11/8 - Uji - The Thousand Year Old Temple of Byodo-in

We got off at Keihan Uji Station.  Outside the train station, we were quickly greeted by the sound, smell, and sight of the Uji [宇治] River .  It was a very wide flat river.  Even though, the river runs through the middle of a city, it felt idyllic with cranes perched upon their legs in the middle of the river on one side of the bridge and a lone fisherman wading out into the river to ply his trade.

We crossed the bridge to the other side where there were more shops and restaurants.  As mentioned previously, we were hungry after walking for 20-30 minutes in the Momoyama train station area.  We found a small sushi restaurant in the tourist stretch of shops.

We both ordered Zaru Soba (green cold noodles), but we ordered different sides.  I had the assorted sushi side order while N ordered the inari side order.  We were really hungry at this point and happy to be sitting.  The price was actually very reasonable for these two meals.  I think we paid under ¥2,000 for both meals.  That's not a bad price considering we were right beside one of the most famous temples in all of Japan.

After lunch, we saw a line up for matcha green tea ice cream.  Essentially, the green tea ice cream came out of what looked like a soft ice cream machine.  Then their piece de resistance was adding fresh matcha powder onto the ice cream itself.  There was quite a line up here, so that peaked our curiosity.  Plus, after being inside Byodo-in for about 2 hours or so, we felt like having a snack.  It was the perfect snack for this warm autumn afternoon.

That famous temple would be the Byodo-in [平等院]. According to Wikipedia, this temple was built in 998.  This place is likely one of the oldest places I've ever been in.  The surround complex is beautifully manicured and is very peaceful.  There is a giant reflecting pond that surrounds the Phoenix Hall, which is the main building within the temple.  The Phoenix Hall was built in 1053 and is only accessible for an additional cost of ¥300 on top of the ¥600 for admission to the temple grounds.  We debated about it at first, but the building is almost 1,000 years old, so we thought it would be worth the price and the hour wait until the next session.

While waiting for our time to enter the Phoenix Hall, we went off to the very modern museum on the grounds of the temple.  The museum was great and did not cost an extra yen.  There was a wonderful CG rendition of the Phoenix Hall when it was in its glory.  The Hall houses a large golden Buddha, which isn't very golden in real life.  Plus the walls of the hall would have brightly painted and almost heavenly.  In another room, were the original statuettes that hung on the wall of the Phoenix Hall.  They were removed and moved indoors in order to preserve them.  And, of course, what museum is complete without a gift shop.  

Our appointed time of 3:15pm was rolling around and so we went back to the Phoenix Hall and lined up.  At 3:15pm a tour guide brought us across the tiny bridge across the pond to the hall.  We had to take off our shoes in a designated area.  There were even numbered spots for people to place their shoes for safe keeping.  I guess this way, it's easy to remember your number and come back for your shoes.  I also took note of the sign that said no photography.

Inside the Phoenix Hall it was very dark.  This was in stark contrast to the image that the CG rendition portrayed.   Obviously, time had taken its toll on this ancient structure.  The giant Buddha still sat in the middle of the hall with eyes peering over the pond.  Unfortunately, all the tour guide's explanation was in Japanese so we hadn't a single idea of what was going on, but just being in this ancient hall was impressive enough.  I would think a millennial celebration is in the works for 2053.  We'll see if I'm still kicking around then.