Hakone to Kyoto (by bus, shinkansen, and subway): Catherine, Gina, and i left Hakone, taking a hotel shuttle back to Odawara, then our first Shinkansen (high-speed bullet train) from Odawara to Kyoto, where we took the subway to our hotel to drop off our stuff. Worth noting: this map is about 500 km wide, so: bullet trains are fast, and also Mount Fuji is large.
morning in Hakone again, fog rolling out over the mountains again |
breakfast vegetable buffet |
a balanced breakfast: coffee, juice, and rice gruel with toasted ginger and cilantro |
saying goodbye to our spacious hotel living room and lake view |
the tree on the right is in the outdoor area of the private onsen we rented: more clever sight lines! |
last view down Lake Ashinoko |
last view across the infinity pool to the lake |
our bus leaving exactly on time at 10:00 |
driving past the trees in front of the lake, where we walked yesterday |
some round trees to the side of the road |
last view of the lake, with the pirate ship approaching and the floating torii gate of Kuzuryu Shrine Hongu |
a bus stop and souvenir store by the lake, but i like the roof and walls |
still a few cherry trees in bloom as we leave the lake |
Catherine looks at some mountains |
power lines on a mountain ridge |
river crossing |
something will be built here sometime soon |
we passed a few terraced fields |
meeting up with the train and the Haya River |
our bus arrives at the JR station in Odawara |
evidence: bidet-style toilets have a lot of options |
map of the coast east of Hakone and Lake Ashinoko |
statue of Hojo Soun, at Odawara Station |
art on a staircase at Odawara Station |
looking at manga at the bookstore at Odawara Station |
vending machine selling milk and azuki in monaka (mochi wafers) |
vending machine selling a variety of fish and squid |
Gina, at the vending machine kiosk |
train at Odawara Station |
waiting for our train to Kyoto |
the pointy nose of a Shinkansen entering the station |
seatback information about the features of our train car |
and we're off: buildings as we leave Odawara |
a tile roof with solar panels, some other roofs, and mountains |
a bus depot |
walking path next to the Abe River |
nice shades |
another river crossing, possibly the Oi |
green fields in front of trees |
green fields in front of a neighborhood |
flooded fields |
mud and water at another river crossing |
windmill! |
ferris wheel! |
more tile roofs |
ornate spire by a train station, probably somewhere near Nagoya |
train tracks and infrastructure |
i don't know what this is |
buildings and construction |
river with triangular breakwaters |
town and mountain |
station platform, with payphone |
fields and mountains |
still a couple of white trees out there |
river, town, mountains |
JR station behind many train tracks |
farms and a town in the hills |
a big batting or golf cage net |
there will be a bridge here in the future |
orange juice vending machine at Kyoto Station |
Around Kyoto (by subway, foot, and taxi): after checking into our hotel, we went out to take advantage of our one half-day in Kyoto. We took the subway east to Keage Station to see the shrine area and walk the Philosopher's Path. Downtown was smoggy due to some weather conditions in Japan at the time, but 2km east in the foothills it was clear, and walking around the temples was neat. At the end of the Philosopher's Path in the north, we got to a recommended soba restaurant just after it had closed, and ended up hailing a cab. Our cab driver was great, and used google translate on his phone to give us all sorts of advice about where to get dinner. We found a neat ramen restaurant, then walked part of the Fushimi-Inari shrine, the shrine with many torii gates. Then we took the subway back to our hotel and had our second google translate adventure of the day, because we had used the wrong subway cards for the line we took, and needed help to let us pay to get past the gates.
our hotel bathroom had two sliding doors meeting in a corner, an arrangement i've never seen before |
this hotel hallway is definitely a mood |
historical sign about the Kaga Clan House |
a small canal near our hotel |
we had to dodge many bicycles on the sidewalks in Kyoto |
a church with some triangles |
this sign is inaccurate |
the Kamo River |
the entrance to a tofu restaurant we were curious to try, but no one was around and we didn't manage to make a reservation |
a pump, for pumping |
the alley leading from the tofu restaurant back to the street |
we took the subway east to Keage, planning to walk north to several temples and the Philosopher's Path |
elephant tile art in the subway |
the Nejirimampo pedestrian tunnel outside of Keage Station |
the tunnel, which Gina is entering now, leads from the subway to a neighborhood with many temples |
brick arches in the tunnel |
we've only gone a few subway stops, but we're starting to get into the foothills and the climate is very different from downtown Kyoto |
the entrance of Kayuso Villa |
the roof seems to be made of thin layers of wood |
ferns growing in a little stream by the roadside |
entrance of the Romon Temple |
small bamboo fence around maker for the Konchi-In Garden |
lilypads in a pond in Konchi-In Garden |
grass and tree roots |
a roof endcap with leaves |
Catherine and Gina check out the hand-washing station |
a stone torii gate over a path in the garden |
a stone-lined runoff stream in the garden |
a stone lantern with a little hat |
the Konchi-In temple |
temple interior (a bit backlit, sorry) |
temple ceiling dragon |
over-door dragon |
wood door |
a gate to more garden paths |
decorative roof lion-dog situation |
building reflected in a stream |
interior of Kaizando temple |
a cemetery |
patterns carefully maintained in the sand outside a temple |
forest behind the maintained sand lawn |
one last view of Konchi-In |
map of Konchi-In grounds |
back on the road, another stone-lined stream |
decorative roof monster |
next stop, Nanzenji Sammon Gate |
it is a pretty serious gate |
trees on the gate's grounds |
wood post |
you can climb up in the gate, but we did not |
interior of a tree which is trying very hard |
crutch assisting the tree |
another good roof |
very decorative roof lion-dog |
another little roadside stream, this one with a wheel at the end of it |
celebratory banners in front of Higashiyama High School |
endcaps with five-fold symmetry |
we did not try this food at this time |
a bicycle by the road to the Philosopher's Path |
a map showing the Philosopher's Path |
stone art of cherry blossoms falling in the water |
the canal was built in the late 19th century |
the Philosopher's Path, next to the canal |
a moderately large fish |
many cats live by the path |
here is a second cat |
neighborhood roofs visible from the path |
a building with bamboo doors |
people feed the cats, which presumably encourages them |
nice roof though |
a house built on top of a stone wall |
two fish |
plants with red leaves |
informational cartoon mouse art, at Otoyo Shrine |
a lion-dog with a very cartoony expression |
handwashing station at Otoyo Shrine |
Otoyo Shrine (note stone bird and stone monkey) |
stone snake, also |
those mice again |
good to know. we did not see the aggressive monkeys, but we thought we heard them in the woods |
prayers on wood sticks |
mikan tree |
some manner of conical building |
building with wood sliding door |
purple-orange flower |
Free Palestine poster |
street near the north end of the Philosopher's Walk |
a row of houses |
sadly, we did not get ice cream at this time |
house with octagonal tower |
rocks which have been decorated with aprons as a ritual/prayer |
blurry sign of Restaurant Omen (it was not a good omen; all the restaurants were closed) |
a small car parked in a garage exactly its shape |
view from the Inari Bridge, to which we've taken a taxi so we can get dinner before walking around the Fushimi-Inari shrine |
a display of cute toys at Kyoto Shoryu ramen |
welcome and somewhat unexpected news: all of the ramen can be made vegetarian |
dragon hanging at ramen restaurant |
this ramen was not made vegetarian, but it was tasty |
a girl with a watermelon and a pig with a wide mouth, sitting on a cup |
it's dark now, as we cross the Inari Bridge again to go to the shrine |
first torii gate, in the dark |
a fox wearing a red bib, carrying a gold ball |
lit building at Fushimi-Inari |
building at Fushimi-Inari |
porch with hanging lanterns |
horse statues inside a building |
the deal with Fushimi-Inari is that it's the shrine which has literally thousands of red torii gates, lining a path up the mountain; even after dark, there were quite a number of people there |
map of the shrine: we talked about going to the top, but only wound up completing the lower loop |
the first gate of the path |
the next N gates of the path |
walking through a tunnel made of gates |
inscriptions on the posts of several gates: i think they're dates when those gates were installed; the one i translated is in 2019 |
building at the shrine |
fox faces |
many tiny gates (i suspect the rocks aren't actually green) |
candles |
it's dark, but there is a cat here |
another inscribed gate |
gates on the mountainside in the dark |
lantern in front of gates |
red gates stacked within stone gates |
going through a few gates to a square |
inscription on a stone gate |
a broken gate |
looking through trees towards another part of the path of gates, in the dark |
shrine with stone foxes and gates |
fox on a box |
shop window: many small foxes |
statues with red bibs |
kuchiire dolls, representing husband, wife, and attendant, used as a prayer for matchmaking of all kinds |
lights of Kyoto, seen from the shrine |
statues of humanoids |
statues of frogs |
looking back through the last torii gate as we leave the shrine |
many squid options, seen at a convenience store |