Day 7 - Kyoto, Kurama

Mount Kurama
and its temples

The Kurama onsen brochure

The Hotel Station West had a wider breakfast menu than the Ryokan, so we had breakfast in our room. Today we planned to travel to Kurama outside of Kyoto.

Getting there was not easy as it required the combination of two local trains and a bus to get to the foothills of Mount Kurama.

This mountain is also known as the birthplace of the holistic healing art called Reiki. Frances was keen to try the onsen, (hot springs) and I was keen to visit the historic temple.

We arrived at a fairly unremarkable carpark and building, but within a few minutes, Frances was booked into the onsen, and I started walking up the mountain.

Temple gateway

The path was pretty good, mainly consisting of series of steps which seemed to go on forever. After a short while, I arrived at a large gateway and temple which was quite beautiful, nestled into the hillside. I soon found out that this was only the beginning of a large series of temples distributed up the mountainside, and started climbing again.

The rail-car

Soon I came to a rail car that travelled up the steep slope. I thought this will be easy, until I found out it only went a short distance, and I was only about a halfway to the main hall and quarter of the way to the uppermost temple.

The two elderly Japanese men visiting
the head monk

On my way up, I encountered two very elderly Japanese men walking slowly upwards. I greeted them with the traditional 'konichiwa' and they responded in English asking where I was from. I was quite surprised as we'd encountered very few English speakers apart from the main tourist destinations. After explaining that I was from Australia, they said that they had been to Tasmania to visit former Australian soldiers they has encountered during WWII. We continued our conversation, interrupted by the effort of continually walking up the flights of steps.

Detail in the temple complex

Part of the temple complex

Eventually, as we approached the main hall, they said that they were visiting the abbot of the temple, and would I like to accompany them? I wasn't sure what this meant, but agreed anyway. On the terrace of the main hall and accommodation complex were were greeted by a female monk who ushered us into the building where we sat in a sparsely decorated small room, overlooking the valley. A short while later she returned with the abbot and we all sat and while they conversed in Japanese, and were served tea in beautiful earthenware cups. This would have to have been one of the highlights of the trip for me. Sitting, in a beautiful room, overlooking the forest and valley, sipping tea in the company of the most charming people.

Conscious of the time and the fact that I had to meet Frances back at the onsen, I took my leave (the men were going to stay overnight) and headed back down the mountain with a much lighter step than I had walking up, and not because of the slope.

Frances in a yukata next to
a kanuki statue at the onsen

Although I arrived back at the onsen a little later than we agreed, Frances was extremely relaxed,  dressed in a yukata (a casual summer kimono usually made of cotton, unlined, and worn by both men and women),  sipping tea and so we exchanged the stories bout our different experiences as we walked back down to the village.
As Frances said "The onsen at Kurama was a lovely experience. I was given a blue cotton yukata and was sent off to scrub down before immersing into the public onsens. Fortunately the pools are sex segregated because everyone is naked. Quite a mix of women including lots of older women who are possibly now free of family rearing and working responsibilities. The whole experience is very relaxing and one not to rush or miss when staying in Japan."

Kurama village

By now we were starving, and desperate for something to eat but there weren't any eateries open. We stopped in a at local gift shop and general store and tried to as if there was somewhere to get some food. They insisted that we sit and wait, indicating they they would provide something. We were pretty wary as we had no idea what we'd get. A little while later they returned with a plate of cold soba (buckwheat noodles), a dipping sauce and raw small (pigeon?) egg. We were so hungry we ate the lot. We've since found that it's a quite traditional dish, but rarely served in restaurants as it's considered a peasant food.. Now at home, in the hot days of summer, we often have soba for a cool refreshing lunch - don't do the raw egg though.

Gashapon dispenser

Back in Kyoto in the afternoon, I headed off to Teramachi Dori  a very popular shopping district that is mainly comprised of two covered shopping arcades. My main purpose was to buy some gashapon. Gashapon is now a generic name for capsule toys which are bought from toy vending machines and have to be assembled - similar to Kinder Surprise, but larger and without chocolate. Because they are randomly distributed in the machines, there are some shops which sell complete sets far a little more that the original purchase price of around $2. And these shops are in  Teramachi Dori. Ye, I haven't really grown up yet, or maybe it's because of a childhood spend playing with home-made wooden blocks.

Dinner that night was excellent tempura & noodles at a Porta restaurant.