Kyoto Part 2

let me just say this:

oh. my. f#ck. kyoto. is. so. freakin'. beautiful. i. can't. stand. it.

seriously.

after my talk with yuko and lincoln, and a shower, i took a walk up the river through the middle of kyoto, as the sun was setting. people sitting out up and down the river, playing with dogs, reading books, fishing, playing in the water. restaurants and bars with open air porches looking out onto the water. views of the mountains around dusted with clouds. lights still everywhere from the Gion Matsuri festival.

i turn onto side alleys and find cobblestone streets lined with lights, restaurants, shrines, temples, shops and teeming with revelers, happy children, geisha and just an overall feel of peace, calm and happiness. this was all enhanced by my ipod playing the Grateful Dead (yeah, i may be biased from the hippier days of my youth, but they are one amazing band - last night's list included Wharf Rat, Terrapin Station and Dark Star from various Dick's Picks). just an amazing night to be outside - this is one beautiful city.

following my walk, i came back to hostel and spent a long time at the bar. i talked to yuko, and met a very diverse crowd - chris and mark from australia, osai from spain, dom from britain, simon from scotland, kevin from ireland, nicola from switzerland and amy from taiwan. we all chatted international politics, indie rock, fashion, japan and batman while drinking beers, doing shots of tequila, and then heading out for ramen and a few bars. i nice, low key night that ended with us back at the hostel drinking beers and eating kit kats. tonight i plan to try out the local gay bars, and if they are nothing to speak of, there are a few clubs in town having some big parties.

this morning, i woke up with a mere 4 hours of sleep, and trudging through a hangover, i had a buffet breakfast of eggs, rolls, yogurt and cheese. good enough to get me going. i rented a bike, and hit the town, doing some major sightseeing of temples and shrines. i first biked up to the northwest corner of kyoto (hostel in the southwest), which took about 30 min (difficult going uphill with a one-speed bike). i started at the Nanzenji temple complex, constructed in 1264. its main gate is a huge affair (22 meters), intricately worked with dragons and gold. the gardens behind the temple itself were something of stunning beauty - hidden coves and waterfalls - well kept foliage and shrubs near calm waters. inside the halls itself, i walked wood floors and peered through paper panels at tapesty artwork, zen altars and more gardens. really stunning.

all of my sights were this amazing. some of these temples has walkways up into this hills that offered sweeping vistas of kyoto and the mountains beyond. others had immaculate zen rock gardens. others shrines hidden in caves built into the hills. others offered walks through room after room of understated elegance - one that made it easy to transport myself into the feet of a pilgrim or student spending my studies in these halls.

following 2.5 hours or so of hiking through the first 3 of the temple complexes i visited, i walked for about 30 minutes along a canal through the hills to find a cute little side street of shops and cafes. i stopped here from sliced seared beef with a soy glaze over rice, with miso soup and a glass of white wine. delicious meal in the cutest cafe ive seen in a long time.

after lunch, i got on my bike again and went to the Golden Pavilion. this legendary temple complex has on it a 3 story zen pavilion coated in gold. i couldn't not take an amazing photo of this one. i must have just stood with my mouth open (aghast, not idiocy, joel) for a good five minutes. i delighted at the gasps of amazement as each new person rounded the corner to gaze upon the pavilion for the first time. the grounds of the temple were, expectedly, well kept and green - teeming with beauty and growth. by the time i left here, after treating myself to some frozen yogurt (yeah dude, its way humid here), i knew i needed to head back to the hostel. so humming some grateful dead, i took a 45 minute bike ride back to the hostel to catch up on my blogging. now it's time for a beer. hey - i'm caught up - congratulate me.

kyoto is just stunning. i don't feel in it the same vibrancy that makes me want to live in tokyo, but i could absolutely envision visiting here at least once a month to walk around, enjoy the sights, feel its pulse and meet its people. i just love it.