Sunday, June 11, 2006

Our trip to Kyoto, Japan

Jamie and I had the amazing oppurtunity to take a mini-vacation (9 days) in Kyoto, Japan. We hadn't expected this time off, but our school decided to renovate and as such they gave us some time off.

June 3rd we left Seoul for Osaka and we were en route to beautiful, culturally rich Kyoto. We spent our first 5 days in Kyoto, one day in Osaka, one day in Nara and the remaining 2 days in Kyoto.




Here's one of the many bamboo forests in Japan--this one is in Nara (the old capital).



Jamie and I attempted to escape the noise of tourists by going to Lake Biwa. little did we know that Lake Biwa wasn't the cute, charming place we had envisioned.

On another note, many people commented on this shirt that Jamie made for me as a anniversary gift. It reads: "I'm Jamie's geisha". People asked where they could buy such a shirt and we replied--you can't, it's simple "one of a kind".



Here's a charming coffee/teahouse on the philosophers path. We actually found a different coffee house to hang in each day and every one was different in its own right. One coffee house(a meikyokukissa) played classical music on authentic turn-style record players. The whole time it was completely silent and even the waiters wore felt bottomed shoes to keep the peace.



This is a view of the town of Gion from the top of the hill.



This is an authentic teahouse on the outskirts of Gion, surrounded by temples and shrines. The garden here was pretty breathtaking too.




We rode bikes every single day and we pretty much covered the entire city. It was sweet.



Note to self--do NOT wear 2 dollar sandals bought in Thailand when roaming japan on foot. It's the pits. But we found a way.......

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am definatley jealous of you guys and your travelling adventures. It looks like you guys are having a blast. I can't wait until you guys come back in August so you can tell us stories in person. Cheers for now, need to get back to work.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you guys loved it! Your pictures bring back so many memories. It's amazing how different it looks at a different time of year. You guys lucked out!

Anonymous said...

your facination with Geisha's is so fun to see and read about. Good job on the shirt Jamie- it is one of a kind. I made a shirt for our road trip Jen!!