Japan - Day Three (Kyoto Part 2)

Left the Ryokan early this morning and headed to the train station. Kyoto Station is a huge architectural wonder, but I had no time to notice since we had a full day ahead of us to go see some more temples. Hopped on a bus and headed to the northwest end of the city to see Kinkakuji. This is the Golden Pavilion, a three story pagoda covered in gold foil.

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Its pretty much the only thing to see in the temple complex, but its extraordinarily beautiful. Interestingly, in the 50s, a monk loved it so much he burnt it to the ground. Being a World Heritage Site (as are most of what I saw in Kyoto), it was rebuilt and stands at the edge of a beautiful garden lake and as breathtaking as you could imagine (show Kinkakuji picture here). It's very commercialized which disgusts me a bit, so we took a few pictures and left.

Next up was Ryoanji. Now, as a fan of the more austere Zen sects, I was looking forward to seeing Ryoanji. It's very famous for its Zen rock garden. In fact, I used to dream of sitting on the wooden porch and meditate looking at the garden. The meditation was impossible due to the crowds of schoolkids and french tourists, but Chikako and I lingered for a whie enjoying the view. I also broke down and bought a few souveniers, but as this is probably my favorite of the Zen temples, I didn't mind. Again, the beauty of the place was pretty overwhelming and it was worth the muscle-destroying walk we had to make to get there (we had been walking so much we were limping by this point).

Our last stop was Daitokuji. I had been hoping to see this (it was Daitokuji or Sanjusankendo, and the proximity of the former won out) as its a giant zen temple complex. Alas, while a bit of it was lovely, alot of it isn't open to visitors so that was disappointing. The two areas that were open were interesting. The first, Daisen-in was a lovely temple surrounded by some excellent rock gardens. I even got to talk to the famous abbot who runs the place. He hit on my wife a little bit, then tried to flatter me by saying I looked like Shakyamuni Buddha. I replied that everyone technically should look like the Buddha (as we are all the buddha), but maybe he was making a fat joke? Have I gained that much weight? He also mentioned that today was Buddha's birthday...though again I suspect he tells all visitors this.

Anyway, that was really enjoyable as was the tea we were served overlooking the garden. Sadly, they were rather intense on pushing the option to buy the abbot's book, his calligraphy, pictures of the place, etc. I dont mind a religious institution making money off tourists. In fact, I'd rather give my money to a temple than a random store. But the tenacity and somewhat pushy nature of the people there did spoil it.

One other nice place in Daitokuji (and please understand the place is enormous. More than 10 big buildings are in it. It took us a good 10-15 minutes to walk straight through it) is Koto-in. This was a lovely tea garden area which was surrounded by a bamboo forest. It was designed by a renowned tea ceremony master and was very beautiful. But as time to catch our train north was coming near, we didnt stay long and hopped the bus for the train station.

I write this on the bullet train heading north. At this point, we are neat Mt. Fuji (but it's raining so I can't see it) and will eventually arrive in Tokyo. Thereafter, we will hop on another bullet train for the 4 hour ride north to Chikako's home town of Ichinohe. "My" part of the vacation is over, and her part really begins (it's been 4 years since she's seen her family) but I am so excited for her. I love her family so much and we should be spending the weeks here resting, bathing, talking, eating, drinking, reading, and partying. But day three is over...the rest will be spent on the train (as we'll arrive late tonight in Ichinohe) resting my battered legs.