Kyoto again
Wednesday, June 23rd Ginkakuji Temple, Kiyomizu....and more

Students in Japan in their 3rd year of junior high school traditionally take a school trip with their teachers. It's 3 days and two nights to somewhere special in Japan. Bill lived for a few years on a military base south of Hiroshima when he was around 13 years old. He remembered Ginkakuji Temple from just such a field trip. It was such a pleasure to discover that this temple is just as beautiful as he remembered it from his childhood. After experiencing typhoon winds and rain on Monday, we were treated with exceptionally fine weather this day. Overcast skies kept our skin from burning and a cool breeze made for a very comfortable day for a walking tour. We started out again from the JR station and easily caught a bus (40 minutes ride) to this temple. The grounds were green and lush. I thought that the tiny maple leaves were the prettiest. The temple is done in real gold leaf which is incredible in the sunlight. From the temple we walked down hill to the Kyoto Museum for World Peace. We decided to only spend a few minutes viewing a powerful photo exhibit on war all over the world. While there a newspaper cameraman took our photo so we are probably going to have our picture in the paper somewhere in Japan! We then hiked down and found Nijo Castle, but we got there right at 4pm - closed. It's very frustrating that we have only about 6-7 hours time per day to tour in Kyoto. The carpets are rolled up and things close down around 4pm. I have been in Kyoto many times and was sadly disappointed when, not only the sightseeing places, but the shops and some restaurants also close so early. When it takes 40 minutes one way on a bus this limits the places you can view in a day. From Nijo we caught another bus to Gion and hiked up through a Shinto shrine that led us to an incredible stone path. I really wanted Nola and Bill to visit my favorite sight, Kiyomizu Temple. The view from there is quite spectacular as the sun goes down and the lights of the city come on. I had forgotten that i had been there in the fall when the days were much shorter. Kiyomizu stays open till 6pm and we were hustled out way before the sun was ready to set. Ah, well, the grounds were gorgeous and we got some good touristy pictures.

I am constantly amazed at the variety of people we meet while traveling around Japan. As we were gently nudged by security off the temple grounds we ran into a group from Sri Lanka. They were with a Japanese woman benefactor who was sponsoring them on their trip to Japan. One of the men was a Theravada Buddhist monk. Of course he invited me to visit them in Sri Lanka next month. I felt like such a world traveler when i casually said, "So sorry, I'll be in Tanzania." Wow, sometimes i have to pinch myself it seems so unreal the places and possibilities for traveling and visiting such incredible people.