Our Trip to Kyoto

After a few days in Tokyo we got up early and took the Shinkansen, more commonly know as the bullet train, to Kyoto. After the 2.5 hour trip, which took us through Nagoya where Duane served his mission, we arrived at Kyoto Station and walked across the street to our hotel. After arriving we went to a ramen house for lunch, checked into our hotel and got ready for our first tour. We took an afternoon tour to Nara, which is an old city about an hour outside of Kyoto. We got to see the Todaiji Temple, Nara park and the Kasuaga Shrine. There were deer that roamed the park looking for tourists to feed them. I've never been so close to any deer, usually they have bullseyes on their back and run at the sight of humans. Ryan and Olivia loved getting so close to the deer. At the Todaiji Temple, there were many groups of Japanese school children, where their assignment was to find english speaking foreigners and practice their english. We got to sign many notebooks and many of these children were from a town where Duane served during his mission. Miranda even got to practice some of her japanese speaking skills.

Our next day in Kyoto was filled with a lot of touring. I booked a full day tour to see all the important sites of Kyoto. The kids did really well and the older two really enjoyed seeing all of the sites. Olivia was quite the attraction for the Japanese people on our entire trip, so by the end she would just wave and flash her fabulous smile. She couldn't get enough of the attention. We were able to see Nijo Castle, the Kinkakuji Temple, the Kyoto Imperial Palace, Kyoto handicraft center, Heian Shrine, Sanjusangendo (sorry no pics in our album because they were not allowed, but it was filled with 1001 statues of Kannon, Bodhisttva, dating back to the 13th century), and the Kiyomizu Temple. It was definitely a long day, but we had a great time.

We are so glad that we took the time to go to Kyoto and highly recommend it to anyone who is looking to see ancient Japan. It is also the home of the Samaria, so Ryan was very excited about that. We are looking forward to our next trip to Tokyo!

Todaiji Shrine

Heian Shrine Kiyomizu Temple
The Golden Pavilion

Link to our Kyoto Web Album http://picasaweb.google.com/defootefamilyfun/Kyoto2008