Winter Holiday: Kiyomizu

Sunday, December 24, 1989

Kiyomizu

We arrive in Kobe at sunrise and walk to the train station. We take a local train to the JR Sannomiya eki and take a train from there to Kyoto. We don't take the JR train, but some other private company which is cheaper. We arrive at Kyoto eki and take a bus and then walk to our inn, Hiraiwa. It is described in Fodor's as having "the ambience of a friendly, Western-style youth hostel with tatami-mat rooms". It caters to foreigners and so is not really what I would have chosen. I think the ambience is extremely tacky. But at least it is cheap--only 14000 yen for three nights, which I put on my MasterCard.

After we are settled, we walk in the rain from our ryokan to Kiyomizu Temple, which is perched on a hillside southeast of Kyoto. Again, according to Fodor's "Roads leading to Kiyomizudera Temple are steep inclines, yet the steepness is hardly noticed because of the alluring shops that line the entire way to the temple." The author apparently did not attempt this hike in the rain with a ten-year-old boy. Had I been alone, I would have succumbed to the allure of the shops. Somewhere along the way, we rested twice. I had a coffee and cake at a very chic cafe that was part of a gallery and JQS ate a Mos burger.

The view of Kyoto from Kiyomizu-dera is supposed to be stunning, but there was none in the rain. Actually, I found the most interesting aspect of Kiyomizu to be the ultraviolet sterilizer in use to clean the tin cups that the pilgrims dip into the well to wash and drink from. No other temple I've yet visited has exhibited such modern concern for preventing the transmission of germs and diseases.

However, this outing taught me and Murakami-sensei to take the bus for the rest of the trip rather than endure forced marches with JQS. The Kyoto buses charge one fare regardless of where you are going, rather than the distance-based fare system usual elsewhere in Japan. This makes getting on the wrong bus less worrisome as at least the fare doesn't mount up before you realize your mistake.

We take the bus uptown and do some shopping and have dinner at the Lipton tea house.

Accounts

 180 train Kobe
 780 train Kobe to Kyoto
 850 coffee
 741 lunch JQS (Mos Burger)
 500 Kiyomizu (1.5)
1100 washi basket
 400 hot cocoa
 810 bus fare (3x)
1421 dinner
 875 wooden toys

Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
December 24, 1989

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