Fall Tour in Kyoto

Don't worry, all you die-hard "where we live" installment fans. We'll get back to talking about the house in no time. But, I think it's more important right now to fill you in on a nice color tour we took in the city of Kyoto. In case you don't know, Kyoto is considered a sort of artistic center of Japan. It is where the Geisha entertainers are from, where Kabuki theater was created, and home of many temples. Fitting, then, that we should meat up with our friends Andea, Mana, and Charles near this statue of Okuni, the Miko (beginning Geisha) who started Kabuki.

Kabuki is a type of theater that incorporates elaborate dress, music, and dancing into a performance. Often, the plays are traditional Japanese stories, and are even spoken in old dialects. Ironically, this art, started by a woman, is now only allowed to be performed by men. Anyway, that's enough about that.


The town around the temples was beautiful. There were nice little rivers running through it, and plenty of Japanese Maples.

Hopefully this photo captures how rediculously huge this Shinto arch is. It's huge, 'nough said.

This is at the entrance to the first temple we visted. You can see that we weren't the only tourists. From here, we had to pay a fee to enter the actual temple complex. It was well worth it. Here's a couple pictures. They speak for themselves:

There wasn't any grass, but rather, this wonderful moss covering the ground. It really was a quite magical place.

Ooohhh! Aaahhhh!

Okay. After this temple, we stopped off at a nice Soba shop. Soba is a type of noodle served in a soup with nice chunks of whatever you want on top. I got chicken and egg, Kendra got duck. It was good. Then we checked out the touristy shops for a little while, and then went to another temple complex. It was only open after dark, which was very nice, because they had lamps shining on all the fall foliage. Even up the side of the mountain. Here's some night trees:

Okay, this next picture is of some importance. This specific temple is famous for having a fountain that is said to contain water that will give you extra long life if you drink it.

Guess what, we drank it! We waited in line and drank some of the cool, delicious, life-giving water. It was fun. You put these long cups under the water streams, pull it in, and take a drink. Then you put the cups in the ultra-violet light machine that staralizes the cup for the next person. Needless to say, we'll be alright for quite a while after this magic water. Sorry, but you can only get it in Kyoto. That was our last stop before making our way home. It was a lovely day trip. I recommend it to anyone who lives within a couple hours train-ride of Kyoto, and to anyone who wants to live forever. This is Aaron, the eternal, signing off.