Biking around Kyoto

We arrived yesterday afternoon by train through the mountains from Takayama to Kyoto, for 1000 years the capital of Japan. Apparently Kyoto was on the list of possible targets for the A-bomb in 1945 but I'm very glad it was spared! It would have been a shame to destroy so much history. We found Kyoto's hostel, a very modern one, with kitchen, big common areas, even a rooftop terrace very near the Kyoto Station. We went out to see one of the temples Betty had heard about from a traveller. It was UP, and UP and UP!!! It was a Shinto shrine with a long tunnel of orange painted (we learned today that was to keep evil spirits away, similar to the red color in China), torii gates - on and on and on, up a mountain. We never made it to the top. After climbing steps and walkways for over an hour, a couple told us there was another hour to go. I'd had enough! It was dedicated to the fox and there were statues of foxes everywhere. It was neat and almost dark when we came down. But my knees and feet hurt. I told Betty I couldn't do all that walking today so we rented bikes. After a great breakfast at the next door cafe, off we went. We needed to get a ticket (it was free but you had to register) to get an English tour at 10 a.m. of the Imperial Palace. It was where the emperor lived and was crowned until 1860s or so when capital was moved to Edo (Tokyo) The current emperor, Akito who is in his 70s, lives in Tokyo. We were able to take backroads up there and so avoid most of the a.m. traffic. My map skills served me well today. We got tickets for the tour and also tickets for a 1:30 tour of an Imperial villa and gardens NE of Kyoto. The tour was interesting. Our guide showed us a sketch of all the buildings that had been removed in anticipation of WWII bombings so only a few remained. The amazing cypress bark roofs have to be replaced every 30 years. They strip thin layers off the trees without damaging the tree and the bark grows back in 10 years. They are very thick roof tiles held together with little bamboo picks. The guide said it takes 25 years to replace all the roofs and then it's time to start all over! The gardens of the emperor's private area were gorgeous and the Japanese maple trees are in full color. In fact later on our way back, we followed this huge crowd going to a temple. There was a very long queue waiting to pay Y1000 to walk through this garden that is lit up to see the lights through these wonderfully colored maple and ginkgo trees. We just took a few pictures over the wall and biked on. We biked along a river out to the Imperial Villa that one of the emperors had built after he retired. It was a design for gardens that uses the landscape views and combines with plantings. It was pretty amazing, at the foothills of nearby mountains. There are maybe l35 acres with these 3 building areas, and a lake. In between the Imperial Household Agency has purchased the land and has it planted in rice fields and vegetables, farmed by local people. Before we went into these gardens, we had lunch at a real local place, delicious bowl of rice with shrimp tempura for me and soba noodles and veggies for Betty. I had borrowed, leaving Y1000 deposit here, a Rough Guide book that we were looking at during lunch. About a 1/2 hour bike back to town, when  we stopped to read about the Silver Temple, I realized I'd left the guide book at the restaurant. Betty very kindly biked back with me to get it! Luckily there it was!! Aargh!! So then we were riding home to K's in the dark, getting kind of lost and into touristy areas. But FINALLY we got back and had a great little pizza and beer next door for dinner. Another wonderful, tiring day! I think tomorrow we will get the all day bus pass! Notes about Japan:  Very rarely do you hear, in all this traffic, a horn honking. In China it's a way of speaking, I think!!! It is constant! Big difference! The drivers are very considerate of bikers. They are an incredibly courteous people. It's so cute on the train when the conductor enters and leaves the car, to take tickets, he stops and bows and says something and then enters. We've gotten into the bowing habit. That's all for tonight! Got some clean laundry yesterday, too, so life is good!!