Arrived safley today via the amazing Shinkansen bullet train to Kyoto. Following this we had our afternoon tour around Nare where they have an amazing Buddhist temple called Todaji Temple. The Buddha there is supposed to be the biggest in the world at 54 feet and weighing over 400 tonnes. There are 1,100 free deer that roam the temple grounds, amazing stuff and very tame so you can feed them. Here we also had a lucky dip where you get to see your future predicted, mine was fair to middling in the good luck stakes on a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 is the best luck I got 3. After this we visited a Shinto Shrine which had 2,000 lanterns outside and another 1,000 lanterns inside the building. Quite a sight actually.
After the Nare tour I decided to catch the local subway to go to Gion Corner. This is where they have the traditional cultural show. Feautured was a traditional Japanese tea ceremony follwed by traditional Japanese Kyoto or Harp playing. Next up was a Kado flower arrangement followed by Gagaku traditional court music orchestra and dancer. Then we saw a Kyomai style dance with beuatiful Geisha like girls with painted faces and traditional kimonos. Finally we saw an amazing Bunraku or puppet play, this was a definite highlight. Needless to say I took plenty of pictures!
OK, I`m off to sample some of the local cusinie before hitting the sack toi get ready for tommorrow`s full day tour of Kyoto which includes Nijo castle, Golden Pavillion, lunch at the Handicraft center, Heian shrine, Sanjusangendo and Kioyomizu temple. Then its back on the Shinkansen local time 6:20 pm arriving at Shin-Yokohama by 8:30 pm and back to my hotel by approx 9pm to get ready for day 1 of the WorldCon.
Bye for now folks!!....
