I was grateful for the cloud cover today. I got an all day bus pass for a mere 500 yen, then went to Kinkakuji Temple, the golden pavilion. It was spectacular. Really beautiful.
But the best part was that I made a friend. Her name is Yenga and she's Scottish and 19, and is also travelling alone. We went around the temple together, then walked towards another temple. We were trying to get to Ryoanji, but neither of us had any idea where we were going. We passed a small temple and thought, that looks nice, we can go to that one before Yenga had to leave to catch her train. As we were waiting to cross the road, she mentioned something about wanting to try the Teriyaki burger they do in McDonalds here. I suggested we could try and find a Maccy D's after the temple, and she pointed to one right next to us. I said 'shall we?' and we both burst out laughing and went to grab a teriyaki burger.
It was odd having something so unfamiliar in a McDonalds, but the burger was good. We went to the temple after eating, took some pictures, but it was quite small, and wasn't really a tourist honeypot.
Yenga left soon after that, which was a shame, she was good company. I made my way to Ryoanji temple once she had gone, and quickly spotted a group of 4 fairly young Brits together. I quickly said hello, and we went around the temple together. They were really good company, lots of funny banter exchanged between them. It was nice to join their group for a while, it felt good to have a laugh with other people.
The temple itself was quite funny, because to my surprise, the main attraction was 15 rocks in a bed of white gravel that had been 'expertly arranged'. I couldn't get over how funny this was. There was a picture of these rocks on the front of the brochure, on the ticket and there was even a small scale replica of the rocks on display. As you can imagine, I was extremely excited to see the real thing, and when I finally did, it was just as incredible as I had expected it to be.
I hope that came across as sarcastic as I meant it to. They were big grey rocks on smaller white rocks.
Anyway, after that thrill, they invited me along to the next temple, Daikakuji, which was also nice. I took the bus home around 3ish, and got home at 4. I had a small rest, then went to have dinner at this small place down the road. it was tempura shrimp in chilly sauce, tasty, but nothing mind-bogglingly different to what I have previously tasted.
Just met a Dutch student who is travelling alone and is also going to Nara tomorrow! It'll be nice, I hear there are lots of random deer wandering around the streets...I'll be sure to tell you all about it tomorrow.
But the best part was that I made a friend. Her name is Yenga and she's Scottish and 19, and is also travelling alone. We went around the temple together, then walked towards another temple. We were trying to get to Ryoanji, but neither of us had any idea where we were going. We passed a small temple and thought, that looks nice, we can go to that one before Yenga had to leave to catch her train. As we were waiting to cross the road, she mentioned something about wanting to try the Teriyaki burger they do in McDonalds here. I suggested we could try and find a Maccy D's after the temple, and she pointed to one right next to us. I said 'shall we?' and we both burst out laughing and went to grab a teriyaki burger.
It was odd having something so unfamiliar in a McDonalds, but the burger was good. We went to the temple after eating, took some pictures, but it was quite small, and wasn't really a tourist honeypot.
Yenga left soon after that, which was a shame, she was good company. I made my way to Ryoanji temple once she had gone, and quickly spotted a group of 4 fairly young Brits together. I quickly said hello, and we went around the temple together. They were really good company, lots of funny banter exchanged between them. It was nice to join their group for a while, it felt good to have a laugh with other people.
The temple itself was quite funny, because to my surprise, the main attraction was 15 rocks in a bed of white gravel that had been 'expertly arranged'. I couldn't get over how funny this was. There was a picture of these rocks on the front of the brochure, on the ticket and there was even a small scale replica of the rocks on display. As you can imagine, I was extremely excited to see the real thing, and when I finally did, it was just as incredible as I had expected it to be.
The replica
The real deal (notice the crowd of people?! It was
like they were watching a movie...)
I hope that came across as sarcastic as I meant it to. They were big grey rocks on smaller white rocks.
Anyway, after that thrill, they invited me along to the next temple, Daikakuji, which was also nice. I took the bus home around 3ish, and got home at 4. I had a small rest, then went to have dinner at this small place down the road. it was tempura shrimp in chilly sauce, tasty, but nothing mind-bogglingly different to what I have previously tasted.
Just met a Dutch student who is travelling alone and is also going to Nara tomorrow! It'll be nice, I hear there are lots of random deer wandering around the streets...I'll be sure to tell you all about it tomorrow.
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