My two-day-one-night trip up to this part of Japan started out in Nara, the neighboring city that was capital of Japan even before Kyoto was.
It looked like this!
This is me with a group of english-studing students who struck up a conversation with me at random!
Deer were pretty much everywhere. You could get food to feed them, and they had had all fear of humans de-evolved out of them.
But enough chitchat! This building is more or less the reason I came to Nara at all. Specifically, its contents:
BUDDHA!
Even bigger than the one at Kamakura! Unfortunately, my camera has been malfunctioning sometimes in low-light areas and it's basically impossible to convey how huge that thing is in photograph form, so I'm going to have to move on to KYOTO now.
This is the entrance to the Ginkakuji (銀閣寺), which I found to be far and above the most gorgeous place I went to in Kyoto, and thus in all of Japan.
It's so pretty!
PRETTY.
It's not going to stop being pretty, nor will the pictures stop coming.
As a side note, inside that pavilion is the actual Ginkakuji building itself. It was under repair at the time I saw it.
But who cares, when the gardens around it look like this?
Afdjkfweopeklgwe.
OKAY that's not nearly all of my Ginkakuji pictures but I'm moving on.
This is The Philosopher's Way (哲学の道), a road by a river that some famous dude or other liked to walk down. It's admittedly quite pleasant. I met a wandering artist there!
Aqueduct!
And now we have moved onto the KYOTO NIGHTLIFE, just in canse you forgot that Kyoto is an actual city, not just a collection of gorgeous temples and gardens. Like I tend to.
Here is... something! Temple related? I honestly don't know what it is!
Seriously, somebody who knwos Japanese culture better than me? What are these things?
So ends DAY ONE of my magical Kyoto adventure.
Day TWO begins with...
ENGRISH.
I swear this exact phrase appeared on Engrish.com at some point, but I'll be damned if I can find it.
Behold the most powerful ice cream sundae in the universe. The cost there - 10,000 yen - is roughly $95.
This is the quality courtyard surrounding Nijo Castle (二条城). Lots of gravel, and lots of quality.
And people used to just live here! It's crazy.
Some nice Rock Garden action going on here, yes.
Next is the Ginkakuji's sister temple: Kinkakuji (金閣寺). It is on a LAKE.
And unalike the Ginkakuji...
I could actually see this one!
Ain't it pretty?
And like all things in Kyoto, it was surrounded by amazing garden.
This thing was kind of interesting. Apparently you're supposed to try and toss spare change and get it into the bowl in the middle. I lost 3 yen trying, to no avail.
Next and last on the major Kyoto site list is Ryoanji (竜安寺). It has many nice sites.
But most famously...
The Zen Garden!
I do not comprehend the meaning behind these rocks, but I am told they are highly meaningful. Honestly, even not understanding it, it was interesting to ponder.
And here is me with my temporary traveling partner Bak, from Korea.
IN CONCLUSION Kyoto is awesome and I would go back in a heartbeat.
But that's not all I did since my last blog post!
I also went to Yokohama.
Pictures begin now!
See that boat? It's not actually a boat anymore. It's a maritime museum. Awesome.
Now entering!
While inside, I learned many things about life on a boat. However...
I did not learn the meaning of this sign by the anchor.
Seriously, what was up with that sign. It's not a cat.
But anyways, what Yokohama is really famous for is:
Chinatown!
Good heavens there were a lot of people here.
This poster... there is nothing I can say that would add to the inherent awesome of it.
China!
And finally, Yokohama Stadium and the adjacent park:
And that's it! I'm done posting pictures.
I am leaving Japan July 31st, 4:30 PM and arriving in America nine hours later, on July 31st, 9:30 AM. Airplanes are capable of time travel.
This has been a fantastic trip, but I don't think I'm going to write a big dramatic conclusion here. I may post again once I'm back in the states with some more sweeping general observations.
If not, thanks for reading!
