What an embrassment of riches (and this is a prize blog so get reading!)

Day 163 - Monday 23 June 2008

You know the reason Japan was always going to be on this trip was because of Tokyo - I'd heard so much about it, interpreted how stylish it would be through Blade Runner and wanted to soak up a country that's made the best video games on the planet - but I never, ever expected it to deliver on the Indiana Jones 'exploring ancient Buddhist ruins' front like this - and there's soooo many they should feel emabarassed - only that would be too British - they're rightly proud!

I'm fresh off an incredible day in Nara getting damp and soggy (the rainy season is now seriously living up to it's name) in which I've stared in wonder at both the world's largest wooden building (it's called the Daibatsu-den Hall and stands at 48.74 metres tall and 50.48 metres deep) and the world's largest cast bronze Buddha, Daibutsu, (Vairocona in Sanskrit standing at 18.03 metres tall including it's lotus-petal base) - just re-read that and try and imagine how huge it is compared to the person sat next to you - unless you're Donna in which case Growbag isn't far off that to be fair (he's a man mountain!) - actually, you won't have to imagine when I finally reach an internet point where I can download pictures - I now have!

Both of these sights were truly majestic (although you do have to accept that they come with hoards of Japanese school kids wanting to say hello and have their picture taken with you) and would have been a top day in themselves but ...

You take a short walk uphill to the east and you're transported into an ancient Japanese town nestling on the side of a forested hill that's just full of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines resplendent in all their original glory and looking like one of the historical Empresses from the Imperial family will pop out of a doorway at any minute - we're talking streams running down the side of the streets, row after row of cobbled stairways sized for the little feet of Buddhist monks (you know the ones where you're not sure whether it's two at once or tow feet onto each one), cemeteries of falling down tombs to dead priests where the smell of incense wafts on what little breeze there is amongst the humidity and stone lanterns so covered in moss that they can't have moved one inch since they were first carved and lit back in the 8th century - and that's not even mentioning the 1200 deer who've roamed the area for all time and who Buddhist monks in the 6th Century believed were sacred (they're now a National Treasure and unbelievably tame - you can stroke them, feed them deer biscuits and stare in awe as they try to eat plastic bags - bloody commercialism - we should have just let them carry on eating grass - but sugar's sugar I guess!)

And that's how old we're talking here - centuries and centuries - Nara was the very first capital of Japan established in 710 although it was then known as Heijokyo - line after line of Japanese Emperors and Empresses had/have links to here - sadly their capital status lasted just 75 years when it was shifted to Kyoto away from the influences of Nara's clergy who almost usurped the throne (cool huh?!) - by the way it stayed in Kyoto from 785 to 1868 when it shifted again to Edo (Tokyo's then name)

Here are some links to the top temples and shrines that are so ace for exploring and have helped launch Nara into my favourite places in the world list (you may remember Frisco in Colorado, Ollantaytambo in Peru and I won't spoil the rest but they'll be in my final blogs!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigatsu-dō

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasuga_Taisha

So Kyoto's had easily the longest period of any of the three capitals and for that reason it's big and absolutely covered in historically/culturally important places - while Nara has 8 sites on UNESCO's World Heritage list (a top effort considering you can walk to most of them from the JR Train Station!) Kyoto has 17 and is why Lonely Planet talks of it as one of the four 'see before you die' cities in the world along with New York, London and Paris - it's not bad from the top of the Kyoto Tower at sunset when the old blend with the new quite majestically!

And while I remember I was checking out UNESCO's all time list again last week and if you're into travelling and ever need inspiration use it - it's linked down the right hand side of my blog and is the ULTIMATE line up - there's been loads of 7 Wonders stuff but now I'm not sure where I stand with them - is it natural, is it ancient or is it modern - well who knows - just use this one instead - and get saving - there's a lot - and I'm smugly ticking them off rapidly right now!

I had a cracking 5 days in Kyoto last week and loved my Ryokan 'Rakucho' - these things have certainly turned me off western hotels right now and forever if only that were possible! - more lovely smelling tatami, superb air conditioning/heater units and endless supplies of toiletries in the mixed communal baths (although I sadly saw no sexy women while I was bathing!) that kept my skin in beak condition despite the midge bites that itch like buggery (those silent, invisible gits!)

Kyoto is rightly deserving of Lonely Planet's recommendation and it certainly makes you realise what an incredible society the Japanese have had for, well basically, ever!

The entire country was unified under firstly and currently an Imperial family of an Emperor and Empress - and in between it was brought together by a feudal government (the shogunate) - yes there were disagreements amongst the people and yes they fought - but they didn't destroy each other and with it their heritage - even the firearm (that swept through the New Zealand Maoris) was rejected by the samurai as too crude - consequently, the buildings stayed up (when they weren't burning down having been struck by lightning) and so they remain to this day in Nara and Kyoto for us all to enjoy and wonder at the skill of the ancient craftsmen and architects - I guess considering the USA flattened Tokyo, Hiroshima et al during World War 2 we should also realise that war planes do, often, hit their intended targets and leave places of huge value to humanity untouched

Kyoto, for me, was a long list of temples, shrines and castles - you have to be careful that you don't try to cover too many, too quickly or they all become a bit same-y - I managed to keep the number just right and can still remember the stand outs!

Easily Nijo-jo - the Kyoto residence of the first Tokugawra shogun Ieyasu - a castle - the most ornate tatami matted rooms you might ever see - all linked by 'nightingale' floorboards - these floorboards are special - they're raised on metal hinges that are designed to compress when a foot hits them - when they compress they squeak or 'sing like a nightingale' - now 'big deal Jez' you may say - but you'll also go 'cooool' when I tell you it was so that samurai could hear ninja stealthily moving around the castle trying to assassinate sleeping shogun ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nijō_Castle

I saw the iconic Golden Temple (Kinkaku-ji) and just about got a shot of myself at it albeit gate-crashed by more Japanese schoolkids (I love their cheery personalities really but I haven't stuck the shot in the blog - I'll show you all when I get back!) - instead here's some great reflection photography even if I say so myself!

(See - jo = castle - ji = temple and jingu = shrine - you've learned something today - jeez - I'm starting to sound like a teacher!)

My fave temple was Sanjusangen-do - which should be a ji because it's definitely Buddhist - lesson over?! - the reason I so clearly state it's Buddhist is because I paid my standard 500 yen and crept in just before closing - I'd entered the main temple and was hit by a feeling of 'I'm adventuring now' as a musty smell entered my nostrils from 1001 gold leaf covered, wooden statues of the Buddha/attendant Bodhisattvas - now I've visited many museums in my time that I've loved (including lately the Kyoto and Nara National Museums) but this is how ancient (and impossibly valuable) artifacts should be seen - in their natural living/resting space - where they're allowed to get covered in dust and cobwebs - and are prayed to regularly by Buddhist monks with shaved heads and a diet of rice and not much else - just add a big rolling ball, a bag of sand and I was ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanjusangen-do

But if you go Kyoto just make sure you get out to Arashiyama where the city blends into the countryside - temples, shrines and paddy fields all blend into one and it's simply explicit - I love the footprints in this shot!

Kyoto saw my very first feelings of 'wow, a year's a really long time' and 'seeing Macchu Picchu shouldn't feel this normal' and I guess it's my first experience of 'sensory overload' - yet - today's been one of the best again - a day when my senses should have been stretched to breaking point - I'm just hoping that my brain's re-set itself to absorb even more that this wild, wonderful and extraordinary world (and year) is sending my way - please - if it's this good - just keep it coming!

And to the quiz! Japan's the best place in the world for trinkets so I have a prize ready and waiting for the first person to either post on the blog or email me the answer to the following question (Sally and Swifty are fast so get in quick!)

'What well known brand of shower gel/soap did I use at Ryokan Rakucho in Kyoto?' - the clue's back in the blog - and it is a bit of an old gag so - no more clues - good luck!

Love to everyone who posted after the 'Konnichiwa kids!' blog - I've just replied to them - and given Nick a bit of stick - so if you want to go and read my comments please enjoy - only joking Nick - great to have you posting again!