Trenton's Post - First Day in Kyoto (a few days late)

I'll arrange these and caption them once we get to Tokyo and have a bit more time...

Today was the first official day of shrine visitations, with: Ginkakuji, Kiyomizudera, and Sanjyuusangendo. According to my own host family, the temperature in Kyoto was destined to be similar to the magma chamber of Mt. Fuji. The heat however, unlike our last two weeks in Okinawa, was perfectly bearable. Most likely because it rained ALL day. Our ongoing issue of taking up the entire tiny Japanese sidewalks was worsened with most group members carrying an umbrella. Our day started out with Ginkakuji, the silver pavilion. It was a nice start to the day and was slightly refreshing walking around the gardens in the light sprinkle.. Kiyomizudera, or the temple of pure water, on the other hand was a tourist zoo… The mountainous terrain combined with wet stairs and surging crowds was just asking for someone to slip and fall (ironically people jump from the balcony of this shrine and end up killing themselves). Luckily no one was injured on our visit. We proceeded to eat lunch and move on our way to Sanjyuusangendo. Translated in English as the 33gen (a Japanese unit of measurement of length) hallway, Sanjyuusangendo is a practicing temple so pictures of the inside are considered disrespectful and unlawful. It just goes to show you pictures are no substitute for the real thing. We soon returned to our place of residence to take in for the night. We were bet from our first day in Kyoto.