Kyoto: temples, shrines and being left on the shelf

Before I officially started work, I decided to go to Kyoto for a few days. Why? Well, according to my trusted advisor (Lonely Planet), it's the place to go if you want to see what Japan is all about. It has 17 Unesco World Heritage Sites, 1600 Buddhist temples and over 400 Shinto shrines to support this statement. It's also surrounded by mountains on three sides, which makes for a stunning backdrop.

I stayed in a traditional Japanese guest house (ryokan), which I had all to myself. It was very cold, even with the heaters, but I'm glad I tried it. It was so cold that on the second morning, the whole place was covered in snow, even though the day before I hadn't seen a single snowflake.

One of the best spots I visited was Nanzen-ji, a stunning collection of temples and gardens. It also had a unique feature behind one of the temples where curved wooden walkways had been built into the contours of the mountain. These are called 'garyuro' because they represent sleeping dragons (pictured above). The pathways lead up to a pagoda that gave a panoramic view back across the city (see below).

The next place I went was Fushimi-Inari Taisha, a shrine complex dedicated to the gods of rice and sake. Speaking of rice, on my second day in Kyoto, I was desparately searching for a breakfast place that would give me just eggs and coffee. I found a place serving an 'omelette set', complete with curried mince inside the omelette, some sort of gravy poured on top and, of course, rice on the side. After five long minutes of mis-communication and picture drawing with a woman mystified as to why I wouldn't want rice, let along the other stuff, I got my omelette ('just eggs!?!?') and a coffee. What a palaver.

Fushimi-Inari Taisha has bright orange everywhere you look, including the large poles ('torii') that guide you on the 4k walk up the mountain side to a lake in the middle of a forest. The Dutch would love it. I also had my picture taken with a couple of women dressed as geisha and some Japanese school girls asked if they could have their picture taken with me. They asked how old I was and if I was married. When I told them I was 26 and single, they replied: 'What is wrong with you?' My pride at being asked suddenly deflated. I consoled myself by thinking this must be what George Clooney feels like when people always ask why he isn't hitched.

I went to many other temples (including the golden one at the top of the post), but the ones mentioned were the highlights. I also visited the International Manga Museum, which has over 300,000 comics. I'd recommend this as a good detour from the temples and shrines if anyone is visiting Kyoto.