I had booked a round-trip on Shinkansen (bullet train) and one night's stay in Kyoto from the US. The Shinkansen totally lived up to my image of what the bullet train should be like (last year I had taken the TGV from Zurich to Paris and that was a let down).
Kyoto is quite unlike Tokyo. It's old. It's scale is smaller. There are neighborhoods of old grand houses and not so grand old houses and they are all beautiful. You find perfectly manicured trees on a random street in a random neighborhood. Old houses behind an arch and a curving stone path that leads to the house. Often a bonsai tree is the centerpiece of the courtyard. Often there are little shrines on one side. The overall effect is soothing and welcoming at the same time.
I probably saw about 30 percent of Kyotos shrines and temples I'm the two days I was there. I could happily have spent a week. I took a hike on the hills behind the shrines just walked randomly as the path would lead me and I reached a multilevel cemetery on the hillside.the Japanese graves are elaborate but compact. There were parts that were well tended some shrines had flowers but there were parts as I climbed higher that were old and spooky. I had a wonderful time walking the hillside.
Kyoto is quite unlike Tokyo. It's old. It's scale is smaller. There are neighborhoods of old grand houses and not so grand old houses and they are all beautiful. You find perfectly manicured trees on a random street in a random neighborhood. Old houses behind an arch and a curving stone path that leads to the house. Often a bonsai tree is the centerpiece of the courtyard. Often there are little shrines on one side. The overall effect is soothing and welcoming at the same time.
I probably saw about 30 percent of Kyotos shrines and temples I'm the two days I was there. I could happily have spent a week. I took a hike on the hills behind the shrines just walked randomly as the path would lead me and I reached a multilevel cemetery on the hillside.the Japanese graves are elaborate but compact. There were parts that were well tended some shrines had flowers but there were parts as I climbed higher that were old and spooky. I had a wonderful time walking the hillside.
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