kyoto

we started our trip in kyoto.  after breakfast we split up into our buses.  there were four buses of wharton students.  each bus had a name - we were the dragon bus and contained six tenkos (smaller groups) as well as four organizers.  each tenko had six people and we always had to make sure we had everyone in our tenko before getting on a bus, train, etc. 

in kyoto we started our time with a tour of kiyomizu temple which is a beautiful buddhist temple on the eastern part of tokyo.  interesting facts about the temple include the fact that it was built with zero nails and is taken apart and rebuilt often (dont remember exactly how often).  additionally, back in the day, people would jump off the ledge of the temple and during the jump would find the answer to the problem that was puzzling them.  approximately 234 jumps were recorded and 85% of people survived - pretty impressive given the height of the jump (and rough landing spot).  at the temple there were love stones and it was said that if you touch one stone and think of a person and then can walk to the other with your eyes closed you will find true love with that person.  the hanging wood reflects wishes people had written down and hope will come true.  the temple also had a fountain you could drink out of for good health and little rock statues with apron looking things that people had left for their kids. (more pics at bottom of post)

after the temple, we went to kinkakuji, the beautiful golden temple.  the top two stories are covered in gold leaf.  it looked fake it was so beautiful.  the area was so serene. 

 for lunch, we had our first bento box experience.  the japanese pay great attention to presentation and all of the meals are presented beautifully.  this box was adventurous for me. i tried quite a few of the items, but definitely survived off of the white rice.

after lunch, we had a choice of what activity we wanted to do.  a few of us had signed up to dress up like geishas/maikos.  i chose maiko (apprentice geisha) as i wanted to wear a colorful kimono.  the experience was unreal.  it is amazing how you can look in the mirror and not even recognize yourself!  also, kimonos are way heavier and have WAY more layers than i ever expected. 

for dinner, we went to a ninja restaurant where the theme was ninjas.  all of the servers dressed up in ninja costumes and some of the food was in the shape of ninja stars.  cheesy, but fun.  i heard the nyc version is more thematic.

tomorrow is an early morning as we head to hiroshima.