The Hendersons in Himeji: Kyoto Take 2

This weekend Audrey and I had the opportunity to make another trip to Kyoto. We had made a day trip just after New Years Day and were excited to go back and see parts that we missed the first time. This trip was also exciting because we had 12 students/tour guides/translators from my Shogai University class. We started out the morning with a brisk jog as we were running late and almost missed our train. Luckily, we spotted my students and boarded the train just before it left the station. Once in Kyoto we headed for our first destination. Kinkaku-ji ("Temple of the Golden Pavilion"), This park had a beautiful shrine that was covered in gold leaf and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The temple itself was breathtaking! We took a bunch of great pictures and had a great time walking around the garden and enjoying the beautiful weather. After spending about an hour there we head to our next stop, Ryōan-ji. For us the most impressive part of this Zen temple was the famous rock garden, which is thought to have been built in the late 1400s. The garden consists of raked gravel and fifteen moss-covered boulders, which are placed so that, when looking at the garden from any angle (other than from above) only fourteen of the boulders are visible at one time. It is traditionally said that only through attaining enlightenment would one be able to view the fifteenth boulder. Unfortunately, Audrey and I have not attained enlightenment so we were only able to see 14, but we are striving to see them all on our next visit. Our next stop was Ninna-ji, is known as one of the "historic monuments of Ancient Kyoto" It features some beautifully painted screen walls, and a beautiful walled garden. Again, more beautiful scenery and quality time with lovely people. Once we had finished our 3 temple tour we headed to what is known as Kyotos kitchen. This is a small street packed with shop after shop selling anything and everything you need to make a delicious meal in Japan. Audrey and I were amazed at some of the foods they were selling and we had a wonderful time sampling some new cuisines as we ventured from one end to the other. Now after being on our feet for almost 8 hours, we were all pretty beat and ready to head home. We explored the Kyoto station a bit and then hopped on a train back to Himeji. Over all it was a wonderful day filled with beautiful nature, interesting history lessons and wonderful friends. We look forward to many more trips like this around Japan in our last few months here in Japan.