Day 238 - 25th of April

10:55am　特急
天気：晴れ

I’m on a limited express train, sitting down in the lower compartment, heading towards 出町柳 (Demachiyanagi), final destination 比叡山 (Mount Hiei); how did I get here? Well, I woke up at 9:30, and went up to have breakfast. Coming back downstairs, I was just about to return to my room, when I bumped into Sarah. She told me she would be going to Mount Hiei today, and after I showed my interest, she asked if I wanted to come with. As I’ve found before, spur of the moment decisions usually turn out really well, so I accepted her invitation, and then got ready as fast as possible… Thinking back on it now, I could have easily spent today basically repeating what I did yesterday (which I had intended), but somehow our meeting was timed just right; what luck, I say. It’s a beautiful, sunny day today, perfect for climbing a mountain. There was no way I could pass up the opportunity and besides, I deserve it…

4:49pm　特急

We’re on the limited express back to Kuzuha (to switch over for Makino). We’re actually sitting down, which is amazingly wonderful; that’s the beauty of getting on the start of the line, or should I say the end? Well, I’m going to rest a bit now, it’s been a big day…

10:43pm

Just showered and got comfy. I guess it’s time to describe my wonderful day… Well, after getting to Demachiyanagi, we transferred to the 叡山電鉄本 (eizandentetsuhon line), which took us to 八瀬比叡山口 (Yasehieizanguchi). It was a single carriage, more like a tram than a train, and there was even a ticket vendor on board. As we made our way further out, the mountains looming ever closer, I couldn’t help but feel excited. Once we got off the train, we headed straight for ケーブル八瀬 (Cable Yase), the cable car that would take us closer to the top of the mountain. We opted for the roundtrip fare, which included entry to the garden museum. I was reminded of the trip to Rokko Mountain as we rode upwards, although the incline seemed a lot steeper this time around. I used my regular camera to record the ride; while wishing I could have used my video camera. The mountains were a million shades of green, with the odd smudge of reddish pink denoting the sakura trees in the twilight of their blooming; it was truly beautiful. Kyoto also came into view as we got higher, just as my ears decided to pop. After about 10 minutes, we reached the end of the cable car line, now considerably higher. But we hadn’t reached the top yet.

Still, the view from where we were was stunning, and there were still a few sakura trees in flower. We noticed a metal ring, rigged up by two ropes over the precipice. I remembered seeing this ring in Carly’s photos. She had explained that you had to try to toss coins (which you could buy for 100円) through the ring, supposedly to bring good luck. We didn’t have time to indulge in such trivialities though, as the ropeway was beckoning. Yes, now we had to take the 叡山ロープウェイ (Eizan Ropeway) to reach 比叡山頂 (Hieisancho), where the Garden Museum is located. So, we crammed into the small cabin and off we went, Sarah never failing to remind me of her fear of heights; this was especially significant since we were hanging in mid-air. If I am not mistaken, this was my first time on a ropeway, which is quite cool actually; again I took video. After a short ride (in comparison to the cable car), we had reached the top. Eagerly, we made our way out, and over to the Garden Museum, receiving a ticket, pamphlet and information in English at the front desk before entering. Almost immediately, we were taken aback by the view. Far below us, the city of 大津 (Otsu) hugged the shore of Lake Biwa, which stretched out to the left until it was obscured by the mountain peak.

The view did not divert our attention too much though, as we found ourselves surrounded by gardens and paintings. The Garden Museum was designed my French garden designers, in an attempt to capture the essence of the world of Impressionism. Impressionist paintings have been reproduced, and are all around the open air museum, some set up on easels among the flowers. We slowly made our way around, marvelling at the multitude of flowers bursting with colour; we had come at a good time. Getting to the other entrance of the museum, we considered our next move. We knew we wanted to go and check out 延暦寺 (Enryakuji), the huge, central temple complex on the mountain, but weren’t entirely sure how to get there. We also knew we were getting hungry. So, I went up one of the ladies at the ticket counter, and enquired as to the whereabouts of Enryakuji, and the lady kindly recommended that we take the bus, as it is the most direct route there; otherwise it would be a 40 minute walk. Conveniently, the bus terminal was located right outside the exit, along with a great ugly car park; I guess it can’t be helped. So, we decided we would exit now, and come back through later; now all we needed was something to eat. As luck would have it, just by the bus terminal was a restaurant that served udon and soba; didn’t need a second thought.

We were soon seated, and both ordered the kitsune udon, which is basically a warm broth filled with udon noodles and diced vegetables, and topped with fried tofu. It was absolutely delicious, and so filling too; both of us were feeling very satisfied afterwards, and Sarah kept on praising the meal. Hearing the bus pull in, we quickly payed, and exited the restaurant, and ended up just missing it. Oh well, I gave us some more time to appreciate the view. Just offshore of the city, I noticed that there was a huge fountain in the water; I thought it must look spectacular from the waterfront. There were also heaps of yachts and speedboats out on the water, brought out no doubt by the beautiful weather. The next bus soon arrived and we hoped on that one, soon off down a windy road that hugged the cliffs, the view of the lake to our right. Enryakuji turned out to be just two stops away, but walking there would have definitely been heavy going. After paying to enter (which was discounted since we had the tickets from the garden museum), we made our way around the complex; it was really incredible.

We visited a number of buildings, including the 大講堂 (Dai koudou – Great Lecture Hall), the 根本中堂 (Konponchudou – Foundation Halll), and the 阿弥陀堂 (Amidadou – Amida Hall). One particularly memorable building was the文殊楼 (Monjuro – Manjusri Watchtower), where you have to climb stairs, which mightas well have been ladders, to get up to the altar on the second floor; that was quite intense. In fact, there was lots of stair climbing throughout the time we were there; great workout for the legs. Near the lecture hall, I had a go at ringing one of the huge bells, which was so cool; the sound really resonated inside me. There was even an Inari shrine, which I guess is a given; they’re everywhere. I guess I should include a bit of history. Basically, the monastery (that’s a better word than complex), was founded in the early Heian period (8^th century) by Saicho (Dengyo Daishi), who introduced the Tendai sect of Mahayana Buddhism to Japan from China. Today we visited the complex clustered around the 東塔 (Toudou – East Pagoda), which is where the most important buildings of the monastery are concentrated. Further along the mountain are the 西塔 (Saitou – West Pagoda), and the 横川 (Yokawa) complexes; perhaps I will visit them someday.

It really was a beautiful place though. The trees were massive, and the atmosphere was sublime, and drenched in history; wandering around, it felt like we had taken a step back in time. The only thing that was a little bothersome for me was the fact that we had take off our shoes each time we entered a building, so my converse we not the best option for that. It was a bit after 3, when we decided it was time to get going. We had a quick look at the gift shop, not buying anything, and then got on the bus that took us back up to the garden museum. There, we wandered through an area we had missed the first time through, and also spotted an eagle, which flew very close by. Craving something sweet, we each bought an ice cream; Sarah got vanilla, and I got rose. They were the only two flavours and seeing バラ written, I was intrigued to find out what I actually was. When the lady said rose I was like, “gosh I should have known that”; it always puts me off when they write Japanese words in katakana. Well I suppose it is a lot easier than writing the kanji for rose: 薔薇. Anyway, it definitely smelt like rose and the taste, well it was very obscure; like the sakura flavour, I just can’t place it. I did very much enjoy it though. After that, we looked around the art gallery, before making our way up the observatory, which offered a wonderful 360 degrees view of the surrounds. After that, I was finally time for us to make our way back home, which was the exact reverse of how we got here; save one thing.

We decided we’d walk home from Makino rather than take the bus; trying to save some money. When we got to Makino, Sarah wanted to by a donut from Mister Donut since she had never tried them before, so of course I bought one too; failing at saving money. Oh my gosh they asked so many questions – “Are you taking out, or eating in?”, “Do you have a membership card?”, “Would you like a coffee with your order?”, “Would you like us heat it up for you?” – it was quite overwhelming; all I wanted was my donut. Anyway, we eventually got out of there and made our way to Sanko; the day wasn’t quite over. I had to buy some eggs for my okonomiyaki tonight, and luckily they were on sale; Sarah had to pick some stuff up too. While there, I also bumped into Mori Sempai, who was buying snacks for a scary movie night with Maarika. Finally we got back home, and after putting the groceries away, I got my washing in. While putting that away, I had another crack at transferring the video to the computer and this time it worked; I was so happy. Hugo and his two partners were in here as well, working on their presentation for psychology; they all had their laptops in front of them. Soon enough, it was time for dinner, and I managed to make one, wonderful okonomiyaki; well, technically it was modern-yaki, since I put yakisoba noodles on top. I stayed in the kitchen until about 9, and then went downstairs to find Katie, Ash, and Rachel watching a movie; Paprika. They were already an hour into it, but I decided to stay and watch it anyway. It was really far out, and I wish I’d seen the whole thing; maybe I’ll borrow it from Ash sometime. And that was basically the end of my day; back to uni tomorrow…