Fushimi Inari Taisha

The next stop we went to was a shrine in the southern part of the city, about 15 minutes taxi ride from Kiyomizu-dera. A smaller complex, but a fascinating one none the less.

Fushimi-Inari Taisha is a tribute to wealth, located at the bottom of Mount Inari, along a path leading up to the top. Here, local businesses put up tributes in the form of square arch lining up the path called the torii. All the arch in turned was coloured orange, making a straining contrast to the lush greenery of the surrounding area.

Traveling to the temple from Kiyomizu-dera

The main tributes here was for the God of Rice, as this is the main form of food in the region. And along with the rice come sake. At the entrance, there were barrels of the stuff on show. Not sure if they were filled up though.

Another feature was there were plenty of statues of foxes at the bottom of the hills. These foxes were guardians of the shrine and they have keys in their mouth to signify their role as protectors.

Sake barrel lining the entrance as tribute to the Rice GodsThe torii were all painted in glorious and distinctive orange tingeBy the main entranceOnce you reached the foot of the hill, you have a choice in terms of how far up the you wanted to climb to. To go up right top, it would take at least three hours. SInce we didn't have all morning, we decided just to take a leisurely stroll forming a loop leading back down to the entrance, all within 45 minutes or so.

We didn't hang around too long here as we wanted to get to the famed Golden Pavilion next, and we planned to take the underground train and taxi to get there. Therefore it would have taken a bit longer to travel to next destination. Not much lingering around here.

More entries from my Kyoto trip here. The slideshow for the Fushimi visit here.

Kiyomizu-dera Part 2

From part 1 ....

From the fountain, you could either took a hike up a small hill where more shrines were located. Halfway up there was a pagoda. We ventured there but unfortunately, the pagoda was closed for repairs. We then took an alternative route to the main exit, taking us round the base of the verandah of the main building around lakes and shops. I then realised how old the buildings were. The base of the verandah was made purely of wood, and these were huge and sturdy.

Say what? No photographs? But .... but ... but ....The base of the verandah. All wood!Fancy some tea?

There were tea shops along the route to the exit if you fancy some drink …. or even some meal. Since we were on a schedule, we gave these a miss and continue on towards the lakes. A small one but the reflections of the sakura tree made taking photographs just irresistible. And since the crowd were still light, it was an opportunity not to be missed.

Through the exit, it was time to shop. The small shops here sold cute little souvenirs, and I soon found myself spending equivalent to RM500 on these cute little stuffs alone! Not cheap.

I must say that it was a great idea to get here first and enjoy less of the hassle. The place really looked crowded but he time we flagged off out cab for the next destination ….

The first part of the entry here. More photos from this visit on my SmugMug site of Flickr site. Alternatively, click here for a slideshow within this blog. More write-up on the Kyoto trip here.

Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Heading abroad to attend a conference sounded more relaxing that it actually ever was. Not only that the traveling could be a haul, trying to stick to the schedule once you arrived at the destination was another thing. For the Kyoto trip, I actually traveled in late - the lectures were already starting on the morning I touched down in Japan, and I actually missed the last day since my flight was early morning on the Sunday. It couldn't get any tighter than that!

So, I decided to make my escape on one of the morning when the schedule was a bit lax, and I was lucky that the weather was gorgeous that morning. Only one morning, that was the only time I could afford to do the sightseeing, and the rest was all business. And I hooked up with my current and previous bosses for the quick trip. According to the plan, there would be three shrines that we would be dropping by - at least according to my "Top 10" book on Kyoto which I bought before going to Japan.

The first spot - it was well before the place was crowded was the Kiyomizu-dera temple. A big complex housing dozens of shrines, and should you only have only one place to visit here in Kyoto, you could not go wrong with this one!

The main entrance complex "deva" gateMessages for good luckMy two bosses by the entranceWe set off from my boss' hotel near Kyoto Station, and the taxi ride took about 15 minutes. Alighting, we had to walk up a small hill lined by cute little gift shops - they were yet to open on the way into the temple. We quickly shuffled in and snaps some photos by the entrance. And the place was huge.

The entrance took us to the main complex where there was a huge verandah overlooking the city centre, and on this sakura season, the scenery was heavenly ….

Looking down on the fountainOne have to realise that this was a Buddhist temple after all

The main complex also housed a temple with a big Buddha statue. From here, one could just exit or venture further in. This would take you down the valley where the otowa-no-taki was located. This was a fountain with soothing water coming down the hill. Legend has it that it would give calmness to whoever who took a sip and true to the Japanese etiquette, there was a queue to get to the fountain.

More on part 2. You can see the slideshow of this trip here. Alternatively, you could also enjoy the photos on my SmugMug or Flickr sites. The blog entries for the whole Kyoto trip is hosted here.

Hotel Heian no Mori

We stayed a pretty basic hotel on the East side of Kyoto called Heian No Mori Hotel. A 70's affair and friendly staff, it was more than adequate. The only problem was it was 10 minutes away from the nearest Subway station. Therefore, we had to rely on either taxi or minibus to get us around.

My room was simple but neat. Fairly big after hearing stories from my colleagues who had been to Japan before, mainly about how small the hotel rooms were. I had a couple of beds, with ample room to move around. The bathroom was also more than big enough with a strong, hot shower. But no English TV channels though. Definitely no football. It didn't appear that football was big in this place despite hosting the World Cup only 10 years ago.

The main lobbyThe room came with breakfast each morning, served at the diner by the lobby. Although the items were al Japanese, I do not mind as they were seafood and vegetables selection aplenty. In fact, the miso soup was among the most delicious I had ever tasted.

For a place to stay short term while attending a conference, I certainly have no complaints. Although honestly, I would've preferred a central, more connected place. But with the company I was with, I was pretty happy. One of my colleague said that there were plenty to see and photographs if I was willing to walk around the hotels. There were a couple of shrines and if we walked a couple of blocks down, you would reach the the famed "Philosopher's Route". 15 minutes on the other direction would have taken us to the edge of Gion district, where the Geishas stayed. But I didn't have much time to explore the area unfortunately.

More on the Kyoto trip here.

Cleared In

Lush green scenery. That was what greeted me when I was driven from Kansai Airport to Kyoto, about an hour away. It was a crisp spring morning, temperature of 10 degrees outside. In the comfort of the car, the journey took me through the hills upon leaving Osaka. Nice and tranquil.

The journey in was also painless. A nice comfortable flight, and I managed to sleep for about 4 hours. The flight was only 6 hours long with a little helping hand from the tailwind. Not much turbulence, but the flight was full, with screaming children for good measure.

The immigrations and customs were fairly straight forward, possibly due to the time of the day - it was just before 7 when we rolled in.

Need to refresh when I check-in. Next would be the taxi ride to the Conference Centre. Hmm! I only have USD with me. Need to get hold of some Yen. More entries from this trip here.