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Our ‘Free Plan’ tour started
the next day, which meant basically accommodation arranged and
train tickets paid for, but no official guide. So from the
hotel we got the train to the larger than life Tokyo station
then got on the (Shinkansen) bullet train and headed south to
Kyoto (Japan’s original capital city). The train was very fast
and smooth. Not long after leaving the city we saw Mt Fuji in
the background looking very impressive with the snow on top of
it.
After checking into the hotel
at Kyoto we walked for miles and miles for 5 hours seeing lots
of amazing temples. The one that sticks in the mind the most
was the one called Sanjusangendo Temple that housed the 1001
life sized warriors guarding a huge Buddha statue. Truly
amazing, a wow to see with so many characters all lined up with
such detail. No pictures allowed, so the picture on the site is
one I took from the postcard they give you!
Kyoto has a great tourist bus
set up so in the morning we hopped on one to visit in some more
temples. All so different but the first one we saw was called
Kinkakuji Temple that was just beautiful – covered in gold leaf
and sparkling in the sun with a lake nearby and perfect
manicured gardens.
We managed to take in another
zen temple close by before heading back to the main Kyoto
station to catch the mid day bullet train further south to
Hiroshima. |
