21:28 -- Another memorable day! Kyoto is an amazing city; and if you ever visit Japan, you have to come to Kyoto.

As soon as I woke up this morning, I realized how dumb I was. Nice first thought, isn't! Well I have realized that I was carrying all along a RW CD, meaning that I could have burnt my pictures and text in order to update Media Diary from any computer with a CD-ROM! Anyway, that's what have done but when I got on the Net today, all my sites and emails were down :( I guess the Internet gods are against me・

Anyway, my plan was to visit Kyoto Imperial Palace in the morning but when I got there, I have found out that you need an authorization and take a tour at specific hours. I got the authorization and an appointment at 14:00 for the visit. Since it was 11:30, I have decided to go to Nijo Castle, few blocks away on the map. Well it took me more than 30 minutes to get there (note-to-self: You're not in Helsinki!). The castle was built by the first Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu, in 1603, is a pure beauty. It's considered as the quintessence of Momoyama architecture. The garden, designed by Kobori Enshu, is also beautiful. From there, I wandered back to Kyoto Imperial Palace through small streets. The palace is impressive but a bit less interesting than Nijo castle since you cannot visit the interior; and you're in a group.

From there, I took a bus to Kinkakuji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion). The scenery is unreal. It's one of the most amazing things I have ever seen. It's been raining quite a bit today, and the reflection of the golden roof on the lake and forest is just astounding. The only regret is amount of people there -today was some special day for Junior High kids, where they had to visit all the Temples or so.

Few more bus stops after Kinkakuji is Ryoanji Temple with its famous Zen rock garden. I have to admit that I quite didn't get it, but the atmosphere and the real garden after the rain were wonderful.

Finally I took a bus back my Ryokan in Kyoto center, since I was/am exhausted. I have been walking so much for the past 2 days; tomorrow I'll rent a bike!

I have taken over 100 photos today, but I will post only few・I want to keep the rest for me.

Map