7 Weeks.
15 flights.
3 night trains.
4 bullet trains
1 bus.
4 ferries.
A whole lotta walking.
I'm home safe and sound. What a fantastic vacation!
Going to bed now....I have lost all track of time zones and have no idea what time my head thinks it is but I know I missed a night of sleep in there somewhere.
Thanks for reading! Until next time.
HOME SAFE
Author: Deb /
LAST DAY
Author: Deb /Friday, March 12, 2010
I spent my last day in Kyoto visiting 3 more temples before catching the bullet train back to Tokyo. Kyoto's metro system is crap...not very diverse and unusable if you don't speak Japanese as the ticket machines have no English option...their bus system, on the other hand, is amazing and really easy to navigate. So I spent the day bumming around town on the city bus seeing what I could before leaving.
I went to the Kinkakuji temple first, otherwise known as the Golden Pavilion as it is entirely covered in gold. It started out as a villa for the Shogun in the 1200's then was converted to a zen temple after his death. The gardens surrounding this temple are stunning. Japan knows it's landscaping!
Then I went to the Ryoanji Temple. This temple is famous for it's zen garden and is considered the finest example of dry-landscape style gardening. Considered a masterpiece of zen art this temple has no trees,hills, ponds...just 15 rocks arranged on a bed of raked dry white gravel. Minimalist to the max.
The last temple I saw was the Ninnanji Temple. This temple had the prettiest landscaping I've ever seen...it was so beautiful. What I wouldn't do to have a yard that looked like that.
GOLDEN PAVILION
GOLDEN PAVILION SURROUNDED BY IT'S BEAUTIFUL POND.
BEHIND THE TEMPLE.
PEOPLE THROW COINS IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET THEM IN THE MIDDLE ROCK CUP...IN SEARCH OF GOOD LUCK.
OVERLOOKING THE ENTRANCE TO ROYANJI TEMPLE.
ROYANJI'S ZEN ROCKS.
NINNAJI TEMPLE GROUNDS
NINNAJI TEMPLE. WHAT AMAZING LANDSCAPING.
PATH THROUGH NINNAJI TEMPLE
POND IN NINNAJI TEMPLE GROUNDS
STONE BUDDHA'S AT THE GATES ON NINNAJI TEMPLE
MANY TEAROOMS WITH BEAUTIFUL ARTWORK PAINTED ON THE SCREENS
ROCK GARDENS BEHIND NINNAJI TEMPLE ENTRANCE
NINNAJI PAGODA
KYOTO'S COOL TRAIN STATION..MILES OF ESCALATORS.
TWISTY METAL IN THE ROOFTOP OF KYOTO TRAIN STATION
ON MY WAY DOWN FROM THE 12TH FLOOR.
KYOTO TOWER REFLECTED FROM ACROSS THE STREET IN THE MIRRORED GLASS OF KYOTO TRAIN STATION.
I spent my last 1/2 day in Tokyo just bumming around. I slept in, packed, had a last sushi lunch and wandered around the Imperial Palace gardens. I caught a 10hour flight from Tokyo to Vancouver at 1900Tokyo time and now I sit in the Vancouver airport on a 2 hour layover before my flight to Calgary. It feels good to be almost home...I am sipping a double double from Tim's and thinking about how good my bed will feel, and all the comforts of home.
It was an amazing 7 weeks. It feels like it went by in a flash. I had a great trip and saw so many amazing things along the way. Now, Where to go next....
HIROSHIMA
Author: Deb /Thursday , March 6, 2010
Yesterday I took the bullet train from Kyoto to Hiroshima and back on a day trip to visit Peace Memorial Park and the Peace Memorial museum.
In 1945 near the end of world war II the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. First Hiroshima followed by Nagasaki 3 days later.
At 8:15am on Monday, August 6, 1945 then US president Harry Truman ordered the dropping of a nuclear weapon on the city of Hiroshima. Nagasaki was next on August 9,1945 and Japan surrendered 6 days later officially ending World War II.
70 000 - 80 000 people were killed immediately and another 70 000 people were injured. Over 90% of the city's doctors and nurses were killed or injured as they were mostly in the downtown area which was the target. Less than 10% of the city's buildings survived. Everything within one mile of the epicenter was completely destroyed and within 3 miles badly damaged. Small fires that erupted soon merged to create a massive firestorm that engulfed 4.4 squared miles of the city killing anyone who had not escaped in the first few minutes of the attack. Tens of thousands of people who survived the nuclear attack ended up dying horrible painful deaths due to radiation sickness over the next 8 weeks. By the end of 1945 the death toll was more than 100 000 and over the next 5 years due to cancer deaths from radiation poisoning the numbers are closer to 200 000.
These are the only 2 nuclear attacks to have occurred in the history of warfare.
MODEL OF HIROSHIMA BEFORE THE ATOMIC BOMB
MODEL OF HIROSHIMA AFTER THE ATOMIC BOMB
POCKET WATCH STOPPED AT 8:15 WHEN THE BOMB DETONATED
ATOMIC BOMB MEMORIAL MOUND. CONTAINS THE ASHES OF 70000 PEOPLE CREMATED HERE AFTER THE BOMB.
CHILDREN'S PEACE MONUMENT. IN MEMORY OF SADAKO SASAKI AND DEDICATED TO ALL THE CHILDREN WHO DIED DUE TO THE ATOMIC BOMB. SADAKO WAS 2 WHEN THE BOMB WAS DROPPED. WHEN SHE TURNED 12 SHE WAS DIAGNOSED WITH LEUKEMIA AND DIED OCTOBER 1955. SHE HEARD A STORY FROM A CLASSMATE SAYING IF YOU FOLD 1000 PAPER CRANES YOU GET A WISH. SHE BELIEVED IF SHE FOLDED 1000 CRANES SHE WOULD RECOVER. SHE FOLDED 1000 CRANES, AND THEN CONTINUED TO FOLD THEM UNTIL HER DEATH. TO THIS DAY CHILDREN FROM AROUND THE WORLD FOLD CRANES AND SEND THEM TO HIROSHIMA WHERE THEY ARE PLACED AROUND THIS STATUE.
CRANES HANGING ON THE CHILDREN'S PEACE MONUMENT.
PEACE MEMORIAL PARK...THIS WAS THE EPICENTER OF THE BOMBING. IT'S HARD TO PICTURE THE DESTRUCTION THAT ONCE STOOD ON THIS SPOT, NOW A GORGEOUS PARK FULL OF MONUMENTS.
A BOMB DOME IN THE TOP RIGHT. THE ONLY REMAINING STRUCTURE AFTER THE BOMBING. IT WAS RIGHT BELOW THE EPICENTER. IT WAS THE FORMER INDUSTRIAL PROMOTION HALL AND WAS PRIZED FOR IT'S BEAUTIFUL GREEN COPPER DOME OF WHICH ONLY A SHELL REMAINS. IT WAS RENAMED THE A-BOMB DOME AND LEFT EXACTLY HOW IT WAS AFTER THE BOMBING.
RIVER RUNNING ALONG THE PARK.
A-BOMB DOME
A-BOMB DOME
KYOTO
Author: Deb /Wednesday, March 10, 2010
I arrived in Kyoto yesterday late morning on a bullet train from Tokyo. Over 500Km in less than 3 hours on a comfortable seat! What a way to travel! I booked a ryokan within walking distance from the train station...thankfully, due to the rain and weather. I am so grateful I bought all those warm jackets, thermal underwear, gloves and hats in Sapa because boy have I needed them. Do you have any idea how hard it is to read a map while walking under an umbrella? It's a bitch.
The train station here, by the way, is so amazing and a sight in and of itself. I don't even know how to describe it. I will take photos tomorrow and post them on my next blog. It's kind of a massive twisty metal see-through dome that goes up 12 floors and they all open up to the middle...on the top is an observation deck with aerial views of the city and roof-top food courts. The escalators climb up in huge rows and you can see up in front of you escalator after escalator taking you to the summit. It was super cool.
I only have limited time here and there is so much to see so I immediately bundled up and ventured out to see the city. I went to the Kiyomizu-dera Temple first. The owners of my ryokan recommended it and I was not disappointed. It was spectacular. Kyoto is surrounded on 3 sides by mountains and most of the temples and shrines lay in the foothills. This one was beautiful and gave stunning bird's eye views of the city...in payment for the steep climb up to it's peak. It name comes from the waterfall it was built into that flows behind it sending water into a sacred spring. It is said that drinking this water gives you wisdom, health and longevity. I didn't actually drink any because everyone drinking from it was using the same metal ladle and I figured it could only bring me a nasty case of mono instead of it's promised health effects. The main hall of the temple itself is a huge beautiful wooden structure that was built without the use of a single nail. The main hall juts out over the hillside. A popular Japanese saying and their version of "to take a plunge" is "to jump of the stage at Kiyomizu. This Temple was stunning and was actually one of the finalists in the new 7 wonders of the world.
The weirdest thing I did here was pay 100yen to go down into this dark room under the temple...you follow this beaded wooden rope thing with your hand as it is pitch black. It was supposed to duplicated the mother's womb! It was a twisty path deep into the bowels of this building and at the end was a stone...you were supposed to touch it and make a wish. Everyone was giggling, even the Japanese, at the ridiculousness of it! It was fun though. I felt like I was in a fun house at Halloween and was waiting for something to jump out at me.
CHARMING OLD ALLEYS IN HIGASHIYAMA DISTRICT EAST OF GION... REMINISCENT OF OLD KYOTO WITH ITS TEA HOUSES AND TINY AMAZINGLY SCULPTURED GARDENS.
I did a lot of walking yesterday...my feet were killing me! I walked from the Kiyomizu temple up through all these beautiful old Kyoto streets and into Gion (Geisha spotting..none unfortunately, I guess they are hard to spot!)and back around to my Ryokan....where I collapsed and stuffed myself with sushi and sashimi I bought at a supermarket(the cheapest way to eat here!) on the way home. I was drenched with rain, despite my umbrella, and ready for bed.
Today I just got back from a day trip to Hiroshima. Again, the magic of the bullet train. I will blog about that tomorrow. I'm running out of steam and ready for bed. I leave Kyoto at 16:45 tomorrow night for Tokyo and still have lots to see so an early day tomorrow.
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