Japan
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Re: Japan
Point taken. I've been pretty busy since I got home. Work and personal life are taking almost all of my time. Should have a bit spare tonight though so I'll get back on the Japan track
marcus wrote:and that vicco dude, whatsisname?
Re: Japan
Wed 7th Oct
Shinkansen to Kyoto where we stayed for 3 nights. Lotta love for those trains because we were there early enough to still do/see a fair bit.
Caught a local train to check out the Bamboo Grove at Arashiyama. 'boo suggested hiring bikes which, except for the volume of tourists, would have been idyllic. Despite the numbers, it's a must. Upon walking through, you come across quite a few significant temples and shrines. Despite this relative concentration, it's a residential area. There's a preserved street where the homes remain in the style of Meiji Period which ended about 100 yrs ago. Not sure if it would be a blessing or curse to live there. The seemingly accompanying sense of serenity is something of which I'm not sure is borne of Japanese tolerance or a factor of the surrounding religious aspects - perhaps both
Here we first found that like in most places, Japanese people are a bit lazy. Continuing through the streets the crowd had significantly thinned. Mrs swvic had done her research and wanted to see Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji Temple, famous for its many carved stone statues which must number over 1000. There we were, just us and another couple. It blew me away. Had a small down moment when I read later that they were carved in the 1980s. The joke was sort of on me, but it’s still pretty fcuken impressive and I’m glad we made the effort to walk up there
On the way back, we went into the Nison-In Temple. By then, most people had left and we were almost alone in the vast grounds. It’s on a reasonably steep slope with quite a few largish buildings and lots of grave sites spread throughout. From the top you get a really good view back to the city
Again, because the crowd had thinned greatly, mrs swvic was able to get some pretty good photos of the bamboo grove and it was so much better being there than it was earlier in the day. If I were to return, I’d aim to get there as early as possible. It would be magic on a clear morning
A few of > 1000
Shinkansen to Kyoto where we stayed for 3 nights. Lotta love for those trains because we were there early enough to still do/see a fair bit.
Caught a local train to check out the Bamboo Grove at Arashiyama. 'boo suggested hiring bikes which, except for the volume of tourists, would have been idyllic. Despite the numbers, it's a must. Upon walking through, you come across quite a few significant temples and shrines. Despite this relative concentration, it's a residential area. There's a preserved street where the homes remain in the style of Meiji Period which ended about 100 yrs ago. Not sure if it would be a blessing or curse to live there. The seemingly accompanying sense of serenity is something of which I'm not sure is borne of Japanese tolerance or a factor of the surrounding religious aspects - perhaps both
Here we first found that like in most places, Japanese people are a bit lazy. Continuing through the streets the crowd had significantly thinned. Mrs swvic had done her research and wanted to see Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji Temple, famous for its many carved stone statues which must number over 1000. There we were, just us and another couple. It blew me away. Had a small down moment when I read later that they were carved in the 1980s. The joke was sort of on me, but it’s still pretty fcuken impressive and I’m glad we made the effort to walk up there
On the way back, we went into the Nison-In Temple. By then, most people had left and we were almost alone in the vast grounds. It’s on a reasonably steep slope with quite a few largish buildings and lots of grave sites spread throughout. From the top you get a really good view back to the city
Again, because the crowd had thinned greatly, mrs swvic was able to get some pretty good photos of the bamboo grove and it was so much better being there than it was earlier in the day. If I were to return, I’d aim to get there as early as possible. It would be magic on a clear morning
A few of > 1000
marcus wrote:and that vicco dude, whatsisname?
- el rancho
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Re: Japan
the monkeys on top of the mountain are pretty cool in Arashiyama, plus nobody tries to rip you off with stupid bags of bananas - a la Uluwatu.
we spent half a day tooling around in, found a sweet little pottery shop up there somewhere.
we spent half a day tooling around in, found a sweet little pottery shop up there somewhere.
Re: Japan
Saw the monkeys across the river, but didn't go over there. Didn't see any up the top, er, but there's a couple of little pottery shops we checked out. mrs swvic had to use all her inner strength not to buy, buy, buy. Re food, have a go at anything. You won't spit too much out. You'll love it, tonks
Thu 8th Oct
You’d think it might be possible to be sick of Shrines and Temples, but we weren’t because, among the places we’d been to, there was always a significant point of difference. Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine certainly has that. Thousands of bright red torii (them wooden gate things common to all Shinto shrines) line a steep path taking you to the top of Mt Inari where the views are fcuking awesome. The crowd thins as you ascend. Along the way, there’s perhaps hundreds of stone foxes among the numerous graveyards. The fox is apparently the messenger of Inari (this is the head shrine of the 30 000 Inari shrines in Japan). Great way to spend a few hours
In the arvo we went to Tofukuji Temple which has a massive main gate and a mural on ceiling which is fcuken awesome. There’s also an apparently significant rock garden there. Definitely worth a look, but the surrounding garden is something else. Autumn had started to work its magic on the trees. I can’t say anything that will do it justice. I haven’t really had a proper look, but mrs swvic must have a lot of good pics. It’s probably worth doing a google image search, because my photo for the day was of the temple ceiling
Thu 8th Oct
You’d think it might be possible to be sick of Shrines and Temples, but we weren’t because, among the places we’d been to, there was always a significant point of difference. Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine certainly has that. Thousands of bright red torii (them wooden gate things common to all Shinto shrines) line a steep path taking you to the top of Mt Inari where the views are fcuking awesome. The crowd thins as you ascend. Along the way, there’s perhaps hundreds of stone foxes among the numerous graveyards. The fox is apparently the messenger of Inari (this is the head shrine of the 30 000 Inari shrines in Japan). Great way to spend a few hours
In the arvo we went to Tofukuji Temple which has a massive main gate and a mural on ceiling which is fcuken awesome. There’s also an apparently significant rock garden there. Definitely worth a look, but the surrounding garden is something else. Autumn had started to work its magic on the trees. I can’t say anything that will do it justice. I haven’t really had a proper look, but mrs swvic must have a lot of good pics. It’s probably worth doing a google image search, because my photo for the day was of the temple ceiling
marcus wrote:and that vicco dude, whatsisname?
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Re: Japan
moreso the direct look from the monkey, straight at the camera, while sitting next to 2 dead stumps in a mini wasteland.el rancho wrote:why? the concrete wasteland below?black duck wrote:^^ that's a disturbing photo the el ranch.
Re: Japan
It's the top of a hill set aside as a nature reserve for the monkeys, plenty of arboreal options. Behind the photographer is a hut where the monkeys are fed from inside, through caged windows. They cut down the trees in the photo because the monkeys are nasty little fcukers and were staging surprise attacks onto people's heads.
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Re: Japan
LOL, that's gold. In Aus, we would have just culled the monkeys!!!alakaboo wrote:They cut down the trees in the photo because the monkeys are nasty little fcukers and were staging surprise attacks onto people's heads.
Re: Japan
Or if they lived in Avalon just frighten them away to another suburb like they did with the fruit bats.Donweather wrote:LOL, that's gold. In Aus, we would have just culled the monkeys!!!alakaboo wrote:They cut down the trees in the photo because the monkeys are nasty little fcukers and were staging surprise attacks onto people's heads.
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