We decided to take the Shinkansen to Kyoto. From Nagoya to Kyoto, riding one of these puppies takes roughly 35 minutes! These trains run at speeds up to 300 km/h (186 mph)! And let me tell you, the ride was like butter. It literally felt as though I was flying in clear skies in a plane. Apparently, these trains on average arrive within 6 seconds of the scheduled arrive time! The Amtrak network in America is truly a joke compared to this.
Here we are enjoying the ride on the beautiful Shinkansen bullet train.
Here are our now traditional travel buddies, Robert and Spring. As you can see in the picture,It looks like we are flying in an airplane. When Amtrak says they are "The only way to fly", do not listen, it is a lie I tell you, a lie!
As you know, I am pretty late on posting this, (we went last December), that is why there is snow on the ground. But look at that mountain whizzing by!
We then arrived to find ourselves looking at a very modern train station. For more proof of how late this post is, look at that Christmas tree! And yes, there are tons of Christmas trees in Japan even though it has few Christians.
It was cloudy that morning and very cold. However we came prepared with layers upon layers of clothes.
Immediately after arriving we went sight seeing. We wanted to go see an old temple called Ginkakuji (Silver Gate Temple or sometimes called Silver pavilion). We took the bus and arrived...at some temple. I do not know its name, but we found this red temple. We were a little discouraged going the wrong way but, how could I miss a photo opportunity! See how small Jessica is compared to the mightiness of this Shinto tori.
The cop cars here in Japan are so shiny. Since, unlike America, its hard to see a cop car on the streets, I had to take a picture.
It was desolate and cold. I felt as though I was in china here because of the red-green color combination.
Me and Jessica were absolutely shocked and provoked here in this picture. What were we shocked about? The audacity of absolutely nothing. I think though that our expressions are well worth the effort.
Jessica and I were cold but excited to be there. Oh, and Jessica also made the cool hat I am wearing just in time for the trip.
We eventually found our way back on the path to what is considered by many to be the most beautiful temple in Japan. It is highly, highly regarded by Japanese people as the most mighty in Japanese aesthetic.
I thought I would take a picture of a typical house here in Kyoto. If there is anything I did not enjoy in Japan was the way they heat their homes. Most people here in Japan have a heater in each worthy room. There is no luxury of central heating, no there isn't. You wake up in the morning cold because the heater turns off automatically at night and mozy your way down to the cold living area to the cold bathroom. And of course this means that when you are done taking a shower, stepping out is the step of death. I might as well step outside. Fortunately Jessica bought me slippers as a Christmas present last year so I was saved from the bitter cold of the floor. Sorry, I was reminded of it all because the picture has a heater.
All this walking made us tired so we decided to take a rickshaw to Ginkakuji. How could I resist being dragged around like some foreign king with the hate of the people behind me. These rickshaw people were very nice and during the trip explained many historical aspects of Kyoto with nice broken English.
Yes, the fun we had. The nice thing about the rickshaw is that they provided us some of those warm sacks. You know, the kind where you shake it and it gets very hot. This made the trip even nicer!
The rickshaw guys decided to take a group shot. See them and all their comedy.
For some reason the rickshaw pullers wanted a picture of us looking quizzically at the camera. We were all "charmingly befuddled"
Eventually the nice rickshaw pullers brought us to the gates of Ginkakuji where we found the air ripe with beautiful natural wonderment.
Already you can see the care taken in trimming the tree. Bonsai... Also I believe this is the Chinese gate. Past it we bought our tickets to enter.
Entering the area you will find yourself walking along a sand covered path lined with many beaufitful trees and a bamboo fence.
Once you enter the grounds of the temple, you are taken back to a different age.
I was amazed with what this man was doing. They had taken sand and constructed many structures with it. That's some cone this man is making.
Boy, I thought the cone was amazing. But then this marvel was found. What you see here is sand, not concrete. When I first saw how crisp this looked I thought it was concrete. There are not footprints or any other marks on it. Making it must have been quite a feat...no pun intended. I was told that this is best viewed at night with a full moon shining on it. It is said it looks like a beautiful silver sea.
Its amazing that these things still exist and are preserved so well.
There are few words...
There was a grand path up the side of a small mountain. I was able to take this shot of Kyoto. Notice that the buildings are many but not too tall. The city lies among the mountains in the crests.
Here is a nice shot of Jessica by a small waterfall. I hope Jessica's mother enjoys this one.
The green is not given any justice by the camera, oh well. But further down you will see the power of green!
On the high path I was able to take this bad shot of the temple. The sun was coming down and I did not have anything to block its light.
There is something about Japanese aesthetics which refresh the soul. They are not shy of letting natural beauty be expressed.
I sincerely recommend coming to this temple. There is much to see, and much to appreciate.
The shot below is my favorite one of the temple grounds. Jessica took this shot. Notice that there is a small path there. The shortest path between to points is a straight line they say. I also say that same short straight path is the ugliest. This path does not move any mountains. The nature around it shapes its course. I have found very few straight streets and paths in Japan (except new planned city centers). Those who live in American suburbia know the gridwork around them. Even the new American neighborhoods with curvy streets seem artificially curvy. They did not grow to be that way but were planned. Luckily America is very large and it is easy to escape the predictability found there by doing some traveling. There is a lot of untouched nature there. Oh and if you go out to touch this nature, also please, let it touch you. (I know that was corny, but I believe it is good advice).
I will post part two soon. I hope you enjoyed some pictures of Japan and Kyoto. That night we slept in a traditional Japanese hotel elipses.
