Saturday, October 3, 2009

Kyoto







Today is my first full day in Japan. After arriving at Narita airport yesterday, I took the Shinkansen, also known as the buttel train to Kyoto. The hotel is lovely and the staff coureous and very friendly. I have a little time to tour around here. After a good night's sleep I decided on an organized tour. Usually I am not the type to follow a herd of tourists, but this was the best way to see a lot in a short time. The people are very friedly. Things are incredibly clean and there seems to be a genuine concern about spreading germs. There are signs everywhere, people wear gloves, some wear masks, doors open automatically, and when you grab a taxi, you don't grab anything.... The doors are opened and closed automatically by the driver from inside the car. The taxis are even spotless with white doily type of covers on the seats!
There are many many shrines and what amazes me is the tolerance within the religious realm. There is shitoism, bhudism, and christianity and all coexist without trouble. By all the shrines there are many venues to say extra prayers for all kinds of causes. If you are not into this sort of thing, you automatically get drawn in , just to make sure!
The gardens around the shrines and temples are so beautiful. Bonsai, zen type of greenery and we even saw a crane bird. Interesting because other than that you viirtually see no birds at all.
Here are some pictures.
Tomorrow I have abit more time to tour and then I am off to Osaka.

1 comments:

Irene said...

I wish you had more time. What am I saying wish I was there.

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