Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka

For Silver Week, I went to Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka with two other ALTs. It was really excited to learn about the history and culture of Japan.

Day 1: Kyoto

On the first day, we visited the Imperial Palace, but it ended up being closed due to the holiday. Then, we went to the Philosopher's Walk, which is a trail that follows a canal. Many shrines and temples line this walk. We visited Ginkaku-ji, Honen-ji, Eikan-do, and Nanzen-ji. Also, along the way, we found a high school that was having a school festival. We wondered through the school and found the English club. I can't believe how big school festivals are. There were so many people there. After this, we went to Heian-jingu. I really liked it here even though there were many people. The bright colors of the buildings were beautiful, and there was also an amazing garden.

Day 2: Kyoto

The next day, we visited Kinkaku-ji. I really didn't like this temple because I thought it was gaudy and there were way too many people there for it to be enjoyable. After this, we went to Kitano Tenman-gu Shrine and then Nijo-jo. Nijo Castle was really cool. The floor squeaks when you walk on it, so it warns for invaders. In the afternoon, we went to Gion. There was a really nice park there called Maruyama. We got to take pictures of Geisha too. As the sun was setting, I got some really good pictures of Kyoto and Yasaka Pagoda. There was also a massive Buddha there called Ryozen Kannon, which commemorated those who died in WWII.

Day 3: Fushimi Inari and Nara

On day three, we took a train to Fushimi Inari-taisha. This shrine has thousands and thousands of torii. It seemed like a massive maze. After this, we went to Nara. The deer in Nara smell terrible, are really dirty, and look unhealthy. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to seeing the deer. Todai-ji Temple is amazing though. It's huge. It's really hard to describe other than it's absolutely massive.

Day 4-5

We spent day four and five in Osaka. We mostly spent our time here shopping, and we met up with some other ALTs. We went to a restaurant though, and we ordered Okonomiyaki. It was my first time eating it. Eating was really fun because we got to cook it ourselves. I'm pretty sure the waiter thought we were crazy because we kept mixing everything up instead of leaving it in a patty. He kept coming over and started helping us cook it....haha. On day five, we visited Osaka Castle. I was kind of disappointed though because it was more like a museum than a castle. Much of the castle had been burned in the past, so what we saw was almost entirely restoration work. The interior was very modern. The view of Osaka from the top of the castle was amazing though.

Ryozen Kannon in Kyoto

A Geisha in Gion

Fushimi Inari-taisha

A Little Girl at Fushimi Inari-taisha

At Todai-ji Temple in Nara

A Little Boy at Osaka Castle

Fuji San

Ok soooo....climbing Mt. Fuji was basically the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. We started climbing at 10 p.m. Going up wasn't too bad. Everyone had flashlights to see the path, but you really couldn't see much more than a few steps in front of you. The whole experience was surreal because I had no clue where I was going because it was dark. I just knew that I was going up. We stopped off on the way up to grab some soba noodles with egg on top. It was delicious because I was so tired and hungry. There were people everywhere laid out sleeping. Finally, my group got to the top around 4 a.m. We waited for the sunrise, and all I could really say about it was "AMAZING". Standing 3,776 meters above the ground and clouds on the summit of a mountain doesn't really need to be explained in words, and I don't think words would do it justice. The pictures I have are really good, but the cold air whisking against your face, the beams of sunlight on your cheek, and the fresh scent of the morning air can't been seen in these pictures. The experience overall was one of the best and worst of my life. The way down was a descent into hell. A cloud of dust surrounded my every move. Most people had on masks because the dirt in the air made it so hard to breath and see. Miniature landslides occurred with every movement. There was no hope for stable ground. Finally after my 12 hour journey, I reached the bottom feeling accomplished and defeated.

Here's some pictures.