I learn only to be contented

The last full day in Kyoto was inspirational, and also incredibly hot. Bell decided to chill and planned to visit some art galleries while Bert and I went on a guided cycle around the northwest of Kyoto. We met Annie, our guide, who spoke good English and was very knowledgeable. She had lived in Bournemouth for six months, and also in Hastings. Not sure what impression that would have left her with the English way of life but being born in Bournemouth, I am a big fan of it. She had also been a school teacher and lived in Kobe – so commuted an hour and a half to run cycling trips around Kyoto. I had started to sweat soon after leaving our temple home. By the time we reached the Golden Pavilion in Kinkakuji, I was regretting my choice of skort as it seemed to be acting as a double layer of clothing when one layer would be too much. The Golden Pavilion was gorgeous – if a little ostentatious – but a crazy monk who was said to dislike perfection had burned it down many years ago, and had been captured. The crazy monk’s mum was so ashamed she killed herself. Annie was full of these types of stories – some were more uplifting…

One other interesting fact was that there are 210m people have registered religious beliefs in Japan. So with a population of 120m, that means 90m people have registered two religious beliefs – Shinto and Buddhism. Annie explained that many Japanese follow Shintoism for weddings, Buddhism for funerals, and some even celebrate Christmas. Sounds fine with me! Leaving the Golden Pavilion, we set off for Ryoanji, also known as the Zen temple. Going from gold to rocks was very zen. The rock garden is amazing and, despite the crowds, we were able to sit and look at the garden for quite a while. It is a walled rectangle, 25m x 10m, and filled with beautifully raked white gravel, among which stand 15 stones of various shapes and sizes. The stones are place in such a way that you can’t see them all at the same time – which could be interpreted as no one is able to reach perfection. Other interpretations are that the stones represent a mother tiger leading her cubs across the water. To me, I just thought it looked fab and the raking was superb. Bert reckoned he was able to see all 15 stones so I guess he has reached perfection! I might try and recreate something similar back home…

Passing through the temple, Annie highlighted a small spout of water pouring into a big square hole. On closer inspection, we saw that each side of the hole had different kanji, and Annie explained that when taken together it meant ‘I learn only to be contented’. That’ll do me.

Annie produced scarves for our necks which she had soaked in freezing cold water and they were just the ticket. Then she said we had to cycle 45 minutes to the next place. I really struggled. I have never felt so hot – it was worse than Nepal and I was a the darkest shade of crimson I have ever been. There was no escape. We stopped halfway at a lake and all I wanted to do was jump in. But it seems like the Japanese don’t do jumping in lakes. Instead, we stopped by a vending machine and got some cold drinks, found a tiny bit of shade by the lake, and rested for about 10 minutes. The next part of the ride was through paddy fields and allotments, although seeing clearly through a sea of sweat was hard and I was just concentrating on the bumpy road and feeling hot. But I knew we were heading for the bamboo forest which to mean sounded cool and refreshing. Before (too) long, we hit a shady forest but then had to push our bikes uphill to the bike park. Everything I was wearing felt so uncomfortable. We walked down a path through some very tall bamboo but there was no air or wind, and just loads of other tourists. I was a bit disappointed with the bamboo forests. I had expected something bigger and perhaps some lovely sounds as the wind blew through the bamboo. 

Exhausted, we stumbled into the nearest aircon cafe which had a buffet lunch. It took me a good half hour to regain human form. We then sat looking at the togetsukyo bridge for a while and decided to go to the monkey park. However, it was a 30-minute hike up a mountain and frankly, I didn’t have any energy left, so we got the bus home. 

Our last night mirrored our first night as it started to rain. Luckily no typhoon and we arrived at the lovely tempura place and had yet another delicious meal. The only downside to the restaurant is that it plays four Beatles songs over and over and over. So that was two nights of hearing the same songs maybe 16 times – the staff must go crazy – they do seem to shout a lot when people walk in, walk out and other random times… but the tempura is amazing. 

We are back in Tokyo now – final dash round the shops and some last minute eating. Just off to buy another suitcase as I seemed to have bought a lot of rice crackers 😂.