The Ancient Capitals - Nara & Kyoto (Part 2)

Hatsuko, Momo and I took a day trip to the nearby town of Uji. Our first stop was to the Mimuroto Temple - the garden is full of hyacinths (thousands of them!) They also had lots of Lotus Flowers there (all the Buddha statues are sitting on the leaves of Lotus Flower).

We then headed over to the Byodoin Temple (its the one featured on the 10 Yen coin). It was originally used as a 'country' retreat and had two giant Phoenix on the ends of each roof. We left there and headed across the road to the ice cream shop to have a green tea ice cream! We drove home via the mountains and came across several stores selling 'raccoon dogs' - it was very bizarre!

The next day I headed over to Kyoto and had a tour of the Imperial Palace. Much of it is being renovated and you weren't allowed in anywhere - you could just look at the outside (but it was pretty impressive). I then went to Ginkakuji - the Silver Place. Its design was a typical Zen design and used just rocks and white sand for the gardens.

I spent another day exploring Kyoto on my own - tyring to see everything that I'd planned as tomorrow is my last day here before I leave the area. I visited the Toji-ji temple, Nishi-Hongan-ji and Kodai-ji before arriving at Ryozen-kwan-on - a memorial to fallen soldiers of WW2. It was pretty impressive, with a massive Buddha sitting on top of a building. I then went to Ryonanji Temple - which is a massive Rock Garden. Some of the Zen designs were amazing that I just sat and looked at them for ages (in the rain!!!)

For my final day in Nara, Hatsuoko and Katsuhisa took me on a massive tour of the area. We went to the site of the Nara Imperial Palace (that is now an archaeological site) before going to Jikoin Temple for a tea ceremony (you get served green tea and a small cake). We then visited Horyuji & Chugu-ji temples before we headed north and came to the Ishibuyai Kofin Tumulus - one of the earliest grave sites in Japan (dating back to the late 600's).

We went to the Asuka Historial Museum to learn about the Asuka people who were one of the first peoples to live in the area before we went to the Asuka Temple where a monk told me the history of the Buddha there. Our final visit was to the Amagasti Hill Observatory which had great views of the whole area. We met an elderly Japanese man there who told me about the creation of this area after a volcano erupted.

That night, we went to a typical sushi restaurant with the moving conveyor belt of food. It was great fun! Many thanks to the Kitagawa family for their amazing hospitality and for showing me the area - I had a great time!