Temple Hopping
Trip Start
Mar 14, 2006
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18
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Trip End
Mar 15, 2007
Kyoto, Japan
Saturday, April 1, 2006
There are not too many people staying in the hotel but having only one shower for everyone still generated a lengthy queue, but suppose you get what you pay for. So as soon I was ready I looped back around Osaka on the train to jump on the Shinkansen to Kyoto for the day.
I had no real plans for Kyoto actually unlike other places visited so far I decided just to go for a wander in no particular direction and see what I came across and given the number of temples in Kyoto I was bound to stumble upon a least a few no matter which way I went. After running into a couple of temples I noticed I was getting pretty close to the Ginkakuji temple known as the Silver Pavillion despite not actually being silver so thought I would mosey on over in that direction and check it out.
Inside the temple grounds I saw my first raked gravel garden which are a common feature around Japan but I had not yet came across one. Having had my fill of temples for the day I wandered back down to Gion which is famous for Geisha who can often be seeing going to and from appointments among the old wooden buildings and teahouses which dominate the area.
By the time I got to Gion I was not planning on staying for long and so I actually left before spotting any Geisha in their native habitat as it were (and saving from myself from no doubt adopting a David Attenburgh voice while sneaking closer), which I was not to bothered about as I had seen some previously in Tokyo and still enjoyed wandering through the narrow old streets.
