Konnichiwa Kyoto!

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Well, if we spent all day sitting, today it was walking, exploring Kyoto Station and the neighborhood of southern Higashiyama, filled with traditional Japanese shops and temples. We started off at Kiyomizu-dera, a famous temple and home of the Hosso school of Buddhism. We came up upon the painted pagodas and old buildings, where I gave offering and prayer to the Buddha enshrined there. Afterwards, we paid to descend down into Tainai-meguri, which is a pitch-black area that you only feel your way through, twisting and turning until you suddenly see a large, round stone where you offer a prayer and give the stone a turn. Doing this offers a prayer to Daizuigu Bosatsu, a female Buddhist Bodhisattva who has the power to grant any human wish. After touring around the grounds for awhile, we meandered back through the neighborhoods (getting lost, thanks to every street sign being in Japanese with no Romanized translations,) we turned one corner and happened upon four geishas! (I will post pics as soon as I figure out how!) Coming back down the hill, we stopped in a noodle shop to have our first taste of traditional Japanese food inside Japan. Very good, I must admit. (and cheap)Next was the Ryozen Kwanon, with a giant 80ft Buddha, a memorial to unknown Japanese soldiers of World War II, where we offered insence. We moved on to Chion-in, a huge Buddhist temple built in 1234. We made our way to the main hall, where we again happened upon a monk doing his daily chants as we removed our shoes and sat on the tatami to offer a silent prayer and listen to the chants. Feeling tired and wanting to go back, we saw Heian Jingu, but ran out of space in the digital camera. (We will have to come back tomorrow.) Finally finding a subway and getting stuck on the train (we didnt hear the annoucement and ended up on a dark train somewhere in the depths of the Kyoto subway system for a minute) However, the conductor took us back to the station where we were able to get back to the subway station just outside our hotel. We had plans to eat out again, but those were foiled by the combination of a bit of jetlag and being tired from all that walking. (This is not a tour for the faint of heart or the out of shape!) Well, we'll see what tomorrow brings...Matanae! (See you!)

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