Following on from our success with a private guide in Tokyo, we did the same for our very short amount of time in Kyoto. We are staying in Osaka so could only fit in one day or as it happens part there of. We caught a train and Tomo met us at the station.
My first impressions on the train was that Osaka and Kyoto are more or less joined at their outskirts. I hadn’t realised this whole area is so built up. In particular I had imagined Kyoto as a much smaller city focused around it’s historical sites.
I suppose in a way it is, but these sites are now almost hidden in amongst a busy city. There are building height restrictions though, so no high rises in this area, unlike Osaka.
The sites are quite spread out and without the help of a guide it would be impossible to see many in one day. Tomo had obviously done this before and without rushing us, seemed to have timing calculated to the minute.
We started the tour at Tenryuji temple which was established in 1339. Being that Kyoto was the capital before Tokyo, there is a lot of history here and the shrines and temples much older. This is where Tomo explained something I was confused about. What is shrine and what is a temple?
Put very simply, a temple believes in Buddhism and a shrine believes in Shinto. These are two different religions that coexist in Japan. In fact temples and shrines are mostly found together. I love that the Japanese can embrace and respect their differences, few countries do this so well.
Behind the temple is the Sogenchi garden which is a world cultural heritage site. We strolled through here and admired the two types of Japanese garden (dry landscape – patterned gravel tended to daily by monks and the garden designed to stroll around, including water features, rocks, trees and merging with the mountain behind).
From here we carried on to the Bamboo Forrest and iconic Kyoto photo site. Tomo took lovely photos of us all and advised us to take a photo looking upwards. I agree it is a lovely perspective if these tall, straight and flexible trees. Incidentally it was snowing in Kyoto (quite a rare occurrence) which meant the bamboo needed some attention as some was buckling under the weight of snow. Forestry workers were cutting many down which seemed sad but Tomo reminded us how quickly bamboo grows (up to 1m per day!!).
This is where Tomo really was worth her weight in gold. She was able to get us from Tenryuji temple and bamboo forest on the western border of the city to Kinkaku- ji temple northeast and not on a train line. This involved a subway and the most crowded bus I have ever been on. It would normally have terrified me, but Tomo’s knowledge and calm nature made it easy.
Here we were able to enjoy another World Cultural Heritage site. Tomo explained its history from family villa to centre of politics and culture to temple. The shogun who lived here liked to show off his wealth, lacing it in gold leaf and sitting on the top floor looking down on those around him. It really is quite a spectacle!
Tomo guided us back to Kyoto train station with instructions on where to eat lunch and directions to the last temple on my list. As it happens after spending an hour or so at a fabulous sushi train, the Travel Bee’s were all templed out and decided a ride on the bullet train back to Osaka would be a great way to finish the day.
It took us 50mins to get from Osaka to Kyoto in the morning and 13mins to return in the afternoon. Master 16 clocked us at 296km/hr. Great experience but……. it made me feel slightly sick!
TTB
The Travel Bee 