Kyoto - Foxes, Bamboo, Kimono - Day 2

Came to the fox trail

5:30 a.m. The alarm goes off, waking up Charles and me after less than 6 hours. Preparation and departure at 06:15. We're taking the subway. As soon as I got out, I was pleasantly surprised. The train station greets us with a fox motif. This is Inari, the goddess of fertility, travel and... foxes. 🦊 Irani is accompanied by the Shinto bright red Shinto archways aptly named "Torii". And for my heart warrior friends; Irani has often been equated with the Buddhist dakinis. ; )
And there was no shortage of Iranis and Toriis. The whole mountain was full. We start our ascent shortly before 07:00, the traders set up their food stalls left and right at the foot of the mountain, in joyful anticipation of today's fat tourist booty. I make no attempt to count the toriis. Although it would certainly make a nice meditation exercise to find out the exact four-digit number. A torii is closest, the distance is just 30cm. One arch after another, meandering towards the top of the mountain. What is striking are the inscriptions on the toriis and the different sizes and ages. Mohi tells us that the torii are sponsored by local companies and individuals. And the thicker your donation bag, the bigger your bar. This does not apply if you donate your money to big cars. ; )

Adam "Lord British" and I begin to philosophize. About the finitude of one's own life and transience. About the fact that everyone wants to leave something of value behind. Be it children, students or works.
Life goes by too fast. It's not the first time I've seen someone hold up their phone and take a picture while walking. No click on the trigger, so he's a tourist. Japanese models must have a trigger sound because of the perverts.
I'm thinking. How much can a photo be worth that you shoot in such a way that you post it once on Insta, look it yourself twice and show it to friends three times. Proud of your oh-so-hard efforts and mindfulness that took this photo? How much is this photo worth. No, how much was this moment worth to you?

"Hear, hear! See, see! You foolish fools. Be amazed at my instagramable achievement. So let the astonished rabble sink into the cesspool of envy. But he doesn't forget to leave an ego-flattering like and his followers."

I think back to the Skytrain ride, when I was happy like a little kid just by looking out the window.
I think back to my accident where I almost drowned from being drunk.
Of the Norwegian night when I waited 3 hours for the mountain rescue team to save me from the knee-deep snow on the mountain plateau.
To all the drivers who, flying blind, are tied to their cell phones and think that this particular message cannot wait 15 minutes.
Adam and I decide to let the impression sink in first and then think twice about whether this photo will be of any use to me later. We put our cell phones in our pockets and let the Kyoto awakening below us sink in. We see a lot of shrines and toriis, I feel this connection between nature and respect here too.

Bamboo 👻

From the fox, the train takes you through the city, a little outside. The bamboo forest is waiting for us. It's super touristy, the crowds squeeze through. There are special partial routes for rickshaws, including a stop for a photo shoot. I shudder, shoot exactly two photos. As a thought anchor. Then we go to the train station, a train station with flair. This public transport provider has style.

Goooooooold!

After this excursion, continue to the Golden Pavilion. As a third temple quite good to use. Here too, masses of people. As to be expected with the main attractions. But hey, we don't get a poppy HP printer ticket, these and the later temple tickets look great. More on that when I write about souvenirs.

I go to the toilet; thanks to the sun, constant drinking and a little bit of sunstroke, a place that I just know only too well. On the way out, I see a kid in a hoodie and read the writing on his back. A thought crosses my mind.
My gremlin says " Do it! ".
My head is saying, " Getting behind him now and meditating in the moment might invoke a little cross-cultural irritation due to perversion. "
My inner child doesn't say anything but pisses himself laughing.
My gremlin pulls out my phone. Luckily I don't have a Japanese model. Damn perverts.

Stone Gardens

After each of us had a matcha soft ice cream, some ways separate. Adam and Rob ask me if I would like to go to the Stone Garden. "Of course!" is the only correct answer.
We go and get into the temple complex. It's relatively small, but there's a lot less going on. At the entrance we have to take off our shoes and sneak through the facility in socks. People come for the Stone Zen Garden. The typical, many small stones, crossed by artistically and yet simply arranged furrows. The entire wooden terrace is full of people, it doesn't look very inviting to me. There is literally nothing going on right around the corner, and the green vista appeals to me far more.

In general, this seems to be a topic of its own. You walk along the main street flooded with cars, turn down any side alley and end up in a silent Edo-era world.

We move on through the complex and rediscover the topic of respect. respect and trust.

In Germany, supporting a branch with a stick would not work like that, for various reasons.
It probably wouldn't last a week and a teenager would bludgeon the thing away in the presence of his group of monkeys. Just for a quick laugh.
What's far more likely is that an agency would cut off the branch to protect surrounding residents.
Somehow indicative of the society we live in. We are so self-conscious that we prefer to cut something off for our own convenience, even though it has given us so much. Although there are other solutions. Branches are supported by dead wood without the need for a human to constantly support it. So why not use your own powers and synergies instead of sending your grandmother to a retirement home in Hungary and waiting for an urn full of dirt to be returned. I mean, how valuable can remains be when man has been treated like dirt before?
Cutting something suits people well. I mean, there are women who shave their eyebrows only to paint them on their face every day. No animal is so stupid as to willingly cut off its arm just to enjoy a prosthesis. I suddenly think of the stupid "I identify as a blind person" article .

I love these facilities, they are beautiful. There is no such thing as a so-called Japanese garden in Germany.

The dining car is docked

The evening is coming to an end, it's time for dinner. I hear the food train approaching. The sushi train is coming up. Not only that I can finally try original sushi, no. It also comes to the table on a conveyor belt. However, it takes a while before we sit down at the table. We try three different locations, all of them are full with queues and numbers. In general, it seems to be normal to wait in an anteroom here. Not surprising. The Japanese themselves pay expensive rent for small stalls, life takes place outside in the restaurants. Friends are hardly ever invited home, and I meet up for a meal.

It's delicious, we're having a good time. At around 9:00 p.m. we go back to the hotel, tomorrow we have to sleep in, then free roam, the last full day in beautiful Kyoto.