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Published: April 20th 2008
Kinkakuji 1
First look at the "Golden Pavilion"Time for the second installment of the trip, folks! Lucky I've had some spare time on my hands. I've gotta get this down sometime, eh?
March 25, Tuesday Originally when we came here, Aimee had been told by one of Hideko’s daughters (mother of the boy she tutors) that we would have to stay 2 different nights in hotels, because Hideko had to work late those nights. At the welcoming party she threw us, she told us that we were more than welcome to stay the entire time. Aimee had been able to reserve a hotel for one of the 2 nights, but the other we were planning on pulling an all-nighter for, though Lauren had reserved a one-room in case things got too bad. With Hideko’s new information, we were relieved not to pull an all-nighter, and the hotel that Lauren had reserved for that night was successfully cancelled. However, Aimee was unable to cancel our other night at a hotel without us paying the staying fee anyways. Tuesday night was the night we were supposed to stay there, so that morning we packed up a little bit of our luggage and checked in.
Hideko’s other daughter,
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The water around the pavilion was like a mirror. Keiko, recently married and twenty-something, was nice enough to show us the bus routes for the day, since it would be a little long to walk. Our first stop by bus was Kinkaku-ji Temple (formally known as Rokuon-ji). It’s basically a gold-plated pavilion. There was lots of nice scenery and many photo ops. After touring the place, we camped out at one of the food stands and had some green tea ice cream. We also got accosted by some young Japanese girls who had to practice English in front of us for their teacher. Pretty funny, and rather sweet. Plus we got free origami. After that, we went to Ryoan-ji Temple, which is known for its large rock garden. The artwork on the sliding doors in the rooms (which we weren’t allowed into) was gorgeous.
After Ryoan-ji, we walked around for a bit and decided to go to Ninna-ji Temple. There wasn’t anything that it was particularly known for that I know of. But there were plenty of things to look at. I particularly liked the few trees I saw with bright purple blossoms. It was around this point that I realized I had left my camera’s transferring cord
back at the dorms, which meant that I couldn’t clean off old pictures onto my computer to make room to take fresh ones. So I spent a lot of the time near the end of the day deleting repeated pictures in order to make room for more. -Not to worry, though. I bought another transfer cord the next day and put things to right. Anyway, after Ninna-ji, we had dinner near the hotel at the same restaurant as the first day’s lunch, and then dessert at a café right around the corner from the hotel. I had a slice of apple cake, which was awesome. Then it was off to the hotel!
If anyone reading this has any sort of means to go to Kyoto, I would heartily recommend the hotel we stayed at that evening: Tour Club Hotel. It’s a fantastic place to stay for tourists. The price was fair. The facilities were amazing. We had a Japanese style room. The staff spoke full English. There was a Zen garden behind the lobby. There was a kitchen with free coffee and tea, along with a whole bookshelf FULL of tourist information. Each room had a binder full of
Kinkakuji 4
That's a phoenix on top extra information: background on the staff and the history of the hotel, maps of places to eat near the hotel, recommendations on places to see and how to get there… Definitely check this place out if you’re in the Kyoto area! It was a night well spent. We had a blast!
Next, it's a day of relaxation, followed by Osaka and Nara! Stay tuned.
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