2nd kanji: "too"=capital
After that, we continued our temple/shrine-hopping.
The building is 120 meters long, and the building we saw was (re)built in 1266.
So we headed back, and had dinner at an Italian restaurant. Then rested up for the next day.
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| Kyoto, day 2 | 1st kanji: "kyoo"=capital 2nd kanji: "too"=capital |
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| 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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ryoan-ji | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Our first stop the next day was Ryoan-ji, the most famous rock garden in Japan. It was really quiet and lovely. It was my first time visiting this temple. The name means, 'peaceful dragon.' Nice. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ryoan-ji's rock garden: looking right | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ryoan-ji's rock garden: looking left | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Inside Ryoan-ji Temple | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| From Ryoan-ji, we walked to Kinkaku-ji, which is one of Japan's most famous temples. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Kinkaku-ji | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| The outside of the temple is gilded. It was burnt down in 1950 by an obsessed monk, and rebuilt in 1955. While the building is pretty, Ginkaku-ji's garden is much nicer. (: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| We met Madoka for lunch at the Kyoto Train Station. (: It was really nice to see her again, and to have her meet Jeremy! We had a Japanese-style lunch at one of the station's many restaurants. Very tasty. (: After that, we continued our temple/shrine-hopping. |
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| Sanjuusangen-do | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| I appologize for my awful picture of Sanjuusan... it was so sunny that day. I did what I could to bring out the detail. Anyways, this building was full of 1001 gilded statues of the goddess Kannon. There are also 28 statues of guardians of Kannon, and one of the Thunder God and the Wind God. They were really amazing, and so lovely. Of course, we weren't allowed to take pictures... But I'm exploring the 'net for some. The building is 120 meters long, and the building we saw was (re)built in 1266. |
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| Kiyomizu-dera | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 'Kiyomizu' means 'clear water.' Kiyomizu-dera is most famous for the large deck you see in my photo (to the right). You get a great view of the city from it, which makes it a tourist trap. We strolled around for a bit, then went to find Chion-in, but ended up at Chion-JI. >sigh< So we headed back, and had dinner at an Italian restaurant. Then rested up for the next day. |
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| Kyoto, day 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kyoto, day 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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