Another day, another bunch of old buildings in Kyoto. The main target for the day was Tokufuji, renowned for its Autumn foliage. To get there I took a bus to the centre, and then a train to a nearby station.
She who must be obeyed and I had taken trains to nearby stations during our previous visit to Kyoto, only to become hopelessly lost trying to find the attraction which was apparently in the vicinity, but wasn’t after we had gone round in circles for an hour or so. No such problem during this visit, with a constant stream of visitors going to and from the main sites.
So the train was full of happy Japanese, and me (I was happy, but not Japanese). We all disembarked at the helpfully named Tofukuji station, to be met by men with yellow jackets and yellow signboards which they were waving in both directions down the station. I cleverly chose the exit with the fewest number of people, and I was feeling pretty pleased with my decision as I quickly inserted my ticket into the machine whilst reading a sign which ended with a warning in English: “No Exit”. Shit.
What I could do from here is buy another ticket to go somewhere else. But then another option presented itself in the rather attractive shape of railway employee who gave me a pitying smile and a small piece of card which would allow me to depart from whence I came. I gave her the obligatory bow or three and hurried out the main exit to join up with my fellow passengers on the walk to Tofukuji.
I took a photograph of the leaflet you receive at the entrance, so I could remember where the hell I had been when I looked back through my photo stream, and the walkway through the leaves looked lovely:
I looked forward to grabbing a similar shot. Yeah, right:
The walkway was crammed with people taking photos of the valley of trees, and indeed they were spectacular:
In the background you could see another walkway; and once you had jostled your way round to that you could take a photo of the walkway you have been crammed inside only recently:
In spite of the crowds, it was a beautiful place and I enjoyed drinking in the sight for a while before heading out around a pathway which offered a more relaxed view of the gardens….
…..with the occasional choke point:
Fortunately, there is a much more to Tofukuji than the gardens, but most people seemed unwillingly to look at anything that didn’t have leaves attached. This meant that there were no crowds enjoying the substantial buildings dotted around the site.
There are also some gardens:
When I was young, gardens had flowers in them
In an attempt to reduce my extensive travelling of the previous couple of days, I decided that this day would only feature two locations and, after a snack and a tea (temple complexes have many locations that will sell you a snack and a cup of tea), I was off across town to Daitokuji which featured three uninteresting main buildings. but more than twenty sub-temples. Some were closed, but many were happy to take my money, and I spent the afternoon exploring the complex.
Through a door
Through a window
Oi! Get out of my shot!
That’s better
It’s a sign
My main memories of the afternoon were of being rather cold and tired, and I eventually retraced my route to the main station where I downed vast quantities of sushi accompanied by draft beer. Suitably fortified, I returned to base, turned up the heating in my room to “equatorial” and slumped with iPad and internet for a while. Slept very well.
Comments 🔗
2013-12-03| Kevin Moore saysSome beautiful images there Spike, can certainly see why you wanted to go and was obviously worth the trip despite the strain on your tired legs. You can rest up in front of the computer now showing us these beautiful images, poor little tired bunny.
2013-12-03| Spike says“Poor little tired bunny.”. …. Assume your wife was using your computer?
2013-12-03| Kevin Moore saysNo just a phrase I heard from her recently, not sure where she learned it from.