Wednesday August 13, 1997
Nagoya Station: 10:25pm
Well I got up at 6 this morning and headed out at 6:30 (that's when the hostel doors open) armed with my camera and wallet. I was planning on taking a 45 minute or so walk around Higashi Yama Park, and maybe find myself a bottle of water. Well, I ended up finding lots of things (although a bottle of water wasn't one of them). First there was the Higashi Yama Sky Tower which is a really tall shiny glass building in the middle of the park. I htink it's just a tourist attraction, but anyways. IT was too early to go up to the top, but I figure it woulda cost me some money, so I was OK with missing it. So I kept on walking, and that's when I saw the sign. Yes, the sign that said "10,000 steps hiking course". WELL, you can't go showing me a sign like that without me having to actually DO the course. So, I started on my way, assuming that this would be a course with 10,000 stairs. Uh, I was wrong. What they meant was that it would take you 10,000 walking steps to complete. Now if you think about it, that's a lot. 6.5kms actually. Oh, and I know why it's called Higashi Yama Koen (Eastern MOUNTAIN Park)... that's because there's, like, a big MOUNTAIN, and this hiking course went up it, down it, up it, down it, around it, through it... you name it! It was a great path though! Right through all these trees... I rarely saw anybody. That surprised me because if *I* lived closy-by I'd be running there evryday! Ah well. So in the end, my 45 min. walk turned out to be an hour and a half - which was a pleasant (although sweaty) surprise.
A bit about this park... it's got a huge fun park, botanical gardens, and one of the largest zoos in Asia! Big place, this Higashi Yama Koen. Oh, I saw that right close to the zoo there was a residential area! Cool! Imagine, instead of waking up to roosters, they wake up to the sounds of elephants! Neat.
So I ended up paying 2,000 yen ($25) for the hostel, which is really good. I think I paid about $10 less because I brought my own sheet, but I'm not sure about that. Oh, and the room had an air conditioner. THey had western toilets and it was clean (ok, a bit too much hair lying around for my liking, but most people wouldn't mind), all in all, a good deal.
I checked out of the hostel at 8 and went to find the Atsuta Jingu (hot rice field Shrine) which supposedly houses one of the 3 sacred treasures of the Imperial house - the sword named Kusanagi-no-tsurugi (grass cutting sword). Being so sacred, I thought it was a must-see.
OK, I got there by 9:15 (umm.. I only got minorly lost along the way..) and saw the shrine. Then I went to the Atsuta Jingu Museum where I was sure they'd be displaying the sword. So I paid the Y300 ($3.75) (the rest of the shrine was free, btw) and entered. There was lots of neat old stuff - from extra-fancy nail covers to pots (very, very old pots) to painted scrolls to old calligraphy to swords... but... but, where's the Kusanagi-no-tsurugi? I ask the guard "Can we see the Kusanagi-no-tsurugi?" And he says "No."!!!! Huh? Well, as it turns out, it's too sacred to show. Well sheesh, someone should tell all those guide books that the sword is in hiding! Aaarrgh!
Well at 10 I found myself wandering (well, I kinda knew where I was...) the Nagoya/Shin-Nagoya Station. I was trying to buy my ticket to Kyoto. Once I finally figured out what line to take and what would be the cheapest (Y2,500 = $30!!) I went to buy it, and the ticket lady says "That'll be 4,400 yen please". Wha? What happened there? I'm in Math, you know, you can't just go adding 1,900 yen without me noticing... well, she was right (of course) because you hvae to pay for the ticket (Y2,500) THEN pay for the speed of your train (Y1,900 = $22). Ugh, don't ask. It was a bit more expensive than I'd expected, but, oh well, this *is* Japan.
Actually, I just got on the train. Window seat again! Score! Hmph. Bumpy ride. I've been spoiled by the Shinkansen.
It's going to take me 3 hours to get there. I have to change trains twice. I'm taking the longest route there, probably. Like, if the direct line between Nagoya and Kyoto was the hypotenuse of a right triangle, I'd be going along those other 2 edges. Oh well, it'll be nice scenery, and if not, then good nap time!
Kyoto: To-ji (East Temple): 2:30pm
Wow. Right now I am at the Toji, which has the tallest pagoda in Japan (184 ft.). It was originally built in 796, but burnt down (like everything else in Kyoto - numerous times!) and was rebuilt in 1644. Anyways, this place is huge! The buildings are gargantuous! I'm gonna go in.
Wow, this looks so old! I love these huge gates! And all the details on everything!! Very cool. Hmm.. it's starting to rain a bit. That's fine, if it doesn't rain too hard... at least it cools things off. But if there's a downpour I will NOT be happy!
Oh yeah, this is the landmark of Kyoto - truly beautiful.
Nishi Hongan-ji (Western Main Wish Temple): 3:20pm
Well, this place is where they founded Jodo-Shinshu Buddhism (a very large sect) in 1592... it's pretty old. I'm standing in my socks (you take off your shoes to enter the shrines) having just left one of the shrines. This one was neat - there's a statue of Amida Buddha surrounded in gold - even the pillars inside are painted gold. People were praying - I knelt there for awhile. Can't take pictures, I'm sure. A shrine right beside this one was built in the late 700s - I had to touch it, just because it's 1200 years old. Think about that... 1,200 years OLD!
5 minutes later
Woah, the next one was even MORE impressive. There's a faint scent of incense... gold leafed lanterns... gold leafed pillars. It's so solemn and beautiful.
Higashi Hongan-ji (Eastern Main Wish Temple): 3:50pm
No, did I say those other places were huge? THIS place is huge. Kyoto's largest wooden building, and I believe it! This one was buildt in 1895 because the original burnt down in some fire. Still, it's spectacular.
Nijyo Jinya: 5:10pm
Ok so right now I'm standing in front of Nijyo jinya, which is as close as I'll get to going inside because you can only go inside with a tour, and I don't want to pay for that even though this would be the coolest place to go. Why? Well, in the times of the Samurai (ie. a loooong time ago), this place (which just looks, on the outside, like your average traditional Japanese household) was a sort of hotel for the daimyo (feudal lords). Since these daimyos were absolutely paranoid of being attacked, this "hotel" is fully (and I mean fully) equipped with BOOBY TRAPS!! Yes! How cool. There are roofs that flip down into staircases for quick escapes, secret passageways and hidden bodyguard rooms, soundproof rooms, false staircases, removeable floorboards - the works! So the reason it looks so plain is so that the building wouldn't draw any attention to itself. Smart. Very smart.
Utano Youth Hostel: 10:20pm
Well I wandered the town until 7 or so then I found the bus to the hostel... it took about 45 minutes, but it's very nicely situated up in the west mountains (Arashiyama, actually), and is quite close to some sights I was hoping to see. So I'll maybe do a bit of them tomorra morning.
This hostel is much bigger - it even has tennis courts, supposedly. Wow! Ooo - and I took the real Japanese ofuro tonight - meaning I actually went into the big bathtub. Yesterday I was still trying to get over the fact that it seems a little kinky, ya know, a bunch of nude women, in a bath, holding a peice of string! Ok ok, no string (a bit of monty python humour for ya..). All I can say is HOT water. AT first I wondered why you would do this in the middle of all this summer heat! But it was so relaxing! Yeah, I'd do it again.
Ew though, I don't think I've EVER seen so much hair! This trip is definitely going to help me get through that phobia.
Hey, one of the girls staying in this room (actually, she seems to be the only other one) just came from a trip to Indonesia! Cool. I was like "Hey, I used to live there!" But she had a bad taxi experience in Jakarta... oh, I know that experience well. There's nothing like both you AND the cab driver being completely lost, on purpose. Anyways, they just announced that it's time to sleep. Don't wanna break no rules!