aki

[kyoto - daigo temple]:

On Sunday we took the shinkansen to Kyoto.

The city was packed that day, since it was a weekend during the peak of cherry blossom time.

Distinctly different feel from Tokyo. My initial impression: Few highrises. More litter. Some urban decay photo ops during the cab ride, but I missed 'em.

We settled into our room, then took the subway (only two subway lines! in a neat Y shape, as opposed to the frenetic criss-crossing of subway lines in Tokyo. If you want to travel outside those lines you can take a bus.) to Daigo Temple, where Toyotomi Hideyoshi held his cherry blossom festivals centuries ago.

Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. We walked through the temple but weren't able to take pictures inside; the inner garden had that sense of utter serenity that you don't quite get at some of the Japanese gardens in America. Wooden floors smoothed with age, painted screen doors faded over time.

The old architecture looked a lot more beautiful with the cherry blossoms than the Tokyo highrises. And the varieties of cherry blossoms here are somehow more varied and prettier.

[kyoto - maruyama koen and gion at night]:

I was nearly passed out in our stuffy hotel room (A/C broken) til I opened the window and got ready for bed... then I was a bit more awake so my father and I walked to Maruyama Koen, where they light up the cherry blossoms at night.

Passed a few 24 hour convenience stores, nice. We kept walking, passed a bright orange Shinto gate full of grilled food vendors, kept walking, kept walking, and finally we decided to turn back.

We walked in Gion for a bit, where they raise and train high class geishas... the buildings there are amazing. Took some night photos there and the main street, then started heading back home.

My father found a map that said Maruyama Koen was just behind that orange Shinto gate we had passed by earlier. =)

We went and it was packed. Tons of young people on tarps eating and drinking and laughing and stumbling drunkenly around. Three or four f'n HUGE piles of trash, in stark contrast to Shinjukugyoen. The entire park was lined with food vendors selling grilled octopus or hot dogs or sweets; at regular intervals there were hanging metal cauldrons? full of glowing embers for people to warm themselves (probably good for toasting marshmallows too =) ... Cherry blossom time was a great big party.

At the center of it was a huge cherry blossom tree, lit from underneath for great effect, surrounded by people with camera phones and point-n-shoots and SLRs. That was pretty. My father's highlight of the day. I kinda liked seeing the whole shindig as a cultural thing.