Waking up, putting on the simple green ryokan yukata and it’s red, broad, silklike obi, having a bath in the morning sunlight, listening to the sound of wind in the leaves and the gurgle of the rill and watching spider webs sparkling in sunlight with a beautiful contrast to shadows around me. Than another delicious breakfast and time to pack calmly.
Taking our time was definately worth it, even though it ment arriving very late in Kyōto after a long, annoying journey.
This day was planed for traveling from humit Kyōto to humit Nagadaki and we did pretty much that. It’s been six years since I visited this special city before for the first time, but it’s amazing how short six years can feel like (not the first time I’ve got this particular feeling) and how much memories can be awaken, when coming back to a place. Strange how our brain works, isn’t it. It also remembers how special the atmosphere in a city can be, but not the bad things such as how small and poky the street cars are when you’ve got luggage.
I wonder, if I’ll be able to walk tomorrow… or even stand up. My feet and legs are… dead… or maybe just numb. But looking back on a day full of amazing training, yeah, it was absolutely worth it. My „partner in crime“ was allowed to share the experience, but now for three days he’s staying in Kyōto while I’m going on a trip with the Musabi and Tamabi tea circles, which welcomed me so wonderful in the last semester. I hope so much, that I’ll be able to continue the training when I’m back in Berlin.
Yeah, there were so many wonderful insights to see, but as it’s with things like these, when it’s so wonderful and important, making photos isn’t worth to make a break of soaking in the experience. But I can share a pic of a street near Gion, where we had a short dinner before training another three and a half hours.
Finally following the recommondation of a good friend, I finally made it to Ōhara I missed when I stayed in Kyōto two years ago. Big thanks and a huge hug!
The two of us went to Sanzen-in and the absolutely amazing Hōsen-in. What a phantastic, playful stone garden. We havn’t seen any like this before. And it was wonderful and relaxing to drink matcha with a stunning view into a tree and bamboo garden.
Awsome!!!
Day 2 / Kyōto is pretty hot. But it’s less humid than expected and sometimes a breeze refreshes our sweating skin. Yeah, but we knew, what was waiting for us, so we won’t moan. At least not in public! 🙂
Today we’ve been in Uji, enjoying the smell and taste of matcha. We also went to Byōdō-in, an amazing temple with a hall with a huge Buddha inside and the famous pheonixes on top. By the way, the 10 yen coin shows the hall, while the 10.000 yen bill depicts one pheonix. And in perfect contrast to the old traditional buildings, the modern museum took our breath away.
In the evening on the way back to Kyōto, we payed the stunning Fushimi Inari shrine a visit. We didn’t walked up the hill, but enjoyed the renewed buildings of the main shrine. I can’t say anything but to admit, that still this is my favorite place in Japan. And especially in the golden light of the falling sun, it’s beauty and magic touched me again very deep inside. Love it!!!
