Imazu Sun Bridge Hotel Takashima

... us around.

In the afternoon, Jordan and i walked around the shope some more, then headed back into the hills to visit to more temples.

Eat at a small restaurant for supper. Had Udon soup with beef. Ended the day at Starbucks. Jordan was able to go the Starbucks twice today which made him very happy seeing that he didn't get to one yesterday,

Well back to Tokyo tomorrow.

... The statues are made with Japanese cypress. The temple hall is constructed in 1266 is about 120 metres long.

- Daigoji Sanboin - built in 1115, its garden is designated as a special historic spot and place of scenic beauty (the garden is beautiful).

All the temples and garden had beautiful trees and ponds. The trees had leaves of many vivid colours. The red and yellow leaved trees were incredible.

Kyoto, Kinki, Japan agi-al

... in, Nanzen-ji, Heian, Kiyomizu, Kinkaku-ji, Fushimi-Inari. Alcuni templi sono davvero notevoli, ma dopo un po' avevo la sensazione che cominciassero ad essere tutti uguali ed ho capito che ne avevo avuto abbastanza. Il terzo giorno, molto piu' rilassato, ho dato un'occhiata al castello di Nijo, ho fatto due passi per il parco imperiale e poi sono finito a Gion. Ma questo ve l'ho gia' raccontato. Prima di ripartire da Kyoto ho anche fatto una gitarella a Nara, che dista un'oretta ...

... his friends shop for a drink. In very broken English and lots of gesticulating we had a conversation about where we came from and where we were going today. We found out we needed to retrace our steps by two blocks which we did and still we couldn't easily find it. I went on instinct as it was one of the oldest surviving buildings left (built prior to 1641) and something caught the corner of my eye that looked old and presto - we got there! Cost was Y1000 ...

... sa kludne mohlo stat, ze by sme nestihli Shinkansen. Takze 220 yenov, rychlo vystupit a podme na stanicu. Obrovska futuristicka budova z roku 1997 pripomina skor letisko a neuveritelne kontrastuje so vsetkym tym historickym, co sme v Kyote videli. Okrem stihnuteho vlaku sme nakoniec ocenili aj skutocnost, ze nas to cele usetrilo dalsej uponahlaneho chodenia. Posledne 3 dni by boli dost aj na styri konske nohy. Takze zbytok na jesen. Dufam.

... been turned into a museum.

And that's where the town of Nara comes into play. Nara, is a 'small town' by Japanese standards, and would have gone unnoticed if it weren't for the fact that it holds the largest wooden structure in the world; Todaiji Temple. But the real kicker is that its the longest surviving wooden structure in Japan. Way back when, the Japanese constructed all of their Temples, Shrines and Castles out of wood. Everything was made of wood. Of course, that ...

... they pretty much butchered * gre*t Sondheim music*l. Pun intended.

The next d*y we he*ded on to Beppu! A 'sm*ll' town e*st of Fukuok*. It w*s built on *nd *round * highly volc*nic *re*, the result of which is wh*t everyone c*lls 'The Onsen Town'. It is *lso home to the f*mous Snow Monkeys th*t l*ze *round in the hot springs like they own them.

We didn't get to see them in the hot springs though, but s*w them *t the Monkey P*rk where they run ...

... the handle to symbolically cleanse your entire body. Yo was very proud of me when I did it the correct way at all the temples we visited! The actual temple is perched on a cliff and supported by a huge network of wooden pillars. No nails were used in the entire structure, quite impressive considering it was built in 798! Next I wandered around the neighborhood of Gion which is the ...

... tourist in Hiroshima who also saw the parade, and described it as watching paint dry). We stopped to ask a couple of American guys if they knew where all of the best restaurants were. Phil explained that we were looking for a special type of Japanese cuisine native to the Kyoto region. The men informed us that they were looking for a Wendy's (probably as a change-up to McDonalds). We happened upon an adorable Korean restaurant. PFS ...

... Ota mentions that he is a bit bothered by Japan seemingly following the US's lead in world affairs, rather than acting independently. Miyamoto-san mentions how complex the relations between Japan, China and North Korea are. We head out from the bar and say farewell in the lobby of the train station. We are sad to leave our friends but happy to see them for this short visit. They head out catch their trains home and we walk back to our hotel. A great day.