Temple hopping - Blogabond

Went temple hopping today and topped it of with a visit at an onsen/sento.

I started at Ninna-ji in the northwestern part of Kyoto. The temple is guarded by four statues, two lions on the inside, two gods(?) on the outside. Had a nice garden and some screen paintings on display. I couldn't show the ones at Nijo-jo, so here you go:

Satisfied? Good.

The whole thing consists of several buildings and a spacious garden, Torii and pagoda inclusive.

Ninna-ji garden

Torii@Ninna-ji

Ninna-ji pagoda

I planned this trip as a walking tour, so off I went to my next target: the Ryoan-ji.

Dry garden of Ryoan-ji

Garden of Ryoan-ji

This temple is famous for its dry garden. It lies within a spacious garden (free of charge to visit) and is placed in a separate building (500yen admittance). As most dry gardens it consists of white pebbles, representing water and larger stones, in this case 15. I could only make out 14 of them, and a small girl visiting with her father came to the same conclusion. There are two explanations. One: My arithmetical abilities are barely on par with those of a grade school kid. And two: the last one really hard to make out.

A miniature of the garden was also available.
Well, the whole thing wasn't really to my liking, to be honest. I much more enjoyed the walk through the surrounding garden/forest. Lots of greenery, a beautiful pond and way fewer people.

Was on my way again, this time to the main part of my visit in this area.

There are some useful signs around this area by the way.

Came by this university on my way, interesting exterior.

Kinkaku-ji

Reached the Kinkaku-ji then, the famous Golden Pavilion.
It was a hot day and the sun burned down, but that only enhanced the beauty of the pavilion with its upper level coated in gold. Placed in a lake, surrounded by nature, it was a astonishing sight.
Some pictures:

Kinkaku-ji

Wishing well or bad aim?

Kinkaku-ji garden

The pond had cranes surrounding it and lots of crane and turtles in it.
I wandered through the gardens of the Kinwaku-ji, shopped for some souvenirs and rested a bit.
Regarding the Ginkaku-ji vs Kinkaku-ji discussion: I can't rea lly tell you which one is superior, the Kinkaku-ji is definitively flashier, but the Ginkaku-ji has its own charm. If the chance arises, visit both.

Funaoka-onsen entrance

Funaoka-onsen was my last stop today, a public bath well liked for its traditional setting.
Upton entering you pay the fee and can borrow towels and buy soap. Then you enter the changing area (separated by gender, the baths as well), undress and put you stuff in a locker. The keys have bands on them to wear around hour wrist or neck. Taking only the soap and the small towel (yes, there is a big one as well) with you, you enter the bathing area. There is a section for washing yourself, featuring plastic stools to sit on. There you clean yourself. Thoroughly. I saw several people taking care of other sanitary issues there as well, inclusive brushing your teeth and shaving. When you are clean (no bubbles left, any soap gone, just you in a clean state), you enter the bath. There are usually several kinds of bath available: Different tubs (wooden, stone, normal), different temperatures, bubble baths and special kinds like electric baths and bath with supposedly medical effect. You can stay as long as you like and enter all of them.
The Funaoka-onsen also has two outdoor-baths, cast in natural stone and featuring small waterfalls. One of them is hot and the other cold, to be enjoyed after leaving the nearby sauna.
It was a hot day, as I mentioned before, so the sauna and the hottest of the bath were quite hard to bear.

There were also lots of carvings on the wooden surfaces, especially in the changing area.
Refreshed and clean I left.

Pontocho

It was 4p.m. by then and I took a stroll through Pontocho, the nightlife and restaurant district of Gion, before returning home.

A phenomenon I quite like is that whenever a shrine is in the way of new buildings or structures, the thing is just build around the shrine. Like in this picture, in the middle of a busy and noisy shopping arcade, several shrines can be found.

So long and stay tuned,
JuergenS

written by

JuergenS on July 19, 2010 from Kyoto, Japan

from the travel blog: Two month of Japan

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