Kamakura and Enoshima
Our second day trip out of Tokyo was to Kamakura and Enoshima. I was very happy because the day started with Corine taking me for my first Japanese haircut!!! Then, we went to see the Giant Buddha!! You'll notice the picture of me in the dark--this is actually me inside the Buddha Belly! The statue is so immense that during an earthquake(??- a natural disaster of some sort), the building that he was in was completely destroyed and washed away, but he remained there unharmed!! We then went to Hasadera Temple, a really neat fertility temple. The rows of baby statues are for the infants who have died, either after birth, due to miscarriage or abortion. It is really amazing to see, and the picture just doesn't do it justice. The temple also had this really neat cave that was filled with altars and hundreds of little baby idols that filled every crack and crevice, from people coming to pray. We then finished the day off by going to a spa in Enoshima!! It was absolutely amazing!! They had several pools that overlooked the ocean, including one that was inside a cave!! If you go during the day, which we didn't do, you can even see Fuji from these pools! It was definately one of the highlights of our trip!
Tokyo!!!!
There are pictures of our first day in Tokyo. We started at the Imperial Palace before heading to Akihabara, the electronics district, where Zach discovered the joy of electronic taiko drumming (he and Mark became quite the duet!). We then went to Shibuya, which I think is my favourite part of Tokyo, as it is so cool. We then finished our night off in Shinjuku, where we paid tribtue to "Lost in Translation" by having dinner at the Park Hyatt Hotel. The first picture is of all of us at this dinner, where we are enjoying our wonderful desert of malt vinegar sorbet. Not quite as bad as it sounds, but very close to it!
NIKKÅ
Our first full day in "Tokyo" we went to Nikko, as mountain temple complex that is said to be one of the best day trips outside of Tokyo. As it took us over five hours to get there, we don't recommend it as the best DAY trip--although it was still really neat, and we had great views of Fuji for a lot of the train ride. Plus, the mountains were absolutely beautiful-- it is strange how I had to come to Japan to truly appreciate mountains!!
Kyoto- Day 3
These pictures are from our last day in Kyoto. We went to visit Kinkakuji, the gold temple, as you can see. The temple itself was really cool, although there was not much to see other than the outside of the temple. Also, there was a game to toss the coin in the bowl, that Zach is playing. (Incidentally, he was successful) The train is a picture of the shinkansen (the superexpress bullet train) that we took to get to Tokyo. It was a very nice train and a very smooth ride, despite the crazy speeds that we were travelling at! It barely took over two hours to go across Japan!!!
Kyoto-Day 2 (Part 1)
This are pictures of our second full day in Kyoto. We began at Ginkakuji- the Silver Temple, where we then climbed part of the mountain that it is on, before continuing down a beautiful street (rated "Kyoto's most beautiful" by Lonely Planet), that was amazing because it was so incredibly silent, despite being the middle of bustling Kyoto. We then proceeded to follow the "Philosopher's Path" down towards central Kyoto--hence Zach's philosophizing. We visited various temples and shrines along the way before ending up at Nanzen-ji, a huge temple complex, with an amazing aquaduct. That night, after walking over two hours to get there, we went to a local sento, or hot public bath, before meeting Mark and Chrsitina at a questionable British pub. It was a very nice way to end the day!!
Kyoto-Day 2 (Part 2)
This pictures are of our second day in Kyoto. Primarily these are of Ginkakuji, and surrounding mountain area that we hiked up.
Day 1 in Kyoto
These pictures are of our first full day touring Kyoto. Primarily, they are of Kiyomizu Temple (where we saw the geisha), but there are other pictures of Kyoto. Kyoto is an amazing city where the suprises never end!!!
New Years Eve
This year we spent New Years in Kyoto. We started the night by visiting Nonoji-jo, the castle, before moving to Fushimi Inari Shrine. It was really cool, as the temple has several kilometres of red toreii (or gates) that lead from the temple up the mountain to various altars, shrines, and cemeteries. We walked through the never-ending path of gates to a small altar where families were climbing to give offerings to their ancestors. Plus, for those who dared to the edge, the walk had some amazing views of Kyoto. Following our hike up the mountain, we explored the festival with the thousands of Japanese, and then celebrated a traditional Japanese New Years. It was really neat, because for most of the evening, we were the only foreigners there, showing this was authentic, and not a tourist version of the celebration. Luckily, we did our prayer before midnight, as the line up to do so had grown into a several hour wait to do so in the new year, and it gets cold when the sun goes down!
Geiko in Kyoto
One of the most exciting parts of our recent trip to Kyoto and Tokyo this past two weeks, was on New Years Day at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. As we arrived at the temple on a beautiful day, we saw two geisha approaching the temple with us to do their New Years prayer and offering. They were absolutely indescribable--one of the most beautiful things that Zach or I have ever seen. They had an air of dignity and grace about them that was magical to see. It was interesting to watch, as not only were we absolutely mesmerized, but so we are of the Japanese visitors to the temple (and there were hundreds of them there at the time). It was really neat, because after their procession to the alter, the two geisha stayed and toured the temple, and visited with people and posed for pictures. It was amazing to see the two sides of them as at first they were so dignified, and after they were relaxed and chatting with each other and smiling.
The next day our exploration of Kyoto again began with two geisha at Ginkakuji, the silver temple, but we suspect these were meiko, or apprentices, as they were not nearly so beautiful, nor commanded the same attention and respect.
