March 2025
March 2025 |
|
After breakfast we traveled to north-eastern Kyoto where we walked along the Philosopher's Path, running alongside the Lake Biwa Canal. It's perfect for a slow stroll under the fragrant blossoms, except there were very few fragrant blossoms.
|
|
This picture was sent by Mayumi
from the tour that she was giving right after us. |
In that neighborhood, we also visited a beautiful temple and gardens called Ginkakuji or Silver Pavilion dating back to 1482.
|
|
Ginkakuji or Silver Pavilion |
Then we drove to Heian Jingu Shrine , a relatively young sacred location built in 1895 AD. This Shinto shrine is very impressive, with its enormous Torii (sacred gate) standing almost 75 feet high. The garden behind the main hall is a shining example of Meiji-era garden design.
|
|
Heian Jingu Shrine |
Next, we visited Kinkaku-ji
Temple, otherwise known as the Golden Pavilion. This is a Zen temple
and a UNESCO World Heritage Site with two floors covered entirely in thin
layers of pure gold.
|
|
The Golden Pavilion |
From here David and I took a taxi to see the Ryonji Temple and Rock Garden.
|
|
David is about half-way back
with the shiny sunglasses. We were having a nice meditative
sit until some tourist kicked his way passed David to the front. We found a quieter spot. |
After this, David and I took a taxi back to the hotel, then took a bus to the Gionkobu Kaburenjo Annex Theater to see a Traditional Arts Performance. Mayumi offered this as a nice option for the evening. David booked the tickets online, then got the bus number to catch and the location that we were to get on and off the bus. We got to the specified stop, but then had to ask for directions to the theater. It took several queries for directions, but we still got there about an hour early. We tried to find food in the area, but everything was closed.
The show was very nice. We couldn't take pictures but you can watch sample videos at the above link. We saw all but the Bunraku Puppet show.
Once out of the theater, we quickly caught a cab back and ate at a nice restaurant up the street from our hotel.
This day was scheduled to be a free day in Kyoto. But Mayumi volunteered to take us all on a custom tour. Because it was not a sanctioned tour, we took public transportation instead of the chartered bus, which was interesting watching Mayumi help everyone buy their tickets.
Here is where we went:
Fushimi Inari Shrine (aka 1000 Tori Gates)
|
|
There's actually only 800 or so of these orange gates with about that many tourists clamoring to walk through them. After a short distance, I
couldn't take the crowding. So we walked up an adjacent trail to
a small shrine. |
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and surrounding area.
|
| Bamboo Forest |
From here, the group went back to Gion to do more shopping. David and I took a cab back to the hotel and then we walked to Toji Temple.
|
| Toji Temple Pagoda |
After breakfast, we rode the short distance to Nara Park where we visited Tadai-ji (Great Eastern Temple), famed for its Great Buddha Hall, which remains one of the largest wooden buildings in the world. Inside this impressive building houses a 45 foot bronze statue of the Buddha Vairocana.
|
| Tadai-ji Temple Check out the monk getting his picture taken by his buddy |
Following this we wandered through Nara Park, where more than 1200 tame sika deer roam freely.
|
| Nara Park |
Everyone bows in Japan
After that we rode the bus 2 hours to Osaka. We visited the Osaka Castle Park and walked around the gigantic structure.
|
| Osaka Castle |
We later checked in at the Karaksa Hotel Grande Shin-Osaka Tower.
That night David and I found a western-looking restaurant and walked the short distance to it. The waitress did not speak English and just ordered us a couple of high balls. We declined, then using Google Translate, she said she would order us 4 dishes. We again declined and ordered from pictures on the yelp menu. We eventually got what we wanted. I ordered a shrimp dish which I vomited back up at 3 AM.
See More Pictures of our time in Kyoto, Nara,
and Osaka.
On to Hiroshima!