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I took Kim to New York City for her birthday this year. We stayed in an inexpensive hole-in-the-wall (read: cash only, up front) hotel in the East Village. It was a lot of fun!

Here’s my photos from the trip:

Kim’s photos can be found at
http://picasaweb.google.com/nonfucious/NewYorkCityOctober2008

I went back through my photos of Japan and came up with these unpublished ones. Beyond these I have some more from my last day and one other Kyoto temple that I never posted, so I might do yet another posting later on.

Enjoy!

My second temple visit in Kyoto was Kinkaku-ji, “The Golden Pavilion.” Kinkaku-ji is the informal name of Rukuon-ji Temple, but even the bus stop and tour guides have it marked as Kinkaku-ji.

The pavilion at Kinkaku-ji is covered in actual gold leaf, making it quite a sight. The pavilion was burned down several times in its history, most recently in 1950 by a mentally disturbed monk.

It was getting close to sunset, and the intermittent cloudiness had now turned to dark overcast and a fairly steady drizzle. This, combined with the “no tripods” rule, made photography difficult… but I managed.

Kinkaku-ji was a lot more serene than Kiyomizu.  The pavilion is set in the woods, surrounded by a tranquil pond with small islands decorated with small rocks and trees.  The darkening sky and gentle rain made it a suitably relaxing setting.

On Thursday I took a bullet train (Shinkansen) to Kyoto. The train-ride itself was fun, as it’s not often that I get to travel at 180 mph on rails. The route takes you through mountain tunnels and past the breathtaking Mount Fuji. I would have snapped a photo but given the speed of the train and nearby obstacles (telephone poles, wires, stations &etc) whipping by I never really had a clear shot.

After dropping off my stuff at the hotel in Kyoto, it was off by bus to the first temple I wanted to see: Kiyomizu-dera. Kiyomizu-dera was founded in 788, but the current structures were rebuilt in 1633 after a fire. The temple consists of several structures and is named for a waterfall that runs through it.

Kiyomizu-dera is built high up on a hill overlooking the entirety of Kyoto. The scenery was breathtaking.