Our First Full Day in Kyoto

After a particularly tiring travel day yesterday we all woke up more refreshed and ready to explore this fascinating city.  After a diverse breakfast (everything from yogurt and toast to miso soup, rice, fish, roasted veggies and pickles) we traveled by bus to three major sights.  Students experienced the phenomenon of being crowded onto a bus only to discover that even more passengers could be squeezed on.  It was nice to be above ground traveling for over a half hour across town.  First stop was the Arashiyama bamboo grove where we were among tourists from around the world as well as a recently married couple (photo by C Herbert).

photo by R. Wilmot

After a bowl of noodles and ice cream for several students we took another bus to the famous rock garden at Ryoanji Temple. (C. Herbert)

We took a group picture on the steps leading to the temple building that houses the rock garden.(C. Herbert)

Christie asked the students to spend some time looking at the garden while thinking about what they have learned about Zen Buddhism and meditation. (C. Herbert and R. Wilmot)

Some students chose to walk from Ryoanji to Kinkakuji (the Golden Pavilion) while most of the group took yet another bus.  Kinkakuji was filled with tourists including a number of Japanese school children who had been given an assignment to practice their English with foreigners. (C. Herbert and R. Wilmot)

Students have an assignment to write several blog entries this week so as long as our wifi connection is reliable we hope to be posting student comments over the next few days during our time in Kyoto. As always we appreciate your comments.