Weather:
A beautiful sunny day in Kobe. It was still sunny in Kyoto when I got
there however, it was a lot colder.
MP3
track of the day: Day Trippin – Red Hot Chilli Peppers
I
awoke at around 7:30am and proceeded to the hotel's dinning area for
my final breakfast. As normal the croissants had run out, and were
only re-filled once I'd finished eating. I packed my bags and left
them at the hotels reception stating that I would be back around
midday to pick them up. I then proceeded to my first attraction of
the day. The time was 9am.
The
skies were once again blue and so I decided that I would indeed take
the gondola up the mountains to get some stunning views of the city
of Kobe and to see a herb garden (actually, I couldn't give two
'hoots' about the herb garden; it was the view I wanted to see). As
my hotel was close to the waterfront, I had to walk through the heart
of Kobe, and out again, always heading in the direction of the
nearest mountain. Though Kobe is a large city, due to it's geography
it is long and thin meaning that it didn't take me long to reach the
foot of the mountains. I arrived at the start of the gondola where
two old Japanese women were contemplating purchasing a 'gondola and
lunch' combination ticket. For me the choice was simple; I would just
buy a return gondola ticket as I wouldn't be up there long enough for
lunch.
The
gondola was tiny; in my minds eye, I had a vision of a large cable
car taking me all the way up to the top but no, it was a tiny cabin
only big enough for four-to-six people. Once inside a safety notice
asked me not to dangle out of the window, rock the gondola or stand
up. I wasn't really planning on doing any of these. The view was very
good as we climbed almost vertically. The sun was rising with me
therefore, it blinded some angles of view. I proceeded to look
outside eager to get to the top so that I could start taking photos.
I though I'd reached the top when we pulled into the next station
however, I was told that this was just a midway station and that I
should proceed onwards. Once I'd left this midway station, I realised
that it did serve a purpose. The herb garden was spread along the
mountainside between the final station above me, and the midway
station which I'd just travelled through. I was therefore supposed to
get off the gondola at the final station, leisurely walk down through
the herb garden until I made it back to the midway station, where I
would take the gondola back to the base station. Clever that!
Once
at the top, I arrived in some unopened Japanese tourist trap. There
were few buildings around me however, all of which were designed like
some 1800's German village – with a castle – and all buildings
had a shop or two inside. Like I said, fortunately none were open as
I was pretty much the first person up. I therefore ignored 'Deutsch
land' and went to look over the wall at the view. The gondola had
pulled up within a small valley along the mountain top. I could
therefore see out directly in front of me however, both sides were
concealed. I therefore made my way into the herb garden in search of
a better view below.
Now,
anyone with a passion for herbs would, I'm sure, enjoy this place.
With it's windy paths, well labelled herbs and it's relaxed
atmosphere, a person could spend two to three hours up here just
getting away from city life. I didn't have two to three hours. Like a
bulldozer I charged through the herb gardens taking the shortest path
to where I thought were the best views of the city below. I was
starting to think that this had been a mistake as most of the viewing
spots were 'okay'. This was until I'd reached the 'green houses'
which, at the back, had a very nice viewing spot down onto the city.
The greenhouses themselves weren't too bad either; they housed some
very exotic plants and a nice bit of art representing 'motherly love'
… I think.
Back
on the trail I cut my way through the last parts of the herb garden
until I was back at the midway station. The herb gardens had been
designed to look 'European' which, though it begged me to ask the
question 'why', I realised that it was for the Japanese palette. I
got back on the gondola and proceeded back down, taking in the view
at every opportunity because, in all honestly, it was on the gondola
where I got the best angles.
Once
down, I by-passed the 'open mouthed staff' (they probably couldn't
believe that I was already finished) and headed to my final
attraction within Kobe. Even though I'd blitzed my way through the
herb garden, I was still running behind schedule. What made it worse
was that my final attraction was located close to the sea therefore,
I had to cut through the city once again. My guidebook is celebrating
it's fifth birthday this year therefore, though most of the
attractions listed were where my guidebook said they should be, I
have now come accustom to find that the prices for said attractions
might be a little more expensive than advertised. When I got to
Kobe's museum that was indeed the case again however, the price
listed in my guidebook was three times lower than what was shown on
the 'customer board' outside of the museum. This made me wince. After
much pondering, the reason the price was so high was because the
museum was currently running a special 'world exhibition'. There were
mummies sarcophagus' from Egypt, parts from China and many other
things from many other countries. The thing I wanted to see was the
museum's collection of Namban; old Japanese art showing
the 'southern barbarians' (i.e. … us). With these not being
on show, the high price tag and my dislike of seeing items out of
context, I decided to knock the museum on the head. On the down side
this left two things within the Kobe area which I still had to do
another time (the museum and going across the bridge I saw
yesterday) however, the good thing was that I was now back on
track, time-wise. I picked up my bags from my hotel and proceeded to
Kobe's train station where I only had to wait eight minutes for my
train to come in. It was a 'semi-rapid' train meaning that it would
only make limited stops on it's way to Kyoto. I should therefore
arrive within the hour.
Whilst
on the train, I had planned to read my guidebook about the city I was
about to visit - to remind myself what it was that I'd planned -
however, for some reason I didn't really feel up to it. Instead I
looked out of the window and watched the world go by. A few rows in
front of me was an American couple with two young children; one of
which had probably just learnt how to make coherent sentences because
neither father or mother could shut him up. The other was unable to
speak and so, to get his fair share of attention, he would scream
every once in a while. I listened and I watched as the two parents
fought an ongoing battle to keep their children entertained, to make
sure that they still had all of their possessions and to make sure
that they hadn't missed their stop. Every time the train stopped the
child who could speak would ask if this was their stop … four or
five times! Now, I suppose I will have children at some point in the
future – maybe another fifteen years away??? - and from what I was
witnessing, I wondered why anyone even bothered travelling with
children. In a family car, fine; but catching trains, planes and
buses … surely it isn't worth it. I continued to watch as any
energy the parents did have, got sapped out of them by either their
children or the fact that neither of them could read any of the
information available to them. It was at this point that I realised
that the need for workhouses had returned. Wouldn't it be great if
there was somewhere you could drop your children off while you –
the parents - had a well deserved rest. Being a workhouse, the
children stationed there could actually be doing work in order to pay
for their parents holiday as they enjoy it. A sort of 'Pay as you
go'. I could just see it; “...Johnny Farthington. I've just
received a credit card statement from your parents in the Caribbean;
looks as though they 'splashed out' on another expensive dinner
tonight therefore, you'll be working until 9pm again...”
Finally
I arrived in Kyoto at around 1pm. Instead of staying in a hotel, I
would be staying in a sort of 'B+B' (without the breakfast) within
a shared wash room. This didn't bother me in the slightest as the
place was cheap (£20 per night) and – as I soon discovered
– it was only a fifteen minute walk from Kyoto's main station. Once
I had arrived, I was greeted by a lovely old lady who didn't speak a
word of English. She showed me around this 'maze of a B+B' and, at
1pm, allowed me to put my bags in my room. I was then shown where the
washing facilities were. All was fine. I returned to my room where I
didn't unpack; I just retrieved my guidebook and cameras and locked
my door. I then left my accommodation twenty minutes after I'd
arrived.
With
the time being almost 1:30pm, I had time for one attraction before
things started to close. I therefore walked to Nijo-jo, the Shogun's
palace which – due to a huge miscalculation on my part – was a
lot further from my hotel that I had originally thought. It took me
almost an hour to get there, which wasn't helped by the fact that I
got stopped at every pedestrian crossing I wanted to cross. Built at
the time of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (1603-1616), this lavish
fortress was said to be designed to protect the city of Kyoto
however, due to it's size and extravagance, it is pretty obvious that
it was also to show the emperor, and his subjects, where the power in
Japan truly lied. 200 years later however, it was in this same palace
that the period of the Shogun's ended when the Emperor Meji received
the last Tokugawa Shogun's resignation. As this was a site which I
hadn't visited before, I paid the 400 Yen asking price and went
through the gate. For the first time, my five year old guidebook had
'over-stated' the cost of an attraction.
It
didn't take long to discover why today's price was less than the
price five years ago. The grounds of the Shogun's palace, though
lacking in colour, had been neatly kept with flowing paths, well
pruned trees and beautiful grassy mounds encircled by small bamboo
fences. The reason the price had been lowered was because it was only
the grounds which were open. The inside of the Shogun's palace was
now closed for the winter and would reopen on January 5th.
When buying my ticket, I had no idea that this was the case though,
looking back now, I don't think it would have changed my mind as I
usually prefer the outside of buildings to what can be found in the
inside. I therefore followed the instructed path taking photos of the
buildings within the walls of this palace. I enjoyed wandering
through though, after a while things began to repeat themselves and
so I quickened my pace. Before leaving, I enquired at the office as
to a small house called Nijo-jin'ya. Out of the two (Nijo-jo and
Nijo-jin'ya) it was the Nijo-jin'ya which I really wanted to see.
It is basically an old house filled with false walls, nightingale
floors and hidden paths to protect the lords whom would stay there
before paying homage to the Shogun. Sadly - and I already knew this –
but, because the house is privately owned I have to pre-book a visit
and I need a Japanese translator. That being said, I still wanted to
find out where the place was because there might be a possibility, in
the future, that I might return. After a short walk I found the old
house and made a 'rememberball'.
The
sun was falling fast and, though most attractions were now shut, I
still had some information I wanted to gather. I walked from the
Shogun's palace to where the Emperor use to live and proceed north
though the park which surrounded his old 'gaffe'. I walked back to
the place where, five years ago, I had taken a photo of a girl in a
Kimono (I wonder what she is doing now) and found myself
outside the Emperor's old palace. To be able to go into the palace
you have to pre-book and request permission – just like Nijo-jin'ya
– however, I wondered if it was closed for the winter holidays just
like the Shogun's palace. I found a palace guard and it was confirmed
that, though this is one of the very few times the Japanese find
themselves with a few days holiday, this too wouldn't reopen until
most people were back at work. Is it just me or does anyone else find
that kind of logic ridiculous.
With
darkness approaching I left the palace ground bewildered and a little
bit annoyed. Due to all of the travelling I'd missed lunch. I noticed
that their was a nice looking restaurant on the opposite side from
the Emperor's palace grounds however, I decided to walk further
towards my B+B before tucking into a meal. I mean; I found myself on
Kyoto's main road with an hours walk ahead of me; I would surely find
loads of restaurants.
Five
Starbucks, three McDonalds and a billion other cafés. The Japanese
have managed to evolve to require only coffee and burgers for
nourishment. I found nothing which took my fancy. I even walked past
my B+B and I ended up back at the train station. This wasn't want I
wanted because I knew that any restaurant near here would be busy and
sure enough, when I went into the underground shopping centre, most
restaurants had a queue of people waiting. My stomach urged me to
stay however I declined. I dragged my weary feet and went to find
somewhere new. Giving up on trying to find signs for restaurants on
the streets, I went into the nearest big shop I could find – which
was an electrical shop – where I discovered that, on the 6th
floor, restaurants selling all sorts of food were open for business.
I had a quick look at all of the restaurants, finally choosing a
steak house where I ordered a steak – funny that – with a
side of onion rings. The meat was delicious and the portion size was
just about right. It was a little expensive therefore, after eating I
popped into a local convenience store to buy a dessert which was
cheaper, and probably more yummy, that what was being offered in the
restaurant I'd just visited.
Once
back at my B+B, a younger woman was at the front desk. She was pretty
nice, chatty, spoke English extremely well and has a x-university
friend who lives within my home town in the UK (she has even been
over to the UK to visit). We chatted for a little while before I
headed up to my room to get ready for an early night.
So
when I visited Kyoto the last time, I looked around the centre and
the east side of the city. Tomorrow my plan is to do the western
suburbs along with a place called Arashiyama. Tonight however, I
shall watch a bit of TV, read through my guidebook, make a plan for
tomorrow and try and have a early night.
It's
good to be back in Kyoto!
Merry
Christmas
Toodle
Pip!
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