Kyoto -->Tokyo 21.07

Kinkaku-ji

Selleks, et kell 6 algavale palvusele jõuda, tõusime poole kuuest. Samas oleks võinud veel varem ärgata, sest olime viimased, kes kohale jõudsid. 

Ninna-ji templis ööbijatel on võimalus jälgida munkade hommikupalvust, mille loomulikult ära kasutasime. Kahju oli ainult sellest, et jaapani keelest aru ei saanud. Pärast palvust seletas üks munkadest midagi päris pikalt aga nagu öeldud, kahjuks ei mõistnud. 

Ninna-ji

Siis oli rahulikult aega enne külastajaid templi hoovis ringi vaadata. Leidsime surnut teeskleva (võimalik, et hoopis päevitas) tsikaadi, kes puudutamise peale mulle südari tekitas. 

Hommikusöök oli tagasihoidlikum kui õhtu ja kuigi ma maitsesin kohusetundlikult kõik ära, siis peale riisi ei olnud midagi ahvatlevat. Pakkisime jälle asjad kohvrisse ja jätsime need alla pakihoidu. Põnev, et keegi ei rääkinud inglise keelt, erinevalt eelmisest õhtust, kui templisse saabusime. Sain ainult aru, et kell 11 pidime tagasi olema. Kuna meil oli 12ks Shinkanseni istekohtade bronn, siis täiesti piisav aeg.

Esimest korda suutsin vale bussi peale istuda. No peatusest läksid mõlemad õigesse suunda aga buss, mille peal meie olime, suundus enne meie sihtkohta linna keskuse poole ja pidime veidi rohkem jalutama. Kokkuvõttes ei olnudki vahet aga ikkagi. 

Kinkaku-ji ehk Kuldne paviljon on tempel, mis ilmestab vist enamikku reisibüroode reklaampilte. Vähemalt selleks hommikuks saime soovitud päikese ja kuldlehtedega kaunistatud hoone säras kogu võimsuses. Kinkaku rajati juba 14. (ja uuesti 15ndal) sajandil aga praegune hoone pärineb 1955. aastast. Ei, sõda Kyoto kultuuri ei hävitanud, selleks oli üks 21-aastane munk, kes otsustas 1950ndal aastal templi maha põletada.

Templi kõik kolm korrust on ehitatud erinevas stiilis, alt vastavalt Heiani periood (794-1185), samuraid ja zen budism. Kaks ülemist korrust on kaetud kuldlehega ning algupäraselt seda selles mahus ei olnud. Aga saime oma ilusa ilma fotosessiooni tehtud. Emale meeldis see tempel külastatutest enim.

Templil on loomulikult aed, kus oli samuti võimalus (noh, tagasi suunas ei lubatud, seega pigem kohtustus) edasi liikuda. Esmakordselt märkasime kavalat õnnemängu, kus inimesed proovisid visata münti nendest paar meetri kaugusel olevasse anumasse (eks jälle tabamise korral on võimalus soovi täitumisele). Anuma ümber loomulikult terve varandus.

Seejärel oligi aeg uuesti bussile astuda, Ninna-ji templist läbi ja kohvrid kaasa, ja teisele bussile, mis viis meid mugavalt Kyoto jaama välja. Sain jaamas meie istekohtade broneeringu ka ära muuta, et ei peaks kohvritega jõunumbreid näitama. Aga rongis selgus, et oleksime pidanud oma kohvrid teise kohta jätma ja eestlastena ei ole sellist usaldust. Seega ühendasime oma jõud ja suutsime sõidu ajaks mõlemad kohvrid peakohale tõsta. Sõit ise jälle natuke üle kahe tunni, kuni jõudsime tagasi Tokyosse. Tee äärde jäi lõputult riisipõlde.

Viimaseks öömajaks olin valinud Sotetsu Fresa Inn Ginza-Nanachome, mis jäi Shimbashi jaamast ca 500 meetri kaugusele. Kärutasime kohvrid majutusse, registreerisime end ära, korjasime hotelli poolt pakutud tasuta nänni ja astusime lifti. 

Meie tuba paiknes 6ndal korrusel, seega vajutasin kuuenda korruse nuppu. Uksed sulgusid, lift liikus 8ndale korrusele ja hakkas siis uuesti alla liikuma. Olime väikeses segaduses. Proovisin uuesti meie korrust, mille peale lift viis meid jälle mitu korrust ülespoole ja siis alla tagasi. Hämming kasvas. Kui järgmine inimene lifti astus selgus, et enda korruse valimiseks pidime kõigepealt toa kaardi registreerima. Loogiline ju. 

Enne õhtusööki tegime väikese tutvuse poodidega. Ka 1100 euro eest on võimalik prille saada. Aga asusime ka rikkurite linnaosas. 

Ja siis. Ja siis ootas ees reisi sihtmärk (loomulikult mitte) HP kohvik😍 Grete kunagi saatis Instasse reeli hiljuti avatud Harry Potteri kohvikust. Teemapargiga olin kursis ja see oli pikalt välja müüdud, siis mõtlesin uurida. Alguses otsisin reisi alguse Tokyo kuupäevi ja need olid juba kinni aga siis avastasin, et lõpuõhtul oleme samuti pealinnas ja leidsime vaba aja. Jah, emal ei ole Potterist külma ega sooja aga HP on minu põlvkonna raamat. Loomulikult sisemine mina oli elevil (välimine ka). Jõudsime natuke varem ja istusime mingit esinemist jälgides. 

Siis fotosessioon poe ees ja sees. Enne tegime kindlaks, kus kohviku sissepääs on. Uksel ongi silt, et ilma broneeringuta sisse ja ei saa ja selle saab teha ainult netis. Ma tean, et mul ei ole selle nänniga midagi teha aga vaadata on ikka põnev.

Kuni kl 7 tuli meie broneeringu aeg ja meid lubati oma kohtadele. Hmm. Interjöör oli timm aga midagi jäi puudu. Toidu tellimiseks oli tahvel ja taimer, mis luges allesjäänud minuteid (see ei olnud eriti mugav). Olin menüüga eelnevalt tutvunud ja võtsime nii eel- kui põhiroa ning magustoidud. Ja (alkovabad) kokteilid. Ma ei ütleks, et mingi eriline maitsenauding, pigem selline tavapärane. Aga välimus oli lahe. Kui võimalus, tasub kindlasti külastamist. 

Kohviku ja poe juurde jääb ka teemakohane metroojaama sissepääs.

  

To make it to the morning prayer at 6 a.m., we got up at 5:30 a.m. However, it would have been wise to get up earlier, as we were the last ones to arrive (although not late). 

Those who stay at Ninna-ji temple have the opportunity to observe a morning prayer. That was one of the reasons we stayed there, so naturally we took part in that. It's a pity neither of us understands any Japanese, as one of the monks explained something very thoroughly after the prayer. 

Then we had some alone time in the temple's garden. We found a cicada, which almost gave me a heart attack when I touched it, pretending to be dead (or perhaps sunbathing). 

Breakfast was a tad bit more modest than dinner, and although I dutifully tasted everything, there was nothing appealing apart from the rice. We packed our suitcases again and left our bags in the luggage storage. It was interesting that no one spoke English, unlike the previous night when we arrived. I only understood that we had to be back at 11 o'clock. Since we had reserved Shinkansen seats for 12, it was entirely sufficient.

I then managed to get us on the wrong bus. Well, only two buses went from the stop (I didn't understand the number), but they both went in the same direction. However, the bus we were on headed towards the city centre before our destination and we had to walk a little more. 

Kinkaku-ji, or the Golden Pavilion, is a temple that appears in most travel agencies' advertising pictures in Estonia. At least for that morning, we finally got the sun we wished for and the gilded building shone in all its majesticity. Although Kinkaku was established already in the 14th (and again in the 15th) century, the current building dates back to 1955. No, it has nothing to do with WWII, but with a  21-year-old monk who decided to burn the temple down in 1950. Like wt? 

All three temple floors are built using different styles. The first storey follows the Heian period (794-1185), the middle samurai and the third represents Zen Buddhism. The two upper floors are gilded. We managed to have our photo session in the sunshine. My Mother loved this temple the most among the ones we visited. 

Naturally, Kinkaku-ji temple has a garden, where we could look around. Something we hadn't noticed before was a tricky game of chance, where people tried to throw a coin into a container a few metres away from them (as usual, if you hit, there is a chance for your wish coming true). As guessed, there was a small fortune around the container. 

Then it was time to once again catch a bus, fetch our luggage from Ninna-ji temple, and take yet another bus that conveniently took us to Kyoto Station. I was also able to change our seat reservation at the station so that we wouldn't have to show the power numbers with our suitcases. But on the train, it turned out that we should have left our suitcases in another car and as Estonians, we tend to be rather suspicious of others. So we combined our forces and managed to lift both suitcases to the rack above our heads. A little over two hours until we got back to Tokyo. There were endless rice fields along the road.

For our last accommodation, I had chosen Sotetsu Fresa Inn Ginza-Nanachome, which was about 500 metres from Shimbashi station. We wheeled our suitcases into the hotel, checked in, chose complimentary goodies offered by the hotel and got into the lift. 

Our room was on the 6th floor, so I pressed the sixth-floor button. The doors closed, the lift moved to the 8th floor and then began to move down again. We were a little confused. I tried our floor again, after which the lift once again took us several floors up and then back down again. The confusion grew. When the next person entered the lift, it turned out that in order to choose our floor, we had to register the room card first. Of course. 

Before dinner, we went window shopping. Apparently, in a rich man's world, you get glasses for 1100 euros. I am certain, they are much more expensive. 

And then. And then the highlight of the trip (just kidding) was the HP cafe 😍 Grete once sent a reel on Insta about the recently opened Harry Potter cafe. I was aware of the theme park and couldn't get tickets for that, so that seemed intriguing. At first, I looked for the dates of the beginning of our trip and they were already booked, but then I realised that we will be in Tokyo again on the final evening and found a vacancy. Yes, my mother is indifferent about Potter, but HP was originally for my generation. Naturally, I was excited. We arrived a bit earlier and sat watching some kind of meeting.

Needless to say, we had a photo session in front and inside the shop. First, we determined where the entrance to the cafe is. There is a sign on the door saying that you cannot enter without a reservation and it can only be done online. I know I don't have anything to do with the nicknacks sold there, but they are fun to look at. 

Finally, at 7 p.m. we were directed to our seats. Hmm. The interior was fine, but for some reason, I had a bit higher expectations. 

We were given tablets for ordering food and a timer that counted down the time remaining until we had to leave (it wasn't very convenient). I had familiarized myself with the menu in advance and we had different starters, main courses and desserts. And (non-alcoholic) cocktails. I wouldn't say that it's something spectacular. But the food looks cool. Definitely worth visiting if there. 

There is also HP themed metro station next to the cafe and shop.