Kyoto

Two weeks ago, I went to Kyoto with the other JETs and our Japanese teacher Osaki-san. We spent Saturday and Sunday touring the city. We saw the old imperial palace, which was specially open to the public because it was some kind go culture day, so there were about a million people there. Apparently a lot of it is normally closed to the public, but for a short time it was opened, so people came in droves. 

We saw the famous kinkaku-ji, the golden pavilion. It is one of the most photogenic buildings I've even been to. It sits next to a little pond, so it looks like it's floating. We arrived about ten minutes before the sun set, so the lighting was perfect.

We stayed in a hostel near Gion, which is the historic geisha district. At night, you can still see maiko (apprentice geisha) walking around all dressed up to go entertain. 

Sunday we went to a museum of Japanese crafts, which was cool. We went to Heian jingu, a huge shrine with beautiful gardens. Then we went to Fushimi-inari, a shrine famous for it's many torii gates. They stretch up the hillside creating a winding tunnel. You can walk through them as you hike up the hill, it's really cool. 

Kyoto is a beautiful city, and one of the few that was not destroyed during the war. I'm definitely planning on a return trip. Luckily, it's only 2.5 hours by bus!

Pictures