Japan: Kyoto Temples

Part II:

Japan for me is not so much the tech toys or the anime that I grew up on. These where things I used to dork about. Travelling for me is now about history, wonders, culture, people and shopping. You might not find so much history in Tokyo. So Aya graciously travelled with me to Kyoto.

Shinkansen and bento box here we go!

Oh at this point I really must mention the smoking rules of Japan. Lets just say if you smoke you might as well quit or the more you want, cause you can only smoke in smoking areas... that includes no smoking on the streets! Yes you can NOT walk and smoke. You have to stop and find a designated smoking area, usually found by a 7/11 or station. Trains also have smoking carriages, which would probably put you off smoking, with its lack of air to breath in.

Oh and before I forget train stations and travelling. If your an avid traveller it's not that bad if you can read maps. Just takes a little longer since everything is in Japanese, even google maps on my android comes up in Japanese! I got around ok even better then Aya!

Golden Pavilion - Kinkakuji

Kiyomizudera

 

Sanjusangendo

Holds 1001 life size stautes. Each one looking diierent from the next and hand carved. You can't take pictures in side but its worth a look. The building is also a very long one to house all those statues. It also used to be an archery school, so you can imagine how they would have to shoot an arrown from one side to the other.

Ryoanji Temple

Arashiyama

Koudaiji Ryozen Kannon

Yasaka Jinjya

I haven't added some of the other temples and shrines we visited,as some places wont let you take pictures. As you can see there are lots of pictures. I will be making another travel book at some point, maybe when I get my own computer!

That weekend must have been my favourite part of the trip. Seeing as many temples as possible spot of shopping in small roads off the beaten track and some culture of geisha dinning.

 

Alex said that it is rare to see let alone spend time with Geisha. That I had a privileged experience. It was definitely different and hard to communicate, and cant help but ask questions and stare at their beauty.

The Out takes

Next week.. Part III shopping