WALKING JAPAN

I had always wanted to visit Japan in cherry-blossom season. The chance eventually came when I was put in touch with Walk Japan, a company that offers tours ranging from easy city walks to tough alpine treks. I chose their Nakasendo Way, a route that follows a feudal highway through Honshu Island.

After 27 hours of flying and transit via Joburg and Hong Kong, I arrived in Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital, shattered and jetlagged, but still determined to see the city’s essential sights. Fortunately, there was a day to spare before the hike. Armed with a map, rudimentary instructions and Google Translate, I climbed on a bus and set off.

First up was the Zen Buddhist temple of Kinkaku-ji, an ethereal pavilion seemingly suspended above a pond. The building functions as a shariden, supposedly housing the Buddha’s ashes, and its top two storeys are coated with gold leaf creating a surreal effect.

Next was the temple of Tenry ū -ji. Founded in 1339, this complex has a gorgeous bamboo forest, a place of clacking stems and luminous green (gates) that thread their way up Inari Mountain. Set against dark forest and grey sky, the bright-orange and hordes of young worshippers in colourful kimonos had the photographer in me hopping around in delight.