Soggy temple marathon in Kyoto

Today was our first day exploring Kyoto. Unfortunately, we left the hotel poorly prepared for the weather, which became cold, rainy, and windy about an hour into our day. We had left our raincoats, hats, and winter coats at the hotel, so we got soaked and were freezing at times, but we made the most of it. We saw six temples, including four UNESCO world heritage sites. We started our day with a bus ride to the Higashiyama area and a walk up the hill to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple, which is a world heritage site and contains a second world heritage site. It was a huge and amazing temple built on the hillside. Quite a sight to behold. By the time we left, though, it had started raining, but not too heavy.

We next walked to Kodai-ji, another temple. This one was smaller and much less crowded than the first one. It had a really cool bamboo forest, and the bamboo swayed and rustled in the wind (the only nice thing about the wind). After the temple, we decided to have an early lunch to dry off and warm up. We went in search of a place recommended in our guide book, but we couldn't find it (later we discovered it wasn't open for lunch anyway). We found a soba place instead, whose main selling point was that it had English menus. Hot soba noodle soup was a perfect meal for a cold, wet day.

After lunch we headed to Chion-in temple, only to discover that the giant temple was under reconstruction and was covered by an even larger (but very ugly) temporary building. In the process of walking there, we got drenched in a sudden downpour, so that was the low-point of our day. We almost called it quits and headed back to the hotel, but the rain let up so we decided to press on. Next on our list was Nanzen-ji, a smaller temple with nice gardens and rooms with old silk paintings. Most importantly, it kept us dry from the intermittent rain.

We next went to Philosopher's Walk. On the way to the Walk, we stopped to warm up and dry off at a little cafe. We each got a "cake set," a piece of cake and a cup of tea. It really hit the spot, and we left feeling refreshed. Philosopher's Walk was a lovely stroll along a canal. The cherry blossoms were not yet in bloom, but we saw a few plum blossoms and enjoyed the quiet scenery. At the end of the walk was Ginkaku-ji temple, another World Heritage Site. They had some amazing zen sand gardens, a great overlook of the city, and the cool "Silver Pavilion." We also browsed some nearby shops and sampled lots of sweets.

Having seen most of the main sights of Higashiyama, we took the bus back toward our hotel. Since we still had some time, we decided to see one last temple. We went to To-ji, home of a giant 5-story pagoda that is the world's largest free-standing wood structure (the photos do not really capture how immense it is, and we learned later that all the stories are the same size, but perspective makes the top ones look smaller). It was also our fourth World Heritage Site of the day. The pagoda was incredible, but there was more. Next to the pagoda were two huge wooden buildings containing giant Buddhas and other statues. The insides of the buildings were amazing, these giant rooms built of wood to house giant Buddhas (the whole building was one room). No photography was allowed, but a photo wouldn't have done it justice anyway. They were just really cool.

After To-ji, we walked back to our hotel and finally got some warm, dry clothes. Then we took the subway to downtown Kyoto for dinner. We ate at a sushi restaurant and sat at the counter. As Katie observed, in Japan, sushi restaurants are casual and very lively. We really enjoyed the loud and joyous atmosphere, even if we had no clue what people were laughing about. After dinner, we walked around the main shopping district of downtown Kyoto, just soaking up the vibe. Then we took the subway back to the hotel. Now it is time to rest. We have a whole lot more temples and other sights to see tomorrow.