Kyoto Day 2.

During my second day in Kyoto I decided to visit the 2 places that I had been looking forward to seeing for quite a while; Kinkaku-Ji and Ryoan-Ji.

Kinkaku-Ji is the famous Golden Temple and one of Japan’s best-known sights. The original building dates back to 1397, but it was burned to the ground in 1950, so a full reconstruction was completed in 1955. Being one of Japan’s most famous sights, this place was packed with people, but I managed to get some decent pictures in there. The thing that I loved the most in all the temples were the gardens. They are just so intricate that you feel as though everything is placed the way it is for a reason… which is probably true.

Close to Kinkaku-Ji one finds Ryoan-Ji.

I had been really looking forward to seeing this temple. Founded in 1450, this temple belongs to the Rinzai school of Zen, and its main attraction is its garden arranged in the dry-landscape style. There are 15 rocks, positioned in such a way that they appear adrift  in a sea of sand, with no explanation given as to why the rocks are positioned the way they are. Is up to each one of us to come up with our own interpretation. I think I spent over 1/2 hour just sitting there trying to figure it all out.

Keeping you posted!