Kyoto is the former Imperial capital city and with over 2,000 Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, it is considered the most well-preserved city in Japan. With just two full days to explore, we knew we couldn't come close to seeing everything we wanted to, but we made sure to pack as much sightseeing in as humanly possible, or at least we tried. Our first destination was the famous Kinkukuji Temple, also known as the Golden Temple. We hopped on the bus using our $5-a-day tourist bus pass (best deal in all of Japan) and made a quick stop at Nijo Castle on the way. Unfortunately, the castle was closed for the holidays which gave us a little bit of the "uh-oh" feeling that perhaps other things would be closed as well, but we didn't think too much about it. We got back on the bus and were dropped off at the entrance to the temple grounds. It was pretty crowded with tourists, which I was suprised about being that it was the middle of winter, but even with a lot of people walking around, it was suprisingly calm and quiet. This was a theme mostly everywhere in Japan (except on New Years Eve). It was worth the crowds though when we made our way down the pebble path and caught our first glimpse of the stunning Golden Temple, seemingly afloat on a beautiful pond in the middle of a lush zen garden. We snapped a few photos and then just hung around for a while, staring in awe at the magificence of the temple. It's hard to describe the difference between seeing something like the Golden Temple in a picture and the feeling you get when you're standing in front of it. It makes you feel insignificant and special at the same time. Like you're such a small part of this big, incredible world, yet you're also lucky enough to share in it all. It's the same feeling I had at the Colosseum, at the Grand Canyon, and at Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. And I think that feeling is exactly the reason that I love to travel so much.
After an exciting morning, we made our way back downtown and grabbed some delicious green tea ice cream which we had read so much about (and ended up having four more times during our trip). We then hopped back on the bus and set off to Nanzen-ji temple which was supposed to be a stunning temple set on expansive grounds on the side of a mountain. When we arrived, it was unfortunately closed, so I opened up my guide book to find something close by. I read about another temple that is off-the-beaten path for most tourists. We followed the directions and found ourselves in front of a gigantic wooden temple that looked it has never been restored. Next to the temple was a huge brick aqueduct that connected water through out the different temples in the area. We walked along the aqueduct and explored the temples for the rest of the afternoon. That evening, we headed to the downtown area, in search of some really good Japanese food. It was much more difficult than we expected because we were in the ritzy, commercial area. Everything was expensive or too westernized. After an hour of hunting around and asking locals where to go, we were finally directed to a little hole in the wall that didn't look like anything special at all on the outside. Inside was very simple too, but we were greeted with big smiles by the three chefs behind the Japanese style counter. We couldn't read the menu but the waiter helped us decide on Pork Ramien and we eagerly awaited our food. We watched as the chefs sliced the pork and floured the fresh noodles in front of our eyes, and we were served within 10 minutes. The ramien may very well have been the best soup I've ever had (no offense Mom, I really like your soup too)! The savory broth tasted like rich, creamy mushrooms and the pork and noodles just about melted in my mouth. We left the restaurant with full bellies and went home to rest up for another big day in Kyoto.
On Day 2, we began with brunch at a restaurant full of locals, inside of an old Japanese house. We asked for the lunch special (which my Lonely Planet book instructed) and the chef nervously asked us "cod? cod?" We nodded yes. I guess he wasn't sure if we would like it, but the beautifully displayed lunch of cod tempura, rice, miso soup and tofu was delightful. Next, we checked out some temples and museums downtown and then made our way to the old area of Gion, known for its antique streets and Geisha spottings. We wandered around for the entire afternoon, discovering beautiful houses, gardens, temples, shrines and even an enormous cemetery at the top of the hill, which over-looked the entire city. We had seen many people in kimonos but were disappointed that we did not have our Geisha spotting. Finally, as we were just on our way back to the bus stop, two Geisha's appeared at the end of the street we were walking down. We approached them and they happily took photos with us, and we bowed gratefully. I'm still not fully convinced that they were real Geisha's but I have no reason to think that they weren't! That night, we had sushi around the corner from our hostel (in which we had a fantastic japanese-style room where we slept on the floor) and then we finished the day off with a delicious sake tasting.
The next morning, we once again dragged ourselves out of bed at the crack of dawn and got on the Shinkansen to return to Tokyo for the New Year. This time around, the train ride was much more enjoyable. I didn't let myself doze off as I had on the way there, so I was able to take in the beautiful scenery of the Japanese country-side. About an hour from Tokyo, we had perhaps one of the best sightings of the trip, Mt. Fuji. For nearly a half hour, the train approached the mountain and the excitement continued to build and build, until we were right there in front of it. The bullet train got so close to the mountain that I honestly feel like I've been there. If I do go back to Japan, which I hope I will, I wont feel the need to visit Mt. Fuji (unless of course I decide to climb it) because we were so close. It was definitely one of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen. After an great time in Kyoto, full of unique experiences and exciting discoveries, we headed back to Tokyo, still with New Years and a visit to the Imperial Palace ahead of us.
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