The weekend goes on...sanrenkyu (three day holiday)...!

Monday was National Foundation Day, a national holiday, so I chose to spend the day outside, with nature; a very therapeutic and enjoyable way to take advantage of the extra time.

I met Isaac, my friend's brother, in Kyoto early in the afternoon on Monday near Gosho, or the Imperial Palace. He arrived holding his bike and one that he had borrowed from a colleague for the day (excellent mode of transportation for Kyoto!!) and we quickly did our little introductions and rode our way over to the Higashiyama (eastern) part of town. Isaac had picked out a hike on the "大" mountain, which starts at the Ginkakuji (Silver Pavilion), goes over the mountain, through the forest and a small "secret" shrine, and pretty much comes back out at Nanzenji (another famous temple about 2km away). The mountain, Mt. Daimonji-yama, is famous for a large, Chinese character (大, called "dai") that is carved into the slope of the mountain and lit up with torches once a year during the Bon Festival season (Aug 16th). The mountain is considered a symbol of Kyoto, so actually getting to go up to the top of the mountain was pretty exciting.
We started the day with a visit to the silver pavilion. Unlike the Golden Pavilion, it was never plated in silver as originally intended, but the luscious, forest-encircled grounds and large zen rock garden (basically raked sand) still made it a very impressive site. I am still not sure what the significance of the sand is (I've heard this garden is supposed to represent a mountain and the sea), but I think the Zen aspect has more to do with the actual raking than viewing it afterwards.
As usual, admission to the temple is ￥500, which is not too much for such a romantic historical relic, and I think totally worth it. Here are some shots of the sand and pavilion:







Hiking Mt. Daimonji-yama
After the temple, we found the stone torii (shinto gate) on the side of the temple that marked the start of our hiking path and headed up for the woods. The entire hike was only 5km (and takes about 2 hours at a normal pace), but it was really peaceful and so refreshing to just be in the woods. The paths were lined with a light layer of snow, which made them a bit muddy, but it was still fun and exciting to see the wide paths amidst the large, looming pines.
After about half an hour, we reached the spot where they light the character. We followed little sets of stone stones and I knew we were in the opening, but you can't really tell that you're walking through a shape when you're actually there. There were a few families around and other hikers enjoying the view of Kyoto, which really was stunning. You can see the city from Kiyomizu Temple and other peaks, but the view really was unparalleled with anything else I have seen and isn't too hard of a hike for people that are just visiting but want to check out the hills. All along the area were stone/cement blocks that are used to hold the torches that light-up the character in flames. We joined in with the groups and stopped to just admire the scenery for a bit before deciding that we should keep going if we wanted to make it over the top and down to Nanzenji before nightfall (the paths aren't lit - not somewhere you want to get stuck in the dark!).
Isaac and I were just chatting and walking along, and I was really impressed by how energetic and friendly the other hikers were. I don't think we saw any other foreigners on our route after going up past the lookout where they light the character, but everyone else made a point of saying konichiwa and many of them were alone. That is not always common in Japan, and from what Isaac said, not at all for Kyoto... but I guess it was sort of like a hiker's community in a sense. People out doing what they like to do and being happy about it:)
We walked upwards for another half-an-hour or so. As we reached the top of the mountain, we were stopped by an older Japanese man who asked if we knew where we were going. We were obviously hiking on a set path, in the middle of the forest (and had a hiking guidebook), but this is not totally uncommon from people who want to help out the local tourists and/or like to practice English. It can be kind of people, yes, but I honestly know better than engaging in conversation when don't have a lot of time and really don't need help (because it can turn into a one or two hour session together if they do want to practice English), but I talked to him anyways and it led to us following up him up the path. I was a little worried he would play tour guide the whole time and we wouldn't be able to really look at the scenery or talk, but the man turned out to be a really amazing hiker (I think we were scrambling a bit to keep up with him and he whisked through the mud) and actually was really helpful in showing us the marker for the very top of the mountain. We went seperate ways at the top, as Isaac and I circled around to the other side of the mountain and the man went a different way.
The rest of the hike seemed to be downhill and was pretty, with more tall pines, like something out of a romanticized cartoon about Japanese nature (hello, Ghible) . We stopped for a snack when we reached "seven corners", a secluded point with seven intersecting paths and a bench to sit and reflect. The signs marking the paths were something out of a Disney park, old signs pointing in seven different directions, etched with kanji describing each route...luckily our hiking guide was detailed enough to tell us which way to go... so we headed off. The sun was setting, but we still had a while, so we stopped at a small shrine nestled between the trees. I drank some of the spring water flowing down from a natural tap in the hillside and we climbed to the top of the area to check out the stream and small shrines tucked into the stone of the hills. I also found a hiking stick on the way back down (it was an actual stick, but someone else must have used it on a previous hike) that I grabbed and used for the remainder of our trip.
After about 20 more minutes of walking, we reached the backside of Nanzenji Temple. If you have never seen it, you should definitely go: it's like nothing else I have seen in Kyoto primarily because of the huge, red-brick, Spanish-style aqueduct running through the middle of it. It looks more like train tracks at first glance, but does not fit into the surroundings. I have been to the temple twice before, and it was but have never made it to the Japanese garden there, which is said to be one of the most beautiful in Japan (not just in the guidebooks, but also from people that live here).
We walked past the Nanzenji temples and water canals and out onto the main street, where we found our bearings and headed back to where we had parked the bikes (about a 2km walk). I had to stop at a bathroom so we popped into the Kyoto International Association on the way, a beautiful, modern building catering to services for foreigners. The place was beautiful... it looked like one of the five-star hotels in the area (and I have no doubt that the free language classes in such a college town attract some awesome Japanese teachers). When we reached the bikes, parked along the tree-lined streams on the "Philosopher's Path" near Ginkakuji, we decided to go grab a bite for dinner (great Thai place near Gosho!) before I had to make the long journey home. A friend of mine's band was also playing close to where we had to bring the bikes back, too, but I didn't want to play the cover for a late concert and needed to get home (work night!).

Great day! I picked up a copy of the hiking guide we used, so I am hoping to get out around my area a bit more... excellent way to spend an afternoon and you can forget how pretty it is :)