Allans Abroad: Touring with Noriko

We started our day at Kiyomizu-dera with our guide for today Noriko. Who is absolutely amazing.

Niomon Gate

This blue dragon is one of the four mythical beasts guarding Kyoto at the four compass points.

One with the photobomb

One with tourists

Noriko is tiny and, well, just look at the people … we kept losing her in the masses of Sunday crowds joining us here.

From this vantage point and looking back at the shrine you get an idea of how many people are here & how high that platform is. That’s not actually a viewing platform, I can’t remember its purpose is but at one stage (1800s I think) became popular to jump off it (4 stories high). The plan was if you survived the fall you were rewarded with a lucky life, if you did not, also good for you because you died in the presence of the god (housed in the shrine) & therefore advance to collect immortality. A surprising 70 percent of people survived the fall.

From this platform there’s a great view across the park to the pagoda and back to the city.

Like so many places we visit the gardens are meticulously maintained and a joy to walk around.

Walking down the hill we visited the five tier pagoda. Apparently they are either three or five, my photo doesn’t get it all in, it’s right in the middle of a busy street, & I can’t remember its name.

And managed to successfully negotiate the three year steps and the two year steps without falling down.

These pathways are quite steep (the photos don’t really show it) and legend has it if you fall down here you will die within three years, there’s another pathway slightly more dangerous with a two year penalty.

Having survived those scary steps we felt brave enough to fly into a cafe, assisted by Noriko who did all the ordering grab a convenient precut sanga (even these are delicious) & coffee and get back on the road to eat lunch in the van and maximise our touristing time. We really want to be able to fit in Fushumi Inari and those iconic Tori gates.

Orange is a sacred colour powerful enough to ward against demons. We felt extremely protected here.

The Imperial Palace was home to the Emperor & Emperess when Kyoto was the capital. It is stunningly spartan, not what westerners think of as ‘palace’. When looking at the empty rooms we asked what sort of furniture would have been here, Noriko said this exactly as it would have been. People royal

& not, simply sat on the floor, Marie Kondo eat your heart out.

No photos inside but even the outside is underwhelming to our western eye

Again the grounds are spectacular

More of the same austere aesthetic at 345 yo Shogunate Nijo Castle. Absolutely fascinating walking on the nightgale floor which ‘sings’ as you step on it. Apparently this is achieved in its construction, bamboo nails I think, legend has it as a security device. There’s no way anyone could sneak in here.

How different is the masculinity of the Shongun’s zen garden compared to the softer Imperial palace one.

We were a bit sad to have to say goodbye to Noriko, who made our last day in Kyoto well informed and pleasurable. We asked her advice for dinner and she suggested we look out for meat on a stick places as a local type of good food. We liked this because we have a bit of a food on a stick theme going. We found a great place & enjoyed another wonderful meal together, and then coffee and dessert overlooking a temple.