The Philosopher’s Path
My day in Kyoto began with an appropriately themed Buddha Bowl from Veg Out, a delicious vegan/vegetarian restaurant with a view of the Kamo River.
view from the table at Veg Out
Nanzen-ji Zen Buddhism Temple: image of the main gate, or “sannon,” above. The original gate was built in 1296, but burned down and was reconstructed in 1628!
On the path to the waterfall shrine: Nanzen-ji oku-no-in.
The beginning of the Philosopher’s Path (Tetsugaku No Michi), so named because a well-known philosopher from the University of Kyoto, Nishida Kitaro, (one who helped begin the Kyoto school of philosophy) walked this path each day along the canal. In spring, the famous cherry blossom (sakura) are in full bloom. The entire path is only 2km, but it’s easy to spend hours here, staring and strolling.
Artist on bridge. I purchased an excellent sketching of his:
Kanazawa
Kyoto has been a great central location for the past week, as it is a relatively quick ride to many other areas nearby. One of those places is Kanazawa, a town on the Sea of Japan. Kanazawa was amazing, and in my opinion, an underrated city (similar to Dunedin in New Zealand in its relative under-ratedness). (Ishikawa in the map below is where Kanazawa is — Ishikawa is the name of the prefecture).
Hokkaido: Day 1
Today begins the weeklong tour of Hokkaido! I have wanted to go to Hokkaido for a long time. It’s the northernmost Japanese island and the least populated. It’s known for its wilderness, wildlife, deep forests, and mountains. Today we visited Asahi-dake (Mount Asahi), the tallest mountain in Hokkaido at 2291 meters (7516 feet). Up we went to the tippy top where snow was still blanketing the ground. Almost no one was there, as coronavirus has scared away most travelers, but also because spring is upon us and the snow was heavy from melting. While at Asahi-dake, I snowshoed for the first time. I got caught in some deep snowdrifts, but managed to pull myself up. We saw some fresh avalanches and the rapid steam of the thermal vents (it is a volcano after all).
Not only did we see Hokkaido’s tallest mountain, but we also saw Hokkaido’s tallest waterfall! So we really peaked on the first day. To snowshoe into the water fall, aka Hagoromo Falls in Tenninkyo Gorge, we had to walk past an abandoned lodge, which was quite eerie. It’s still a popular place for hikers, so the area is well-maintained.
Sayonara!