First Long Walk and Hanami / Ilk Uzun Gezinti ve Hanami

On Sunday we decided to go out to explore our surroundings a little. This exploration expedition turned into a 20km walk with a conservative estimate. I couldn't get the GPS to work, so we took many "alternative" routes.

Pazar gunu cevre kesfine cikalim dedik. Bizim bu kesif gezisi 20 km'ye vardi neticede. GPS* isinibeceremedigim icin biraz geze geze gitmis olduk. 

We had to find out where the school is located. It looked easy enough on the map, but took us well over 45 minutes to reach. It was supposed to be 17 minutes.

Okulun yerini tespit etmek de listemizdeydi. Haritada kolay da gorunuyordu ama 17 dakika surmesi gerekenyolu 45 dakikada anca katettik. 

We had Honganji Honganji Temples on our route. We checked them out briefly. It's so near where we stay (5-7 minutes), we'll visit them more in depth later on.

Yolumuzun uzerinde Honganji Tapinaklari vardi. Kaldigimiz yere o kadar yakin ki (5-7 dakika), sonra daha detayli gezeriz.

 We located the school and hung around quite suspiciously for a while.
Okulu bulduk ve biraz da suphe uyandirici sekilde bi sure orada takildik.










  


Then we popped into a shopping center kind of place with a large podium in the middle. Festivities were full on. Quite unexpectedly, we saw some troupes from Osaka performing.
 
Sonra adini bilmedigim, alisveris merkezi sayilabilecek bir alana girdik. Ortasindaki podyumda turlu gosterilervardi. Osaka'dan gelmis gruplarin gosterilerini izledik.

We were at this point quite undecided about where to go for the hanami (sakura viewing) bonanza. Caline is a sturdier woman than I am, she could push on. So, I pleaded with her that we should go and check out the Kyoto Gyoen (Imperial Gardens) instead of the Philosopher's Walk, which is further.

Hanami (sakura izleme) cilginligi icin nereye gitsek diye kararsiz kaldik. Caline masallah benden direncli birkadin, basti mi gider. O yuzden daha yakinda olan Kyoto Gyoen (Imparatorluk Bahceleri)'ni gorelim diye kendisine birazcik yalvardim. Merhamet etti sagolsun. Yoksa, Feylesoflar Yolu denen yere yuruyecektik ki, o da cok olurdu.

It was spectacular!
Harikaydi!

  We took the West exit and came across the Ryōan-ji Temple. It is a Zen temple, also known as "The Temple of the Peaceful Dragon". I was able to take a sneak shot of the dragon. When you clap your hands just below the dragon you hear a very deep echo.
Bati kapisindan cikip Ryōan-ji Tapinagi'na girdik. Burasi da "Huzurlu Ejderha'nın Tapınağı" diye de bilinen bir Zen tapinagi. Bendeniz gizlice bir fotograf cekiverdim. Ejderhanin altina gelip de el cirpinca cok derin bir eko oluyor.






  

  
It was a very satisfactory day despite lack of any planning.
Hic program yapmadigimiz da dusunulurse cok da tatmin edici bir gun oldu.

*Anneye not: GPS, uydudan yerimi konumlayan bir  sistem. Cep telefonu o isi de goruyor.