11/10/09

Day 6 - Kyoto by bicycle

Dad decided that the best way to view Kyoto and visit all the places Mum wanted to see was by bike - much to Mum's delight. We found a place that rented bikes for ¥300 ($5) for the day.

We rode 4km to Kinkakuji Temple (The Golden Pavilion) imagine a three storey building with the top 2 floors covered in gold leaf. It glistened in the sun. I asked Mum when we could move in, as I told her it matched my scales. Dad let us have a soft serve ice-cream I choose green tea and vanilla flavor it was really tasty.
Another ride (downhill much easier) took us to Nijo Castle where the Shogun would sometimes reside. Mum was rapt that we were able to walk around inside the castle (we had to take off our shoes first and we were not allowed to take any photos inside). There were many room all for different purposes, some were where guests would wait, another where they could have an audience with the Shogun and even more for the Shogun's living quarters. The floorboards were designed to squeak to sound like a nightingale (beautiful signing bird) so nobody could sneak up on the Shojun. In the gardens we had lunch curry flavored noodles, rice balls and sushi rolls.

A longer ride took us to Heian Shrine, there was a festival on. We talked to some locals who spoke a little bit of English and found out that it was run by university students. There also seemed to be a dance competition, it looked a little bit like a Wakakirri but with more dancing. We stayed to watch for a little bit. Nearby was a Handicraft Market that had 6 floors of shopping. Mum was in her element, after trying on many kimonos Mum finally selected one that was purple with Japanese ladies, flowers and cranes on it for ¥4,400 ($60). She wanted one of the traditional wedding kimonos there were exquisite, but Mum and Dad decided that ¥60,000 ($800) was too much.

At about 4pm we headed back towards the hotel, it took forever and we had to walk the bikes most of the way as it was peak hour. There were so many people on the footpath and lots of traffic on the roads. We finally made it just before dark. Mum and Dad went out for dinner and tried the local sake, they said it was nice but quite strong.