Weather was not great and we had a busy day. We got a cab to the
Botanical Garden - rainy day. Ok, not so terrible but there was a little bit of rain. We saw a great exhibition of chrysanthemum flowers.
In the garden, there
were also
a Bonzai exhibit and a cool conservatory. Their night garden was one of the smallest one but it was also one of the most magical gardens.. The low light, focus on a few single white flowers and the aroma..
Was really amazing. So a pic dump:
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| chrysanthemum exhibition |
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| chrysanthemum exhibition |
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| chrysanthemum exhibition |
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| Bonzai |
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| Bonzai |
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| Amazing plants in the conservatory |
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| From the night garden |
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| Huge - just outside of the conesvatory |
With our next place, Saiho-ji Moss Garden, being pre-booked and we had a given time slot, we had to make sure we got there in time. Hence lunch became a "7/11" version. Not bad - not great but it is always cool buying a steamed bun (Bao) and a sandwich with "fried egg and ham" that has been on the
selves for God knows how long. No, I do trust the stores here in Japan. I would not trust the Swedish store - but in Japan - absolutely!
We had our snack at the bus station while waiting for a suitable time to take the short walk up to the temple. This is also
an UNESCO World Heritage Site and it is so worth the effort to visit this place! Read about the process
to visit the garden. Before you are allowed to enter - you need to comply with some Buddhists ritual. For us, it was hand copying sutras (
shakyo) while a monk did chant the same. Every word was pre-printed on the paper so you didn't have to know what to write. But you needed to use a calligraphy pen dipped in ink to fill in. OMG that was hard. But the amazing thing was that while the monks were chanting, over time the world changed - everything that existed was that piece of paper where your entire focus
was directed towards copying a script you didn't know. I
leard this is a form of "tuning" the visitor's mind into the optimal state for appreciating the Moss Garden and I think it worked. I could never consider that a Moss Garden would be so amazing, so wonderful, so pretty. There is a pond in the middle that you more or less walk around. Let's do a pic dump again, now from the Saiho-ji:
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| Moss Garden |
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| Moss Garden |
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| Moss Garden |
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| Moss Garden |
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| Moss Garden |
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| Moss Garden |
Everywhere the different greens contrasting with the red, orange and yellow leaves made this a really really special place for scenic beauty. With a pond in the middle reflecting the vista in different angles and some extra scenic spots, this is what I thought to be the most amazing garden on this trip. Boy, was I wrong. Still, I wish everyone could experience this - albeit few visitors would even consider making the effort of complying with the rules.
Bus back to Kyoto and we got off in the Gion area. The goal was to play
paparazzi and find the local Maikos in the Geisha District
. Walking here you felt at once transported back in time. The architecture was "old" combined with new. It is dotted with old-style Japanese houses; some
residentals (I think) and some were teahouses for "entertainment". There
was few people out, it actually felt old as well. Just us roaming the
streets for the opportunity of finding a Maiko. I think we saw enough in the end; they ran so fast even with their odd dresses and clogs.
Okidoki, Gion pic dump:
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| Runner one |
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| Runner two and three |
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| Runner four |
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| Runner five |
The dinner was also an interesting event; our great guide Hans got stopped by a nice girl trying to promote a new restaurant. The travel plan said a nice dinner at an Izakaya but
this is the good thing with a small group; it is easy to do change the plans and experience new things. So we ended up on the 2nd floor at a small diner. They server great steaks and awesome sauces. I was very impressed by a Yuzo-based one. I want to have it now!. And this was the first time I learned that steaks comes only in one size here. You ordered 100, 200 or 300 gram of great Japanese beef. But it just meant you got one, two or three steaks. Rather interesting for a meat lover who just loves a T-bone steak and those babies can be 4-500 grams each.
When darkness had fallen, back to the hotel and then out onto the town. No matter how much herd mentality you have - you need to explore by yourself. I call it "
chaos travel" with the purpose of getting a bit lost.
Explored Yodobashi and was thrilled.
Just imagine having such a store back home. With an entire Swedish store like Media Markt on each floor, dedicated to just a few items. Hundreds upon hundred of tripods for cameras. Camera bags in the hundreds. With infinite money in my pocket - I would be in dreamland. Now it was
to much to look at to even consider to buy something. Here I also saw one of the shortest escalators I have ever seen. Supposedly there exists a 4-steps
somewhere in Tokyo.
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| You could even get a GoPro kit for your stuffed animal here. |
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| Kyotos shortest? |
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| Geek Nirvana? Not far away! |
While walking back to the hotel, I spotted a few Tonkatsu places.
Tonkatsu; mmmmmm.
The Egos of the day:
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