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Here's day 5 of our latest adventure! Started off the morning with a visit to Hiroshima Castle, while a small part of me (ok, big part of me) wanted to go back to Miyajima to do what we missed out on yesterday, we decided based on the time it would take to get there-back along with the forecast for clouds/rain that our time would be better spent getting back to Kyoto and working on our "to do" list there. After the castle, we had our new favorite for lunch and hopped on a train back to Kyoto.
Map below shows our stops in Hiroshima today. Kyoto map is farther down in the post.
Hiroshima Castle was originally built in 1589 and was destroyed by the atomic bomb in 1945. The 5-story castle was rebuilt in 1958. Only the main tower, gate, bridge and a few other small structures were rebuilt. The castle is now a museum about the castle history, Samurai and Hiroshima.
Beware of the mosquitoes around the castle. We lingered in front for maybe 3 minutes taking pictures and I sat on a bench to tie my shoe...I didn't stop swatting and still got at least 10 bites. They got the back of my legs through the slats in the bench!
We took the streetcar to get within walking distance of the castle.
Open from 9:00-17:00/18:00 (depending on season). Closed December 29-31. Admission into the castle is ¥370, entrance to the grounds is free.
GPS coordinates: 34.402433, 132.459607
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| Main Gate. |
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| Hiroshima Castle. |
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| Door's a little low... |
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| Streetcar handles were Hiroshima Carp baseball team themed. |
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| After being SO skeptical about the tsukemen yesterday, he just had to have it again! |
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| Tsukemen from a restaurant in Hiroshima Station. |
Once back in Kyoto we got checked into the hotel (back at Sakura Terrace again because we liked it so much) and then were off to Kiyomizudera and Gion. We utilized the bus/subway passes again to get around the city.
Kiyomizudera "Pure Water Temple" is a Buddhist temple to the Goddess of Mercy that was established in 778, before Kyoto was the capital city. It is named after the Otowa Waterfall that is on the temple grounds. All of the buildings have burned down at least once throughout history, most of them were rebuilt most recently in the 1630's. The construction of the Main Hall is very special because it was built entirely out of wood without any nails! There is also a shrine within the temple grounds, Jishu Shrine. Kiyomizudera is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bus ride from near the hotel took about 10 minutes and got us within about 1/2 mile of the temple.
Open everyday, usually from 6:00-18:00, there are a few days with special hours, those can be viewed in detail at the website listed below. Admission is ¥300.
GPS coordinates: 34.995045, 135.785057
*Note: During our visit (June 2014) several of the temple's structures were covered for renovations. The Main Hall was unaffected, but there are plans for renovations in the coming years.
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| Some interesting ice cream flavors available here: Purple potato, sweet potato, black sesame... I'm sure some of the others were unique too, but not all had English labels. |
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| One of the pagodas on the temple grounds. |
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| Main Hall. Built without nails. |
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| Otowa Waterfall. Visitors can drink the sacred water using a ladle. The falls are separated into 3 streams, each stream's water is said to have a different benefit. Longevity, success at school or fortunate love life. Drinking from all 3 is considered greedy! |
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| Main Hall. |
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| View of Kyoto. |
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| Stairs that lead down to Otowa Waterfall. Many women visiting Kyoto pay to get dressed up in traditional kimono for a few hours or the entire day. Their sandals (some had heels) looked miserable... |
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| One of the stones at the Jishu Shrine. The shrine is dedicated to love and matchmaking. Two stones are placed 18 meters apart. If you can walk from one stone to the other with your eyes closed then you will be lucky in finding love. If you need someone to guide you, then you will also need guidance in your love life. |
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| Love Stone. "This stone is called 'Love-fortune-telling' stone. If you walk safely from this stone to the other with your eyes closed, for once, your wish'll be granted soon. If you can't it will be long before your love is realized. And it is said taking advice requires you to have someone who'll help you achieve your love." |
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| The shirt...hilarious! This is also a view of the street that leads to and from Kiyomizudera. It is called Higashiyama District. Tons of souvenir shops, food and handicrafts for sale! And very busy!!! |
One of the items the Higashiyama District is famous for is pottery. We searched through a couple pottery stores and I didn't find anything I loved that had a price in the range I was looking for... I promised that I would go to no more than 3 stores. I've vowed to never repeat the day we spent in Otaru just wandering from store to store back to the same store over and over again. So, I had basically given up looking when we tried one last place. And I found a room full of things I loved. Prices were reasonable too! I picked out a little bowl and then the man in the room introduced himself as the artist that had created everything! So cool! Masahiro Morisaki agreed to take a picture with me! His works are beautiful!
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| The entrance to the shop. |
From Kiyomizudera we moved on to the legendary Gion. It was about a 15 minute ride on the bus. Gion District is well known as the geisha district of Kyoto. Geisha (also called geiko) are professional entertainers/hostesses, not prostitutes, which is a common misconception. They train for many years learning about classical music, dance, games, conversation, etc. While there are few geisha these days, it is still possible to spot one every now and then. Geisha dress in elaborate kimono and make up. A popular tourist activity is to get dressed as a geisha. Often tourists mistake other tourists dressed up for the real thing...but there are definitely noticeable differences. I read that there are increasing complaints about tourists being rude and pushy while trying to photograph geisha, so if you are visiting the area, remember to be respectful!
Gion has many old wooden houses that have been converted into upscale restaurants and tea houses, as well as a more modern street with many little shops.
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| Gion's Hanamikoji Dori in early evening, lots of people on the look out for geisha heading out to evening appointments. |
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| Example of a pedigree at a restaurant that sells Wagyu beef. Essentially the birth certificate of the cow you'll be eating. |
We had dinner at Gion Gyuzen an all you can eat shabu shabu, sukiyaki and/or yakiniku restaurant. The prices are the same no matter which of the above cooking methods you choose. The prices are based the the quality of beef, there were 4 different levels ranging from ¥1,980-5,800 per person for 2 hours. We had a combination of shabu shabu and sukiyaki. Shabu shabu is thinly sliced meat and vegetables cooked quickly by swishing around in boiling broth, then usually dipped in sesame sauce or ponzu sauce before being eaten. Sukiyaki is thinly sliced meat and vegetables simmered in a sweet soy sauce, then usually dipped in raw beaten egg before being eaten. I've written about yakiniku before, it is grilled meat and vegetables. All of these methods are done in a pot/grill at your table. Yes, once again paying to cook our own food!
GPS coordinates: 35.004687, 135.777218
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| Our set up, and we had no clue how to begin cooking our meal! |
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| *How to shabu shabu* First thing you do is make your own dipping sauces. We serve 2 sauces, ponzu and sesame sauce. Traditionally, ponzu is for the vegetables and sesame sauce is for the meat, but use whichever you like. Add some yakumi to the sauces. We serve several kinds of yakumi, grated daikon and red pepper, sliced green onion, and chili pepper. Find out your favorite combination of the sauces and the yakumi. Second, start cooking with some vegetables. We serve chinese cabbage, potherb mustard, bean sprouts, Japanese pumpkins, tofu, enoki mushroom, shiitake mushroom, shimeji mushroom, maitake mushroom and long green onion. When the vegetables are ready, try ponzu sauce. Ponzu sauce cools down the vegetables nicely. You'd better not to put all the vegetables into the pot at one time because the might be overcooked. Next, it's time for some meat. Put a slice of meat in the boiling broth. Then gently swish the meat back and forth. You may hear "swish swish" like sound. The name "shabu shabu" comes from this sound. As soon as the beef turns the color, it's ready. Try the sesame sauce for the meat. After finishing vegetables and meat, it's time for either udon noodles or rice cake. If you choose udon noodles, cook udon with the pot approximately 1-2 minutes. Then enjoy it with ponzu or sesame sauce whichever you like. Adding fresh yakumi to the sauces may be a good idea. *How to sukiyaki* Heat a little oil in the pan. Grill some beef slices, then pour sukiyaki sauce in the pan. Add other vegetables when the sauce starts to boil. Simmer until all ingredients are softened. It's ready to eat. Dip the cooked sukiyaki into the raw beaten eggs if you would like. As the liquid is reduced, add more sukiyaki sauce or hot water. |
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| Back of the pot for shabu shabu, front for sukiyaki. |
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| I think we had at least 3 trays of meat by the time we finished. It was all you can eat for 2 hours. We did not stay that long. |
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| One entrance to Yasaka Shrine in Gion. |
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| We saw a real geisha! I know the picture is out of focus, but the fact that it even somewhat turned out is amazing because I only had time to snap one shot. |
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| Gion's Hanamikoji Dori at night. |
Up next: Final day of the trip...Part 6.0
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