Kyoto, day 1

1st kanji: "kyoo"=capital 2nd kanji: "too"=capital

say: Kyo-toe (not Key-yo-toe)

Jeremy and I arrived in Kyoto on the night of December 28th, and headed straight for our ryokan. (say: rio-khan)  A ryokan is a Japanese-style inn, so we slept on futons on a tatami-mat floor.

Nanzen-ji

We started our temple/shrine-hopping the next morning.  Our first stop was Nanzen-ji.  To the right is the main gate (mon) to Nanzen-ji.  It was pretty big, and very beautiful.

For some reason, Nanzen-ji has an aqueduct running through it.  It still carries water down from the mountain today.

We followed a path along the aqueduct and found Nanzen-ji's Oku-no-in, which might mean "the inner temple".  It was so quiet and peaceful.

We poked around in here for a bit, then followed the path up the hill even farther.  It took us into the low mountains behind the temple.  There was quite a hike up some rather tricky stairs, but it was really beautiful. (:  When we finally got up into the mountain we saw a small shrine, and a 'bathroom'!

This is one of the small shrines we found up in the mountain, at the end of the trail.  There was a small 'altar' inside this cave, with many small candles lit on it.

And this is the 'bathroom'--seriously.  It is a place where pilgrims come to pray, while sitting under the small waterfall you see.  My guidebook said even in the dead of winter you can see people bathing here.  Crazy!  We didn't see anyone, however. (:  Either way, it was still really interesting, and very beautiful.

Eikan-do

Next we checked out the Eikan-do temple.  This is a picture of the garden in the middle of all the buildings.  It was really lovely, and quiet. (:  We wandered all throughout the temple, and up to the Amida Hall (Amida is one of the names of Buddha).  There, we were able to see a small statue of Buddha, which had been carved for a priest there.  It is quite well-known, and was really cool to see the real thing. (:  Sorry I couldn't take a picture of him. ):

Ginkaku-ji

After Eikan-do, we walked up the "Path of Philosophy" to Ginkaku-ji, or "The Silver Pavilion" as it's called in English.  Gin means 'silver'--it was supposed to be covered with silver leaf (as Kinkaku-ji is covered with gold), but it never happened.  It is still one of the most famous, and most beautiful temples I've seen, though.  I love the garden and the rock 'gardens' there.  There is also an amazing view over Kyoto from the small mountain Ginkaku-ji sits at the foot off. (:

A stroll through the Imperial Palace Park.  We couldn't go inside, though.

Kyoto, day 2

Fukuoka