The ladies of the Village are planting rice while we eat and drink.  I think about their back-breaking work, I appreciate what they are going through in this image. I have done the odd day of hard work in my life of attempted self-reliance, but not like this. I’m soft, lazy and indulged. I just play with the idea, my livelihood isn’t dependant on the seasons and the fickle vagaries of the weather. These people have worked hard everyday of their lives.

Later we head for the temple, but we take a long time to get there. There is always too much to see.

 

 

It’s a hot day, so we have to stop for a green tea ice cream along the way.

We can’t visit Japan without having at least one green tea ice cream in the this hot weather. There are pot shops and galleries all along the way, so we don’t quite make it to the temple on this occasion, but one is always there in the background. They are never very far away.

 

We manage to fit in a couple of nice meals along the way. There is always a nice meal to be had in Japan. Sushi for lunch is always a favourite.

  

and  glass of good cold sake.

 

While walking the back streets and laneways in Nara, we come across this little sign hung on a fence. It’s already 2.00pm and every little cafe that we have passed along the way in this back street area has been full with a waiting queue or closed for lunch by now. So this is worth a try

We read the sign as saying ‘footpath cafe’, we follow the footpath and the tiny home-made signs. They are all different and a little bit amateur and somewhat rustic. We are directed down some very small walkways and alleys. We eventually come to a dead-end blocked off alley closed with rough wire and old sheeting. The rest of the little narrow walkway is full of rubbish and weeds as far as we can see. At first I’m a bit baffled. I’m glad that I’m not walking here very late at night

It’s just about at this point that we see the other sign. So small and easy to miss. The arrow points into the last doorway before the blockage. The hand written sign reads ‘Footbath Cafe’, not ‘footpath’. This is a little bit strange but intriguing, we decide too go in anyway.

It turns out be a very small cafe in a small house, each room fitted out with table and chairs to be a small dining room. All the furniture is miss-matched, old, sort of seventies retro, vinyl coated. The hosts appear to be mother and son. A woman of a certain age, she leads us through to our own room with a table and 2 chairs. and brings in a menu and a wood footbath tub. it is filled with very warm water spiced with green tea, fresh herbs and a layer of small pebbles on the bottom to massage your feet while they soak. There is only one item on the menu. A set menu of half a dozen small dishes, something I imagine to be like a tasting menu. There lady is generous and very friendly. She takes our order and brings cool water with a hint of lemon on this hot day. Janine relaxes with her feet luxuriating in the generous warmth of the foot bath.

 

The son is the cook and set about preparing our meal which arrives in no time al all. There a 2 others in another room and a third customer comes in while we are there. I’m the only male. Foot bathing appears to be a fully female pass-time. The food is delicious and the matron appears to top up the footbath with extra warm water.

It’s a very unique and enjoyable experience. I can’t help but think that this tiny cafe, is their home each night after they have moved all the tables out of the way. Whatever the circumstances, it’s a very nice meal in interesting and pleasant surroundings with a quirky couple with delicious food and all at a very affordable price. Unusual and unexpected experiences like this are what travel is all about for us.

Thoroughly recommended!

We walk a little bit further around in these little back lanes and come to a traditional merchants house that has been restored and is open today with historians, architects and restoration experts, all giving tours and slide lectures. We can’t understand most of it, but the house is very grand in that period Nara Matchiya merchant style. We have to file through with a lot of other visitors.

 

 

We do finally make it to one temple near Nara at Uji. The home of the golden Buddha. It’s called the BYOdoin temple. I can see why, because there isn’t a bottle shop in sight!

 

We’ve been here before, perhaps a decade ago, but it’s not the golden Buddha that we have come to see. I can do without the bling. We don’t even take the inside tour this time. It’s more the general ambiance of the place and the gardens, in particular the amazing pruned and trellised wisteria tree. it has to be the biggest wisteria That I have ever seen. It’s beautifully organised on its frame. The plant must be hundreds of years old to get to this size. all through its very long life, it has been pruned and trimmed and untangled from the frame that supports it. Carefully laying the new growth down so that it sits on top of the supports and doesn’t get a chance to twine around any part of the structure and then crush it.

 

After we have walked all around the beautiful and very peaceful gardens, we take the walk down to the river to see the cormorants fishing for their masters, but it’s the cormorants RDO today, so we have a snack in a cafe overlooking the river instead.

We stroll back to the station and catch the train home to Kyoto. We still have an appetite after all this walking, so call in for a beer and a plate of gyoza near our inn.

Cheap and cheerful, it’s a perfect way to end a great day of cultural experiences.