Had a really lovely meal tonight, typical Kyoto, fish and lots of other stuff in small lacquer bowls, quite superb. In fact second best we have had, after Peking Duck.
Third best was perhaps the food in the Yunnan restaurant in the alley, also in Beijing.
Eating this was only part of the enjoyment
Visited great bonsai nursery yesterday, bought a couple of pots, which I suppose adds a little weight, oh such beautiful trees, but no way!! Then to a Shingon Buddhist temple, near the nursery, beautiful buildings and gardens.
I think the best tree in the nursery
Part of the nursery selection
Today we went to one of the most famous Zen Buddhist temples in the world. The RyoanJi Temple which houses the world heritage zen dry stone garden. I have wanted to visit this for many years, one of the reasons for being in Kyoto. The stone garden was superb, designed hundreds of years ago, within a courtyard it is 15 rocks within 5 "islands" within a sea of raked white gravel. No-one is sure about the designers intention, but it was always a very spiritual place, and is still considered to be so.
Two young girls in contemplation beside the zen garden
The gardens of the temple were again superb, moss gardens and maples etc. all set on the edge of the hills around the city.
RyoanJi Temple gardens
Kyoto was not firebombed in ww2 like Tokyo and rest, so escaped relatively intact and all the temples etc. have come through recent history intact. Arguments about the rights and wrongs of the war aside, this is not the forum, we can just be grateful that some beauty survived the insanity.
Finish packing tonight and at the airport tomorrow night for flight to Oz. Last train trip tomorrow, on a fast train from here to the airport in Osaka. I will miss the trains.
Our last train. Kyoto to Osaka airport.
So the rail trip is basically over, now it's the fast way to Sydney.
Had another pleasant day in the city, bus out to the Ginkakuji Temple on the outskirts. Again lovely gardens. Bit more commercial than yesterday, so very pleased we went to RyoanJi.
The Ginkakuji Temple gardens
We tis leaving day today, and I am filing this from the airport waiting for plane to Oz. The airline we are on is very strict with baggage weight, and we were half a kilo under ...... Having quiet beer in bar with baseball on tv. Baseball very big in this country. Last train trip to the airport very efficient, as expected.
One last thought about Kyoto, All through the city, many of the houses had small red fire buckets by the front door. maybe this is a local regulation, we never found out. But fascinating, although not sure how effective the buckets would be?
I hope you have enjoyed reading these little scribblings, I have enjoyed putting my thoughts in order, and reliving some of the pleasures - and pains - of the last little while.
Highlights? Come to mind immediately- Moscow metro driver who opened his cabin door and waved with a great big smile, Chinese carriage attendant on Trans Siberian who wanted to sell us beer, and gave us hot water from his private stash when the fire went out, lovely old Japanese man on the ferry from China who helped us with the Osaka subway, and bowed to me as the train left. There are many more, bit it's the people who come to mind first, they make the trip, the kindnesses and
the fun. On that note I will have another beer and remember the fun.
Thanks for coming along with us. Cheers from us both.
No comments:
Post a Comment