Until the Meiji Restoration there was little separation between shrine and temple, then some legislation or politics and the formally separated.

Pagoda part of the same complex.

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Similar weather.

Walk is to a small rural ryokan, just three rooms, no services. Nice people, first really excellent Japanese bath. Felt very good after a hard days walk. Tough surface today; surface, to me, matters more than ascent and descent.

Tried to sit at the dining table while they were setting up. Explained room too warm because Sharon was chilled. He understood and closed off part of the tatami room and opened a window. No way was I going to sit there and just read my email.

Forest walk with a few decent rest stops.

Ryokan pictured as well as the onsen from last evening.

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Sunny,warm

Early breakfast after a night on futons.

Hossinmon-oji a gateway to the grand Hongu Taisha. The latter one of the five great shrines.
This is a world heritage shrine and the path we are on is marketed with the Camino in Spain. Scallop for one, cross with three feet for the kumano.

Generally easy and interesting walk with a few rough spots.

Onsen has usual private baths, nice hot water in the bath, but no water pressure for the shower.

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Same weather continues.

A bit confused about Japanese bath etiquette. I have been observing the system. Some come in rinse off quickly and then sit in bath washing up thoroughly afterwards. Others the reverse which is how I was taught. Are the rinse firsters lazy cheaters?

Pictured is a local speciality, a sour of apricot, heavily soured pickled. Hard to eat a whole one but bits with the morning smoked fish were OK. Clearly an acquired taste.

Walk started off wonderfully, lovely forest path, steep but road surface excellent for a forest. Got harder, meaning rocks and roots and steepness with rocks and roots.

In town found a public feet soaking bath. Pictured with some of the other walkers, belguim,France,Hong Kong, Aussie. The German woman left before the picture.

Shared please ice and then beers and cultural conversation. Little too no understanding of our disfunctional government. Have enough problems with their own.

Ryokan is a very simple one. Large tatatmi may room, few amenities, bath water was emptied by a previous guest- all rooms sharing the same bath.

WiFi better than xfinity at home.

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Sunny a little cooler

Subway, train, and then bus to the start of the trail. Several hours of travel to get to there, there being the location of the first Oji shrine, at Takajiri, location of one of the five Grand shrines.

http://www.tb-kumano.jp/en/kumano-kodo/kumano99ojis/

Figured out all the stops and tickets and started at the beginning of the trail.

A mountain trek of cornwallian difficulty. Vertical 1000+ feet, down a bit less, up very steep steps and trails… Point made.

Shrines, statutes, bodhisattvas along the path.

This is the land of unlimited water use. Great showers, baths, soaking tubs, and lots of water pressure.

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Sunny warmish

Mostly a rest and shopping day; saving the feets for the morrow.

Out lasting impression will be the density of shopping. Everywhere.

Spent time today getting cash. No bank atm would take our card. Headed to a trusty 7 eleven. Worked as expected. The 7 eleven chain is a good strong brand outside the USA. Here it has a great atm machine plus required conveniences.

We did not have the pancakes.

Dinner at Din Tai Fung, one of our favorite restaurants; soup dumplings. Have eaten at ones in Shanghai (two different locations), Sydney, Vancouver.

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BSJ Kasugo Shrine

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