Day 15 The Kimono Experience

We head for the FUSHIMI INARI SHRINE and wander the path of orange gates.

 

                                  Kyoto Central Railway Station - on our way....

....and always lining up correctly!



Maruyama Park, where people come together under the cherry trees and celebrate

SAKURA - the cherry blossom event - a symbol of ...

Beauty and Impermanence....
of Change and New Beginnings....

                    CHIONIN Temple next to the Geisha district of Gion

Kimonos

Experiencing traditional Japanese kimonos was an interesting experience, but I highly recommend it. We spent half an hour in the kimono shop getting ready, we were able to select our own design of kimono as we were getting professionally dressed by the experts as we were padded up in all kinds of layered materials. After we were dressed and everyone was looking amazing we ventured through the streets of Kyoto, it was a struggle to walk as the kimono was very tight and difficult to walk in as well as the shoes. We didn't get very far before people started to notice us and started taking photos, before too long a massive crowd of people swarmed around us, bright lights flashing here and there. My cheeks were getting sore from constantly smiling. It was an interesting experience, fun also experiencing traditional Japanese styles.

Olivia

                   

                          Sayaka - our wonderful guide and travel companion

Day 14 Kyoto Bicycle Tour

A sunny spring Sunday in Kyoto and we go for a bicycle ride.

Bicycle parking at every temple is standard.

                                         Kinkajui - the Golden Temple

                                  The bamboo forest at Tenryuji Temple

                                                Seiryo-ji Temple......
 ...and then Adrian does an terrific job leading us back to the bicycle hire place through tiny alley ways as if he is a local tour guide - well done.

                ....and of course everybody wants some spring selfie action

Bicycle Tour

Sunday 2^nd April. Our presence was not required until 9:30am, so a leisurely start was in order for this particular morn. I woke up just shy of 7 thirty, and proceeded to, unlike many other days, carry out my morning tasks in a calm fashion. Such fanciful a reality only lasted 40 minutes, until daylight savings time changes decided to be a thing - even when I leave the country it decides to screw me over. Anyway, so I ripped my coat and bag from their stand and rushed out into the lobby 15 minutes late, under the burning glares of my peers.
Then we arranged ourselves for the day. Initially the plan was to hire out 17 bikes and visit a bunch of temples as a big horde of clueless tourists, buuut some people weren't feeling too well, and others just preferred to traverse the land using these unbelievably handy extremities called legs. So the 'cycling group' ended up only being 10 people, Yours Truly making up one of those ten. [Let me just put in here that if you were hoping to hear about the happenings of the other 7 between 10am and 5pm on Sunday, I am sorry; because that group's doings will be completely void from this entry.]

Now our group, the important group, caught a bus out to some place and hired ten bikes. From the bike-hire place we rode to Temple, spending minutes there before taking off for Temple. Afterwards we rode into town and sourced out some sustenance – otherwise known as lunch – and took a quick break. Then we were back at it again, riding like mad for the Bamboo Forest. We locked the bikes at the edge and hiked up into the unknown, where awaited us... a sea of people. And I wish I were exaggerating, but that's exactly how it felt. To enter such an esteemed tourist attraction in Japan means you must be prepared to jostle your way through a seething mass of people. The tourists here are almost a tourist attraction themselves. We spent about an hour there, following the winding path which cut through the densely growing stalks. Then it was time to find a way back to the bike shop and return them before going back to the hostel. Adrian, our guide for the ride, chose a colourful route through the back streets of Kyoto city. For half an hour we zig-zagged in the general direction of the hire shop, all the while taking in the beauty of peoples' cramped but humble living style. It was really an experience to see the side of Japan the Japanese don't cater to tourists. Hundreds of small, two to three story home; rarely room for a car; minimal, if any, space for a garden, but those lucky enough to have one take pride in it and it shows.
All souls made it there, then it was onto a bus and back to our beds. 

Kiara 

Day 13 Osaka

We visit Kaiyukan, the Osaka Aquarium, one of the largest of its kind in the world famous for its enormous tank holding 5300 tons of water and providing spectacular views on big sea life like hammer head and whale sharks behind 30 cm of acrylic glass.

 Kaiyukan seen from the 122m high ferries wheel at Osakako, the Osaka port.

Osaka Aquarium: Kaiyukan by Summa

The aquarium was packed full as expected, but that didn't bother me. I love aquariums and I was excited right from the beginning to see this one. The Osaka Aquarium was huge with many different tanks and animals to see, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had seals and dolphins and penguins there – since I only expected to see a huge variety of fish.

The class was mostly split up and wandering through the aquarium in their own time, so it was nice not to be rushed at any point. I was glad we didn’t have a guide since I much prefer to just quietly observe the fish without commentary. I enjoyed looking at the different themed tanks and their inhabitants. There was one for the Great Barrier Reef which was teeming with bright, sparkly fish and small sharks and eels, and the backdrop of corals were all brightly coloured and covered the whole back wall of the tank. I was aware of the fact while watching the fish, that the real Great Barrier Reef is not as colourful as they have made out, which is sad. I highly enjoyed seeing all the jellyfish and have to say that the Fried Egg Jellyfish were my favourite; they looked quite colourful and frilly against their dark backgrounds.

My favourite tank would have had to have been the largest, and the centre of Kaiyukan, the “Pacific Ocean” tank. It had an immense amount of sharks, stingrays, and other sorts of fish, and though I don't know the name of pretty much all the inhabitants of this tank, I still enjoyed watching them peacefully glide around. This tank was also home to two Whale-Sharks. They weren't as large as I expected but is probably from the fact of their small environment. They were extremely graceful and swam close to the glass so the many kids with their faces pressed against the glass could see.

Later, close to the end of the aquarium, there was a petting pool for some small sharks and sting rays. Patting the sharks, it made me think they were like the cats of the ocean. One of the stingrays was having a blast swimming back and forth and up and down the sides of the tank while all the children squealed and touched it. While the sharks felt rough like sandpaper, the stingray was smooth and a little slimy.

I’m really glad I got to experience the Osaka Aquarium, Kaiyukan, and I would love to come back and go there again.

Summa

                                    Lily and the LEGO LAND giraffe

                      Osaka Castle surrounded by white and pink cherry trees

Day 13 Farm stay: Reflections by Francesco

Farm stay - Kuta Village

Our farm stay for me, has been one of the highlights of our trip so far as it gave us all a chance to see some authentic traditional Japanese foods and practices. We made our way from Hiroshima early Tuesday morning taking the Bullet-train or Shinkansen as it is called in Japan to Kyoto, we then took a bus for roughly two hours out of Kyoto into the countryside of Japan to a small village known as Kuta. The bus journey was a scenic one, as we slowly rose up along the cliff-side roads snow appeared on either side, becoming more and more common the higher we went, the air became cool and we past many rivers, all flowing strongly from the melted ice and snow. Winter was leaving these hills.

We were met at the base of the drive with open arms by Kazy and his wife Lumi, the owners of the farm and were taken into their home for some refreshing Japanese traditional rice tea, which was much appreciated after a day of travel. We then met our hosts for overnight stay, all senior Japanese speaking ladies, (the towns average age was said to be about 70) and our interpreters, a handful of youthful Japanese women and Yuki, a young man who just graduated uni less than a week prior, he was the only communication tool between us boys and our host, our very own 'Japanese Grandmother' as Yuki would call her. When Yuki was not present we were reduced to polite nods and pointing as our best means of communication, not very effective at all given the language and age difference. However, with or without communication she was incredibly hospitable and catered to our every need the best she could.

On the stay we did activities such as making Mochi, making soba noodles, as well as weaving our own chopstick rests. I will not go into these as they have already been mentioned in detail in previous posts. If you would like to read more check out the farm stay posts, all published prior to this one.

The first night at our newly adopted grandmothers house was spent washing ourselves in the super deep bath, playing with the small overexcited poodle, 'Poochie' as well as (to my delight), watching the Japanese world cup qualifier against Thailand around the living room table on the floor (the Japanese way). The blue samurai ran away 4-0 victors over a Thai team that impressed me in some stages of the game, but never mind my football ramblings, I should be writing about our cultural experience instead. We went to bed on the floor atop a heated floor mat which was not enough to keep out the cold for some.

Most of our days were spent around the living room table sipping Japanese rice tea and eating anything they gave us, (so much food!) and talking to the many Japanese hosts and translators about the differences in culture and their lives and travels. Life was very different from the cities, everybody was relaxed and seemed at peace with themselves, this is somewhat unsurprising considering their surroundings and the lifestyle that comes with farm life.

The time we spent at the farm was an absolute joy from start to finish, the food was fantastic, the experiences were unique and the people were overwhelmingly hospitable and will be missed. I really hope that one day I will be able to return.

Francis 1st April 2017