The Mums (Carol and Susan) in Japan


This was a big trip. We woke before 5am and drove out around 6am to try and beat the Golden week traffic. We were lucky and made it to Nara by 8:30 and were able to have a leisurely breakfast.

Day 3 - Around Nara

Nara was the capital of Japan in the first golden age (around 760AD). Many of the temples date from that era. Nara is small and the temples less ornate than the magnificent temples of Kyoto which is a short 40 minute drive away.


A random garden as we walked from the car park, past the governors residence toward the temples.

Todai-ji temple




Standing outside the temple that houses a giant buddha


Inside the gates


Purification with smoke





The giant statue. It is hard to see the scale. but imagine that a person could crawl through a nostril(See below)


Another angle


Another tourist


THis hole in one of the columns, is the same size as the nostril in the statue. Climbing through it brings luck.


Non of us was willing to actually try climbing through the hole. Popular with the kids though.


Fortune
We paid 100yen and had ourreceived fortunes. My mother and I shook different containers and both pulled out number 42, the same fortune. Both were good luck!


Feeding the deer in the Park


Nara is known for the sacred deer in the park. THey had no fear of people





You could easily pat the deer


Of course the temple and other monuments of Nara are listed as world heritage sites.


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Off to Kyoto

Our next stop was kyoto. Kyoto was the capital of Japan after Nara, but before Tokyo. It contains some of the most magnificent temples and gardens in Japan and is a must see for anyone coming to Japan.


As usual the roads are amazing. the freeways are just on top of each other.

Kyoto - Fushimi Inari Shrine

South of Kyoto is the Fushimi Inari shrine. Famous for its red gated paths. This was our first stop in Kyoto.


The main gate to the shrine


Wishes and strings of cranes.


When you get a fortune and it is not good then you tie it to something at the temple to make sure that the bad luck does not follow you home.





The red Torii gates


Walking through the gates


another view


"Michael stop it with the camera!"


Walking up the mountain trail


A rest along the way

Kiyomizu-dera

The most famous temple in Kyoto must be Kiyomizu-dera. It is spectacular and sits above the best tourist shopping in the country. When we went it was incredibly busy. The atmosphere was terrific.


Looking through the shops on the way to the temple


Through the gates and into the shrine


Looking back over Kyoto


As if by Magic, someone appears in the shot.


and the others


At Kiyomizu-dera a group of university students studying english asked to be our guides. THey were a lot of fun.


Wandering through the temple


Buddha's footprints





From the back part of the temple looking toward Kyoto. Some handsome fellow is blocking the shot.


The main stage


Jizu statues


Goodbye to our guides.

And a good night sleep. It was a long day but we saw so much.

Our Geisha spotting tour did not go as well as planned. We got lost with the directions provided and missed the tour, but when we got lost we ended up in a quiet part of Gion and saw a couple of girls running around on obvious errands, so all worked out in the end and we go to see some real Geisha trainees (Maiko).

Day - 4 - Nijō Castle

Our first stop on day four was Nijo-jo,the famous palace with the nightingale floors. Unfortunately, you cannot take photos inside the palace.

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The main Brochure, showing the palace.


The grounds and gardens are beautiful. The garden is very seasonal and was bursting with vibrant greens and a wonderful feeling of spring.


Wandering through the gardens


Men at work

Kinkaku-ji

After the palace, we headed north to the Golden temple. The temple is stunning and it is coated in gold leaf.

Although it looks serene this is a bustling spot as hundreds of people move around waiting for their chance to take this shot. I am amazed that it looks like it does.


And another shot. Lets make the others wait their turn.


Lots of people came over her and took a photo. why, we had no idea. But we found out that this tree has been manipulated to look like a boat. the bamboo underneath is supporting the front of the boat

Daitoku-ji Temple

This was a temple that non of us had been to before. The temple is famous for it's gardens and we wandered through a number of the small sum temples to check them out.


A garden in the Daitoku-ji complex


Wandering between the sub temples


Outside the famous dry garden at Daisen-in sub temple


A highly manicured tree


Wandering between the temples at Daitoku-ji


A zen dry garden.


A dry garden

Teramachi Fish Market

Our last stop in Kyoto was the fish market. It is also a food/clothes market. THe market is full of taste tests and local atmosphere. A great place to wander through.


Looking at some strange new thing.


Susan and Pam


Foods for sale


The market (spot Pam and me!!)

Driving Home


We had done well on the drive home, with 60 km to go and suddenly our arrival time changed from 6:15pm to 10:00 pm and a new symbol appeared on our cars navi screen, a fire?. Anyway we were very lucky to be close to an exit and were able to hop off the freeway and reprogram the navi to go around the problem and were eventually home by 7pm (a 3 hour drive).

I was exhausted, but up early the next morning as we were off to Tokyo.




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