Yo, Yo, Kyoto

I've been in Kyoto the last two days having a blast. The crowds aren't nearly as pressing here as they were in Tokyo, the weather has cleared up for blue skies, and the Buddhist Temples and Shinto Shrines here have been great for relaxing. Yesterday was spent at Nijo Castle, Nanzen-ji Temple, and walking the Philosopher's Walk. All felt very Japanese. I made a day trip today to Nara, the supposed cradle of Buddhism. I saw the temple there (Todai-ji) as well as a couple of impressive shrines. Kasuga Shrine in Nara, home of thousands of stone lanterns, is also the home of a few hundred tame deer. Well, I'm not sure tame is the right word. Maybe just more tame than wild. They're pretty vicious if you have any food-smelling items in your pockets.

On the way back to Kyoto I stopped at Fushimi Inari Shrine which is pretty well known for its thousands of orange and black torii (which is a terrific color combination, by the way):



That's not my picture (can't download them here at the hotel after all) but you get the idea. I guess the moral of the story though is that when the Shinto-ists get their minds settled on a theme for their shrines, they really go all out about it. No half-assing it with only a few hundred lanterns or torii! Build it like you mean it!

Once I got back to Kyoto, I cruised through the Gion District and saw a few apprentice Geisha (Maiko) walking down the streets. They were drawing quite a bit of attention from the tourists but would you believe it, they were walking around taking pictures themselves, sightseeing like the rest of us schmucks!

I'm headed back to Tokyo tomorrow (well, technically Narita), hoping the clouds will stay away long enough for me to get my first gander at Mt. Fuji. Then early Thursday morning it's bon voyage. I'll probably have a final debrief or two once I get back so stay tuned!