Up at 4:00 to catch a 6:00 train to Kyoto. We took a taxi to the station to save time and make life easier, only to discover that the taxi dropped us off at the wrong station. After frantically looking for a solution and with the help of a number of nice Japanese people, we took a local train to Tokyo station and just barely made the bullet train. Riding the bullet train is a bit different that the regular train. When it comes into a station, it only stops for one or two minutes. You have to be lined up for the correct car and ready to get on as soon as the train stops. Fortunately, the signage is in both Japanese and English. Riding the subway and train here is great, partly because they are so clean. The Japanese do not usually eat or drink on the street or on the subway, so there is no litter anywhere I have seen. Cell phones cannot be used on the train or subway so the cars are very quiet.
Our luck improved, though, because we could see Mt. Fuji from the train (not always visible, apparently). We had a morning tour in Kyoto that took us to a Buddhist temple, Nijo-jo Castle, and the Golden Pavilion or Rokuon-Ji Temple. We spent some time at the Kyoto Craft Center, then visited on our own the Philosopher’s Walk and the Silver Pavilion at Ginkakuji Temple,and the famous Rock Garden at Daisen-In Temple. That was my favorite place of the day, even though it is under renovation and we couldn't take pictures inside. The garden was made about 490 years ago by Kogaku-Zenji to express the spirit of Zen through the media of only rocks and sand. You can look at some of the sites we visited at http://www.oclandscape.com/ocblog/gardens/2006/02/.
Afterwards we went back to the train station for a long wait for our return train; finally back at the hotel about midnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment