We spent the first night (last Saturday) in Kyoto in a small guesthouse, which just opened a month ago and features small rooms for one or two people and "capsules." Our room was about a quarter of the size of our bedroom in Korea, but we still had a great time--the owners were very friendly and helpful and the other guests seemed to be in their 20s or 30s. On Sunday, we spent a few hours at a famous flea market by Toji Temple, which only happens on the 21st of each month. I bought two secondhand kimonos (for $10 each) and a beautiful obi. We then visited two other huge temples near Kyoto Station before returning to the guesthouse for our luggage and moving to our hotel, which was in "Downtown Kyoto" in a great location, at the intersection of the two subway lines. Our room wasn't much bigger, but the bed was a little more comfortable and the people at the front desk were also very helpful (we also heard many languages during our small interactions with the other guests). We had dinner at a great sushi restaurant near the Kamogawa River and, sitting at the counter, we could observe the work of the sushi chefs (we went back on Monday night since we liked it so much). Monday was wonderful--the weather was perfect and we spent the day in gorgeous Arashiyama, to the west of Kyoto. Since the day was a holiday, the area was filled with Japanese tourists (a few of whom were wearing kimonos). We hiked up the mountain in the monkey park and had a wonderful view of Kyoto from the top (and we fed some monkeys). We later visited the impressive Bamboo Grove and the Tenryuji Temple, which had lovely gardens.
On Tuesday, we took the bullet train to Nagoya to visit our friend Lee, which was lots of fun. We visited Nagoya Castle, had traditional green tea and a red bean-filled sweet, saw a temple, walked around the city (it was unfortunately raining most of the day), and had dinner at a tempura restaurant. That morning, we woke up early to visit Ryoanji Temple, which contains a famous zen garden (we actually found the other gardens to be even more stunning). On Wednesday, we spent a very rainy day visiting several other beautiful sites--the Golden Pavilion (Kinkakuji Temple), the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the Path of Philosophy, and Ginkakuji Temple. Everything was lovely (especially the Path of Philosophy), but our shoes and pants got soaked. Thursday was also rainy, but the rain stopped later in the afternoon. We spent the day in Nara, which was also beautiful. We had big bowls of udon noodle soup for lunch, which were warm and delicious (and the noodles were hidden in a large bag of yummy tofu). We then saw Todaiji Temple, where the Buddha was so impressive, and saw two shrines and a five-storey pagoda. Deer were walking around everywhere in the forest, and they generally looked cute, wet, and hungry; Daniel fed a group of them special hay crackers, and they looked like they were going to jump on him.
Friday morning, we quickly visited Kiyomizu-dera Temple, which was stunning, before taking the train back to the airport. When we arrived in Seoul, we were greeted by cold gusts of wind and a rain/snow mix. I hope it warms up here soon! We now have to face reality--lots of grading and planning to do before school on Monday. But we're looking forward to two visits from great friends in the next couple of weeks, and we're already planning our next trip to Japan! :)
Here are some of my favorite pictures; I took almost 800 pictures during the trip, so it was very difficult to choose just a few of them...
The flea market at Toji Temple
In Arashiyama
Feeding the monkeys
The view of Kyoto from the monkey park
The Bamboo Grove
At Tenryuji Temple
Green tea ice cream
Pontocho-dori Street
Ryoanji Temple
Nagoya Castle
Green tea
The Golden Pavilion
The Kyoto Imperial Palace
The Path of Philosophy
Ginkakuji Temple
Deer in Nara
Todaiji Temple
The Buddha
Daniel feeding the deer
The five-storey pagoda
At Kiyomizu-dera Temple
