My original, incomplete Kyoto planning completely ignored locations outside the city, on the grounds I would not be able to reach them with any degree of ease. But Ian, the owner of my B&B, convinced me otherwise; which is why I found myself on a bus to the Ohara region shortly after 0800. The journey would take about forty five minutes and I looked forward to settling down with my book on my Kindle app on my phone. But I reckoned without the enthusiasm of the citizens of my host country who also fancied an outing, so I found myself stuffed in a bus and standing for the duration of the trip. Not so bad as it sounds, because the Japanese have a knack of not invading your personal space, however crowded things become (or maybe it was the fact that I hadn’t shaved for three days and was therefore looking even more scruffy than usual, and I was - and remain - a Caucasian).
Disgorged into the very cool morning air and we started the climb to Sanzen-in temple, the main attraction. On the way there were outlets offering sustenance and souvenirs:
There was a man selling very large roasted chestnuts and I bought a packet with a mixture of joy and sadness. Joy, because I bloody love hot roasted chestnuts; and sadness because I knew how much she who must be obeyed loved them too, and I wished she was there to share them. The next emotion was frustration when I could not find a suitable receptacle to dump the bag of discarded shells. My pocket became an increasingly sticky disaster zone throughout the day as rubbish bins failed to materialise, and it was not until I was nearly back at my room that a container suitable for my waste was discovered. The Japanese must walk around with pockets full of crap, only to clear them out when they return home.
Anyway, beard full of chestnut pieces and pockets full of bits, I arrived at Shanzen-in and joined the crowds. You enter a network of buildings (very pretty inside but no photos please) and then head out into the gardens which are extensive. Of course I took a few shots:
Next stop was Shorin-in temple which everyone else seemed to ignore.
Then, some other places. I have their names but I am not sure what was shot where; but I do know there were a lot of water spouts involved. But hey, we all love water spouts….
I finished my trip to Ohara with a cup of green tea and an extremely tasty snack, sat on a mat in a temple looking out over a garden and pondering what a lucky man I was.
Finally, back down the hill and onto the bus into the city to find something to look at for the remainder of the day.
Comments 🔗
2013-12-04| Mike N saysLovely photos, but did you mean to include #19 AND #21 ? Looks like the same spout to me ?
2013-12-04| Spike saysThey are indeed the same. Could not decide whether i liked the lighter or darker shot the best; so I just stuck them both in. I’m a spout slut.
2013-12-04| Andrew saysMy preference is for the darker one - brings out the background colours more and the boke ( that is the way the Japanese syllables are written ) seems more pleasant - btw in all your travels amongst the hordes of photographers did you you even hear a mention of the word?( or at least the correct pronunciation? )- only in the west would they take something the Japanese photographers classified and turn it into a religion…while Moriyama shoots at F8 from behind his back…sometimes I really have to chuckle …nice photos Spike…