Kyoto

Schedule: Nijo-jo, Golden pavilion, Silver pavilion, Kiomizu-dera.

Since we're staying in a traditional room tonight, we packed up our stuff... I threw in some wash... and we went to find breakfast. After breakfast at McDonalds--it was Y420 here for the same meal that cost W3000 in korea--we came back and used the drier.

First task is to figure out the subway. I bought a one-way ticket, but the day pass and normal tickets are sold by separate machines. Mom went and asked the agent how to do it. Since this had taken a few minutes we decided to return, take care of the dryer, and then leave for the day.

10:00 am. First, Nijo-jo. This castle was built in the 1600s for the Shogun, who used it as his seat of government for over 200 years. It sits in the middle of town, so it was only 2 subway stops away from the hotel. The castle had a couple of amazing things. First are the nightengale floors, which sing as you walk down them. They were designed so that nobody could come or go without being noticed. Second are the paintings. The walls and doors of the entire palace are covered with different paintings with representations of traditional themes. For example, the armoury has eagles sitting in pines. Third are the gardens. The gardens are amazing, and it does not appear that there is a branch out of place in the entire garden. Pink and white Azaleas. The crows

While waiting for mom to take my picture, a small group of Japanese school children come up to us. Each child recites, in order, "Hello, my name is ..., I am from ... prefecture.", and then proceed in unison, "May I ask you a question?". The question that they ask is "Where are you from?". We tried Utah, but they didn't know where it was, so we settled on "America", which delighted them.

We learned while talking to people that Japanese schoolchildren typically visit Kyoto on a field trip around 6th grade and 10th grade. They travel with a teacher in group of about 8 kids. And they were all over the place. If you want to go to a shrine or temple, just follow the uniforms.

12:00 noon. ish. Second, Kinkakuji, the golden pavilion. It's about 20 minutes by bus, near the hills. The entire building has been covered in gold leaf, and it sits near a garden and a reflecting pool. Dad would have loved it. Around the temple are some other amazing gardens. By the ponds are purple water iris.

On the way out it starts to rain, and we take refuge under the tiny shop awnings. They have samples out, and the school kids are tasting them; so do we. Cinammon cookies, sweetened rice balls that you dip into a black sesame paste, rice dumplings filled with strawberry, green tea, or sesame filling, wasabi peanuts.

2:30 pm. Third, Ginkakuji, the silver temple. This is across town from the golden pavilion, and so it took a bit over 30 minutes by bus to get there. Also surrounded by amazing gardens, including a rock garden with a semi-conic mound of sand as well as a raised bed of sand. I assume that the silver of the sand is related to the temple's name. Mom said that this was her favorite garden we saw today.

We saw many more europeans visiting Japan than Americans. I took pictures for several groups from england, as well as one couple from spain.

4:30 pm. Our final stop, really, Kiyomizu-dera Temple. This is a series of several bhuddist temples that are built on the mountain overlooking Kyoto. It was raining pretty hard at various times along the walk here, and it was a relief to stop in the protection of an ancient temple roof. These were the largest temple that we've seen on the trip, certainly larger than the temples overlooking Pusan. The temples were supported by massive wooden pillars and overlook a spring that you can pay a bit to drink. We thought that it was funny that the kids wearing face masks would take a drink from a communal cup, but the cups were placed into a UV sterilizer between uses. We both got drinks after the lady accepting the money packed up and left. I also took a photo for a group of 3 girls from LA drinking at the spring.

We were a little lucky on our timing, since most of these sites close at 5, while Kiyomizu-dera closes at 6 (well, except for the love stone, which is supposed to help you find true love, which closes at 5). Each site averaged about Y500 per adult to enter as well, and they don't take visa.

Walking back from the temple, all the shops are closing up. They sell trinkets, fans, chopsticks, and most of all, japanese traditional treats. We buoght a little bun filled with barbecued beef and onions, which smelled very good, and was quite tasty.

6:15 pm. We take another turn down an alley when another shrine comes into view, and we detour to look at it. A few blocks later we find a bus stop, wait for the pickup, and ride to the hotel.

Dinner. We're going to look for sushi.

7:00 pm. I had planned out our trip to the sushi restaurant, which involved changing trains at a subway stop, but it turns out that there are different systems in kyoto, trains and subways. The day pass doesn't cover trains, but it does cover busses. Another puzzle. So instead we walked and then rode the bus for a part of the way.

Found sushi, but we missed the place recommended by the book, which we encountered on the way home. It is a little nook, and if you're walking towards the river without reading Japanese... you'll miss it, as the black lantern that marks the entrance will be obscured by the shop next door.

The shop that we found was in the busy business district of Kyoto, around the corner from our intended destination. This shopping area was very upscale, in some ways similar to the mall we visited in Korea, but in others very different. There were a lot of people on the street, but I didn't see as many in the stores. Every so often a small buddhist shrine would punctuate the shop displays with lanterns, candles, incense, and a small bhudda.

Dinner was good. All of our meals here have been good. We ordered a set plate of Tekka Maki with another rice dish with an unknown (to me) name. It was flavored rice, noodles of some sort, and pork on top, also with one shrimp. It also came with miso soup, which was savory and hot, the transparency of the broth completely belying its flavor. Tuna rolls are my favorite, and they always leave me satisfied.

We walked home, and on the way ducked into little shops and convenience stores looking for treats and snacks. We found a few that looked good and I bought some strawberry filled chocolates, which were very tasty.

The room is measured in tatami mats, which are basically the size of a twin mattress, rectangular, twice as long as they are wide. There are 6 mats laid out on our floor so that the room is 3 mats wide and 2 mats long. The bathroom is smaller than in the western room, and there is no internet connection, but there is a television, minifridge, and table with 4 legless chairs. The windows are covered by typical japanese paper frames.

11:00 pm. Before bed I check out our seats on the return flight--both aisle, good.