Japan: Part 2

Brent here, back again on my blogging debut as we pick up our Japan trip in Kyoto.  As the week went on we continued to miss Rach and Grant even more - this was the longest the twins had been apart from her, and I never like it either.  Still, Kyoto was amazing, a first-rate city that embraces the changing of the seasons and the nature woven throughout.  Here we go on Japan, Part 2:

Starting on the grounds of Chion-in Temple.

Followed by an atmospheric walk through old streets to our next stop (we covered a lot of mileage, the city is very walkable and the bus system great and easy to use).

At the entrance to Kyomizu-dera Temple, this orange pagoda was of course a hit with Colter.

Perched on a hill overlooking the city, the temple and views were superb.

Near the bottom of the temple grounds was this fountain; with streams said to grant long life, success in school, and a good love life.  It's considered greedy though to drink from all 3, and visitors use a cup attached to long poles to gather the water, like these school kids are doing.

I made sure Hayden and Colter drank from the cup giving them an academic edge of course!

Hayden wanted to try his hand at one of the shrines scattered about.  The proper order of respect is to toss your coin into the offertory box, ring the bell, bow twice, clap twice, then bow once more.  Let's just say he rang the bell very well, but may have mixed up the rest.

Fan clubs were always nearby.

And walk more we did, this was along the famous Philosopher's Path in the northeast part of town.

Into Honen-in Temple.

"Whatcha think Colter?"

"Hmmmmmm"

From there it was time for a break before we arrived at our next stop.  Ice cream for the twins...

...and beer for dad.

As we entered Ginkaku-ji Temple, one thing that stood out was the army of groundskeepers. This guy was literally just shaking brown needles off the pines to keep them pristine.

The zen garden here was very well-done.

And the surroundings just starting to turn into the fall colors.

Another groundskeeper, this one plucking fallen leaves from the mossy cover.

For dinner that evening we went to Fire Ramen, my inner-pyro couldn't resist. An experience it was, and the twins had to sit away from the counter in these highchairs for safety during the prep phase, which entailed a large bowl of ramen lit with cooking oil.  Couldn't get our video to upload, but you can check out their webpage for a sample here. Luckily they had fried chicken on offer too, so even my non-ramen eaters were happy.

Despite Colter's look of disbelief, the next AM brought a brief break from walking, with a train ride out to Fushimi-inari Shrine.

This ad in our train car made me laugh, I just have to believe it's advertising an exchange program in the States. "Look at the fun you can have with those gluttonous Americans!"

Fushimi-Inari is famous for the multitude of foxes everywhere,  Inari is the Shinto god of rice, and the foxes are thought to be his messengers.

There are also thousands of these torii gates along trails that wind up the mountain.

Coming back to Kyoto proper we hopped off the train and wandered through the city and over the Kamo River to find a famous paper store, Morita Washi.

Then we had lunch at a pizza place, Napoli's.

We walked off lunch with a wander through Nishiki Market, 

then headed back to our machiya for a nap, to rest up for the evening.

As the sun set we went to the Pontocho and Gion districts, wandering the historic streets and tea-houses looking for geishas. While plenty of folks were in kimonos, we never spotted a true white-faced geisha. Better luck next time.

Still, it was a gorgeous night to be out, and after some more walking we decided to check out one of the temples at night.  During the fall foliage and spring blossom seasons, many area temples open in the evenings with light displays, providing a different atmosphere and added revenue.

At Shoren-in Temple the twins were excited to get to take their shoes off and wander the temple buildings, to this garden awash in blue lights.

The pond was neat in the evening glow too, and I couldn't resist another shot from behind of the boys.  Hides their goofy photo faces of late at least!

The bamboo lit at night was other-worldly, probably our favorite part of the night-temple experience.

Our last full day in Kyoto started with one of its most famous sights, Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Temple.

Hard not to get a good picture there, blue skies, colorful leaves.

We then took a train to Arashiyama, an area west of town and chocked full of great scenery.  While these rickshaws were tempting, walk and walk we still did, passing wooden hozugawa boats on the river...

...and an overlook of the river gorge from Kameyama Park.

We then took a green tea break after entering the grounds of Okochi Sanso, dad's favorite photo stop of the trip, by far.

This pic doesn't even do it justice, gorgeous color here!

After Okochi Sanso, we went to Jojakkoji Temple nearby, which also had some great overlooks uphill of their pavilion.

The Arashiyama area is famous for this bamboo path, an impressive sight, but one that didn't match the lit bamboo from the evening before.  It was quite crowded too.

Couldn't resist sneaking this pic of mom and daughter in traditional clothing.

Our last temple in the area was Tenryuji Temple, 

More zen gardens and color there.

Then we hiked up a hill to the Monkey Park,  One area allowed you to feed the Japanese macaque's there (also known as the "snow monkey") .

We otherwise just enjoyed watching them, and the views over town.

While you think we'd be "templed-out" at this point, we elected to visit one last temple to celebrate our last night in Japan.  So glad we did.  Kodaiji Temple was truly amazing at night, with a laser light show over the zen gardens and temple structures,

still reflections off the pond,

and views to downtown and Kyoto Tower.  Here again the pics just don't capture it.  As cheesy as it sounds it really was a magical night.

Finally it was time to get back to our brother and mom, or as Rachel would call herself, our family "glue" (she is right).  We saw Kyoto tower up close as we popped into the train station to catch an express to Osaka's airport.

And took off from Kansai International, which is on an artificial island in Osaka Bay.

After landing in Seoul I knew the trip was officially over, when Hayden and Colter were arguing over a bottle of water and spilled it over the baggage claim carousel and onto some stranger's bag.... oops.  Here's both of them pouting about the scolding that ensued, Hayden on the left in a shirt that was drenched from the affair... thank goodness our bag soon arrived, and with a replacement shirt for the ride home. Goobers!

All in all, a great trip considering the circumstances, and Japan truly impressed us and made for some great dad/twin bonding.  As I write this a month after our return, Grant's foot is almost entirely healed, and he's running around again.  We'll get him and R to Japan soon enough, and are just waiting on them to pick a weekend to at least hop over and catch the Tokyo highlights, now that we've scouted it out for them.  Thanks for reading, and here's hoping your regular blogger returns for the next edition! -Brent