On Monday, I headed for a tour of the temples and shrines of north-west Kyoto, taking in four of the city's best sights, including the famous Golden Pavillion (Kinkaku-ji).
Kyoto Metro, Karasuma Line: 1130 Gozo to Karasuma Oike
Kyoto Metro, Tozai Line: 1140 Karasuma Oike to Nijojo-mae
I used the Kyoto Metro to get from my hostel to Nijo-jo; the metro consists, for the time being at least, of just two lines: the Karasuma line runs north-south and the Tozai line runs east-west, meeting each other at Karasuma Oike. I went two stops north and one stop west, which cost just ¥210 (about £1.60) for an efficient and comfortable ride.
Nijo-jo, or Nijo castle, is termed a "flatland castle", a castle built on a plain instead of a hill. It isn't quite a castle in the conventional sense; it consists of a palace surrounded by a moat, which is itself surrounded by some wonderful gardens. The palace is kept in the traditional style it was built in, complete with authentic interiors and mock-ups of how the Tokugawa shoguns would have conducted business in the palace.
Kyoto Bus 101, 1316 Horikawa Oike to Kinkakuji-michi, arr c1338
After looking round Nijo-jo for about an hour, I walked to the bus stop nearby and caught one of Kyoto's buses aimed specifically at tourists out to Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavillion. The bus, like Hiroshima's trams, is operates on a flat-fare pay-on-exit system, with a single costing just ¥220 (about £1.70) for anywhere in the city. Announcements at the key stops are made in English, and all the stop names are listed in romaji (roman characters) so there was no problem finding my way.
Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavillion, is just that: the beautiful temple, whose proper name is in fact Rokuon-ji, is covered in thick gold leaf and looks as if it was hewn out of a single piece of gold. It is magnificent, but also slightly underwhelming; unlike some other temples that's the only building of any real interest, and I spent only just over half an hour there having seen everything there was to see (albeit fairly quickly).
I grabbed a quick lunch in a nearby restaurant before walking further west to the temple of Ryoan-ji. Ryoan-ji is famous for its Rock Garden, one of the simplest and most remarkable pieces of Zen design ever created. It consists simply of a rectangular bed of white gravel, 25m by 10m, with fifteen rocks placed on the gravel at various points. It is constructed in such a way that it is only possible to see fourteen of the fifteen rocks from any given vantage point. At first it seems nice, but bland; sit for a few minutes, however, and you begin to lose yourself in thought, marvelling at the simplicity and complexity at the same time.
The rest of the temple and gardens at Ryoan-ji is not quite as spectacular, but is nonetheless very enjoyable: the temple is set in a wood on the shore of a small lake, and you could easily spend a few hours losing yourself in the grounds. But I didn't have time for that: I had one more temple to visit before closing time.
Ninna-ji is a quiet, unassuming temple about ten minutes walk to the west of Ryoan-ji, and is home to the Omuro School of the Shingon Sect of Buddhism. It was recommended to me by Tim, who visit Japan a few years ago on his gap year. It was undoubtedly the highlight of the day: the lack of bustling tourists made this temple all the more enjoyable. The temple buildings are set in a large, open garden with wide paths and tall trees; the gardens and buildings are simply beautiful, with a surprisingly colourful array of plants and trees.
Kyoto Bus 26, 1646 Omuro Ninnaji to Kyoto station, arr c1740
After a thoroughly enjoyable day, I find a nearby bus-stop and caught a bus back to Kyoto station; thanks to rush-hour traffic the journey took nearly an hour, but at least the seats were comfortable. I couldn't be bothered to think too much about what to eat, so I headed to a nearby McDonald's for a familiar - if rather boring - meal, and headed home for a good night's sleep after a long but very enjoyable day.
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