When we left you yesterday we were about to venture out to dinner. You might recall that Patrice got us a useless map from the hotel. I said, “How hard could it be to find this place? We will make a left out of the hotel and walk until we find the restaurant”. Unfortunately we were a significant distance from our hotel when I realized I had forgotten our portable wifi and could not get cell service. We were lost and in trouble.
I saw two women and I hoped since they were young they spoke English. They did, but very little. They didn’t know where the restaurant was located but found it on their cell phones and started to lead us to the location (Yes, lead us. Not just point and say goodbye, actually take us to our destination). After a short time they seemed a little confused on how to proceed. I saw a security guard and pointed him out to the ladies as a possible source of information. The guard said something to the young girls and started walking with us. We now had 3 escorts on our journey. Shortly after that, Patrice spotted the restaurant across the street and we could dismiss our entourage with our deepest gratitude. (The Loin Restaurant in the New Hankyu Hotel at 579 Higashishiokojicho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, 600-8216. Now do you see why we had trouble finding it?)
The restaurant was recommended by our new friend, Tomoko. The meal was expensive but excellent. All the cooked items were made on the skillet in front of our seats, not quite the Benihana-like show but you get the idea. The staff members were great. In addition to the chef there were two others who helped fill our needs, for example trying to help us find the English words for what we were eating. At the time I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. For example what do you think of this tidbit?
Today we decided to try the Western style breakfast. Similar to yesterday the food and service were excellent. The one main difference was the sound volume. Yesterday was quiet, serene and relaxing. Today was as noisy as your typical New York City diner. Yesterday after breakfast we just chatted and enjoyed the surroundings. Today we said, “I am done eating, let’s go”. Maybe we Westerners should try some of the Zen principles?
After breakfast our first activity was planned by our tour company. We went to a small shop to learn how to dye clothes. The shop was a $20 cab ride from our hotel (I was already not excited). The people there were INCREDIBLY nice but only spoke a modest amount of English. So what was supposed to be a lesson in the art of dyeing cloth was more like a children’s ceramic class where you make a piece of “art” for your parents to enjoy. My parents have both passed away so I made something for my son-in-law, Robby. I hope he likes it. There were about 6-8 others in the “class” and the owner (a jewel of a man, named Jun) was hustling around to make sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to do. When it came time for us to leave he called a cab and had us sit until it arrived. He saw on his phone that it was approaching and he then took us outside and made sure the taxi driver knew where we wanted to go. Like I said, a jewel of a man.
That was the end of the activities planned by our travel agent (pretty sparse, no?) but Patrice and I were not finished. We had been told that the town of Nara, with its large Buddha, was a must see attraction. We were also told that there were some deer in the town that might interest us. Last night Patrice contacted the famous travel blogger Robert Reiss and asked him to arrange this excursion. I got busy on the internet and figured out how to get to our destination. I also developed a plan for the afternoon.
We took the taxi from the dyeing class to Kyoto Station and got tickets for our trip to Nara (many thanks to our guide from yesterday, Kiyoko, who showed us where to go to buy the tickets and which trains would be best for us to use (even famous travel bloggers need help sometime). We boarded our train and 35 minutes later we exited at the Nara Station.
Our first stop in town was the Todaiji Temple which houses a very impressive Buddha (larger than the one we saw in Kamakura). The temple was built in the 8th century under the direction of Emperor Shamu. Oops, I mean Shomu (I think Shamu was a whale). Apparently using x-rays some relics were found in the right knee. Among these artifacts was a tooth presumed to have belonged to Emperor Shomu. See the Great Buddha below.
As I said, we didn’t have a guide today so all of that last caption information was totally made up. But it sounded good didn’t it?
On our way to visit Buddha we saw a few deer in town. As I said before we were told we might see some. As we walked we saw more and more. It was unbelievable how many deer we saw. With so many deer you need to tread carefully because they left samples EVERYWHERE. Here are some pictures of the lovely creatures.
Following that we headed to the Nigatsudo Hall. This is a Buddhist temple also built in the 8th century. The view from the hill at which it stands was nice but there was not much to see at the temple. We also visited Kasuga Taisha Shrine which is a Shinto structure similar to others we have seen. After that is was back on the train to get to the hotel.
Tomorrow we will have another day trip. I am not sure where we are going so no spoilers are possible.
Robert Reiss Travel Blog and Other Ramblings 