Our last day in Kyoto and this time we nailed it. Starting the day with a sunny walk from the guesthouse and over the river, we arrived at the ticket office for Kyoto’s main attraction – Geisha dances. These exclusive performances take place during just a few weeks in the year and this was one of them! Having been told it would be very difficult to see a dance, we walked promptly up to the booth and bought two tickets for the next show – winning.
Feeling very pleased with ourselves for beating the guide book, we continued on to explore Kenin-ji temple. As the head zen temple in the city, it had the works – raked gravel garden and raised wooden platform corridors but also housed a huge ink painting of two dragons, hung across the ceiling of the main hall. Completed in the last decade in the gym of a school in Hokkaido on Japanese paper it really was very impressive. After laughing (again) at the way the small-size temple slippers made George walk like a geisha, we set off for our theatre performance.
The life of a geisha is a bizarre one. In Kyoto they are known initially as geiko (aged 15 when beginning their strict training) and then eventually as maiko. They are mostly private entertainers, invite only to those with enough cash and connections; making tea ceremoniously and performing games for their clients. Tourists hope to catch a rare glimpse as they move between closed doors in the Gion district so we felt lucky to experience a public show.
The show was made up of eight scenes, and featured a reinterpretation of Swan Lake as well as viewing Mt Fuji from a train or singing an alphabet song around Kyoto. It was a bit like ballet but totally unique with stunning kimono costumes.
Back in reality and after a brief rice ball picnic in the sun by the river, we continued on to another new temple – Kodai-ji. Identified by its small, old tea houses perched on the side of a hill, this temple boasted a beautiful garden complete with bamboo grove and pond designed for observing the reflection of the moon.
Onwards, through traditional shopping streets amid the building crowds of tourists and couples in kimonos taking selfies – in front of every possible backdrop. Steadily climbing, we eventually found ourselves at our all-time favourite temple, Kiyo-mizu Dera. Famed for its wooden platform overlooking the hills, treetops and cities its easy to see why it is so popular. We amused ourselves on the way round by reminiscing about noodle and photo stops on our previous visit and how yet again, we had chosen a time when half of it was covered in scaffolding. On exiting we decided to walk the several kilometres to the station and enjoyed the quieter back streets and evening sunset.
Arriving at the main station it became clear that Sunday evenings were a popular time to travel – it was heaving. After a quick curry and a shared beer (George had to work the next day) we boarded our bullet train bound for Tokyo.
The Geos go back to Tokyo 