Kyoto

Fushimi Inari was an obvious first stop considering the little amount of time I had to spend in this fantastic city. So much to do, there was no way I was going to be able to see as much of it as I wanted. This place, however, I was happy to spend hours carelessly wandering and taking detours to see every torri gate and every fox I could feast my eyes on.

I love being able to take my time somewhere. Traveling alone is nice for that reason. I don't ever feel like I am inconveniencing someone. I can take a 10 different pictures of the same thing until I get the right shot. I can buy a bag of Japanese cracker treats and snuggle into a corner of shrines and eat until my hearts content. When posed with the question of following the path or taking a bit of the detour, I usually choose the latter.

I managed to get away from the majority of the masses of tourists during my hike around the top of Mount Inari.  I cut away from the path here and there, seeing what trouble I could get into. Towards the point where I was about to make a full loop there was a sign advertising an alternative exit which lead to another temple. It was easy to decide which way to go. There wasn't a soul on this path. The only people I encountered were locals. A lovely little woman who I had a very limited conversation with about her cats and a man riding his motorbike. Other than that, it was me and the wild wilderness.  I found a beautiful shrine which spent a bit of time at.

The path led me to Tofukuji Temple. I wandered the grounds for a bit before deciding I was starving and heading to an area of town where I knew I could get delicious sushi and pop over to a market/shopping area I was itching to visit. One really wonderful thing about this trip was that I actually had money to do things like EAT. When I was in Europe last summer I was on a very, very limited budget so I wasn't able to indulge myself eating mass amounts of food and treats - like I did at conveyer belt sushi. It was packed to the brim and I had to wait a bit to get a seat, but it was well worth it. Somewhere on the internet told me this is the place to eat, and they were right. I could have easily sat in there for hours gorging myself with loads of different kinds of sushi. You can read more about it here.

After sushi I made my way around the numerous shopping areas that were near the restaurant, Teramachi, Shin Kyogoku and the Nishiki Market. I was searching for a silk kimono style robe, it was one of the only things I really wanted to take home with me. I was happy to find loads and it didn't take me long to decide on one. I was trying to kill time, waiting for my lovely couchsurfing host, Tara, to get off of work. After getting my fill of shopping I took a look at a map and found a park/temple up the road a ways. I spent an hour or so here drinking blood orange juice, people watching, and listening to a man play his guitar. I met up with Tara and after chatting and having a shower she took m down to the river to shoe me around and have a few drinks. There was a light up festival type thing going on, the river was lined with loads of lanterns and silly drunk Japanese youth who were climbing down into the water making fools of themselves. It was a blast to watch them get in trouble and then get right back in the water.

The next morning I headed to the Arashiyama area of Kyoto. I asked Tara what there was to do other that visit temples and she sent me here, I was so thankful. She said something about a bamboo forest... which I don't think I ever found - but I did find loads of other cool things. I had the most amazing experience walking around a park right on the river. It was sprinkling all morning and at one point it started absolutely pouring rain. I just so happened to be at the highest point of the park overlooking a view that was just unreal. After I got my fill of the park I decided I wanted to play with monkeys. There was an extensive hike up to one of the top of the mountains to reach the "Monkey Park" where there were monkeys of all shapes and sizes wandering freely. At one point I was caught in the path of a monkey brawl. One monkey was chasing another making this horrible screeching noise. Then, his monkey friends came and had his back. I was a bit scared, not gonna lie. They sounded like they were actually having a heated argument.

Okunoin Cemetery

Ask me what my favorite cemetery is (common question, right?) and I would have a massive internal debate trying to choose between Okunoin and Père Lachaise in Paris. I have a hard time choosing my favorite anything, to be honest. When it comes to places though... you might as well ask me what my favorite food is, or (gasp) my favorite Beatles tune. There is something unique and beautiful about every single place my little feet have had the opportunity to step into, choosing one just seems unnatural. So, that is why I favor "Top" lists. Opposed to settling for just one "favorite", I would much rather list 5 or 10 of my tops, in no relevant order.

 

This place easily makes the top 5 cut of my favorite graveyards. There were tombstones on tombstones adorned with bibs and beautiful Buddhas everywhere I looked. The vibes here, oh man. Let me tell you about the vibes. I felt like I was walking through a dream the entirety of my venture.  I wandered through thick, thousand year old cedar trees for hours.  At one point I came to a fork and followed a path to some temple or other (there were one-hundred twenty scattered throughout the mountain). It led me to a beautiful clearing bursting full of sunshine, which was a nice change of pace compared to the shade of the cedars.

Koyasan is the place of all places when it comes to the Shingon sect of Buddhism. It is the largest graveyard in all of Japan as well as the most sacred. There are over 200,000 graves here, the most important being that of Kōbō-Daishi. He was the man who founded the school of Shingon and the development of Koya. Instead of dying back in 835 he has been eternally meditating at his mausoleum in Okunoin. Meals are brought to him daily, a massive mound of rice and other veggies are displayed at the entrance to the temple, next to Mizumuke Jizo where people make offerings and toss water at the statues to pray or ask to be looked after. Before crossing the bridge, an elderly man was kind enough to try and explain that photography is forbidden. However, I ended up entering from the opposite side and by that time I had kinda forgot. I managed a snap of a monk welcoming people to the temple, most likely reminding them that they aren't allowed to take pictures. Whoops.

Mizumuke Jizo

Adjacent to the mausoleum is a room filled with hundreds of lanterns, all of which are eternally lit. Come to think of it, I probably wasn't allowed to take pictures there either. But, what's done is done and my intentions were in the right place. That counts for something, right? It was absolutely beautiful inside of the room. Lanterns lined the wall from top to bottom and spread across the ceiling, it was unreal.

The first hour or so that I wandered through the cemetery I only saw a handful of people. Most of them were caretakers diligently sweeping away fallen leaves from the graves and monks swiftly walking down the sacred path. At one point, however, I witnessed an elderly couple and what I assumed to be their granddaughter. They were building a fire which the little girl was fanning with the direction of her grandpa. To be quite honest, I have not the slightest idea exactly what they were doing. I do know, however, that they were quite happy to be doing it. The whole 5 minutes I creepily stood there and observed them, they were laughing and smiling while doing whatever work they were doing. These things seem uncharacteristic of a family spending their afternoon in a cemetery, you would think they would be mourning a death - which typically doesn't involve laughing. I loved witnessing this interaction, it was one of the reasons why I got such good vibes from this place.

Food offerings were scattered around the cemetery

In conclusion, wear pants and long sleeves when you visit... especially if you have blood as tasty as mine. Apparently, mosquitoes think I am awesome. My blood must taste like fresh mango juice on a hot summers day. I was absolutely eaten alive. At one point I looked down and witnessed at least 5 of them downing my blood, no exaggeration. I swatted and kicked and ran a few feet, only to be followed by the little guys and drained of a bit more of my blood. It was hard for me to stop moving my legs, every time I did another one would latch itself on to me. By the end of my excursion I had over 40 bites. A trip to the pharmacy was in line. The communication problem was easily solved when I showed the man behind the counter my red, blotchy leg. 

Land of the Deer

Seriously. So many deer. And they've been here forever. They are so used to tourists and are quite pushy when it comes to getting their biscuits. They're addicts and they aren't afraid to nudge, buck, and nibble to get their dose. 

After getting of the train with a Korean friend (Mars) I made at the station in Osaka we headed toward a few temples we wanted to check out. When I first saw deer ahead of us on the side walk, I was beyond exited. It wasn't long after that I realized these guys are everywhere. I found a cute old lady selling treats to give them and Mars and I were immediately bombarded with deer. Pushy little guys. We had a blast leading them around the park, teasing them and playing with them. They are so forward and pretty domesticated. 

I watched many shopkeepers shoo them out of their stores when they would venture a little to far into the shop. One of the shopkeepers was able to tell me that one of the deer that hung out around her shop was only a year old, and she pointed out the mother. How she was able to identify them out of the hundred of deer living in Nara was beyond me. As pesky as they may be, the locals love them like you would any other 4 legged furry friend. They are considered to be sacred messengers of Shinto gods

                      

We strolled through the small little town of Nara and checked out whatever temple was in our way. There were loads. We chose a nice, shady path lined with huge stone lanterns on the way to Kasuga. This temple is known for the thousands of bronze lanterns, but it was nearly 5 bucks to walk through them - we decided peering through the would be sufficient and saved our precious money for something we REALLY wanted to see.

I could have easily spent hours aimlessly exploring every nook and cranny of this little place. Around every bend there was something new that caught my eye. A little river here, a cluster of lanterns and statues there. Temple after temple, it was hard taking it all in. Mars and I found a beautiful temple situated at the top-ish of Nara. It was nice having him around cause he was able to help me figure out how to properly interactic with all these Buddhist things I have no experience with. Water fountains with cups, bells with brightly colored fabrics, incense and candles. He showed me the ropes when it came to these things and added a lot to my experience in this little town. 

                           

The view from this temple was unreal. I could see the tippity top of Todai-ji - The massive wooden structure  and main attraction in Nara. I really, really wanted to see this baby. Seeing it peaking over the trees got me so excited that I was able to ignore the growls from my stomach begging for food and frolic on in Todai-ji's direction instead.

It was so massive and so beautiful, I have never seen anything like it. Before walking in Mars and I lit some incense meant to clean the surrounding air of unwanted spirits and energies and made our way inside. I sat and stared at for at least 5 minutes before even bothering to take pictures of the huge Buddha that was sitting in front of me, situated peacefully on a lotus flower.

You are able to walk completely around the giant statue. It has two smaller shrines on either side with golden statues and smaller things to look at while you make your way around. There was a place you could practice calligraphy and a small hole in one of the wooden pillars that had a line accumulating around it. Thankfully Mars was there to explain why people (including grown men) were crawling through it. Apparently being able to fit through the tiny space guarantees you a spot in heaven. Challenge accepted. Once I get around to making a video compilation of my Japan footage you will be able to witness my attempt first hand :)