Japan, 3rd Day

19th Nov

It was hell of a morning.. its been raining for nearly all nite long.. although it was not like the one we used to have in Malaysia, a heavy downpour like that.. it was more like its gonna snow, and by the way we just came here two weeks earlier.. if not, we can feel the first snowing day in Japan.

After we had our breakfast, we head out to the bus station which is situated near our hostel.. which is actually nearly 1km from us.. hahaha, lucky us we already knew the way around GION area coz we been digging around here for 3 days.. we dount have to refer to the maps to find our way over here.. we actually need to rendevous with our newly met fren, bakpackers also from singapore over there..

We waited for bus no 100, which will bring us to Ginkakuji-Jinja (Ginkakuji Temple).. It was so damn cold, our hands felt numb already, plus it was raining.. we took the bus and it made the first stop.. it was awesome, coz everytime they stop to pickup people, the will switch off the engine, and the bus will automatically unbalanced to the left.. i was amazed with that, it seem these japanese people really think about safety and pleasureness of a ride.. it also made it easy for people to ride on or hop out.. and more importantly, its easy for the elderly to use the public transport..

After two stops, we took a look at our bus map, then we realized we hop on the wrong bus.. it wasn't wrong actually, but wrong direction of the bus.. the bus we took will make 23 stops before we can reached Ginkakuji.. and suddenly the bus is filled with high school students.. and kawaii~~~~~~ when u see the real life of girl high school students..

After a while, around 45 mins, we reached the destination.. we saw the elders to their home chores.. it was a nice view and they don't even shy to greet us, foreigners.. "konichiwa, ohaeyo-gozaimas..", its like been to our kampung, which it is in that area..

We climbed up the slope and reached the Ginkakuji-Jinja.. we pay go-hyaku (500 yen) to enter the temple.. and one thing about this..most of the temple in japan, u need to pay to enter.. it range about san-hyaku (300 yen)- sen yen (1000 yen), basically range from RM9 - RM30.. it depends on the temples also, and the size of it.. it was really beautiful temple as you can see in the pic above..

After a moment there, appreciating the peacefullness, we took down the path named The Philosophy Path.. which made us more brilliant (yeah right :p).. it was nearly 1.8km long and it was a good path to take.. it go through most of the small river, autumn leaves on the water, plus it was cold.. we keep down the lane/path for nearly 45min before we reach Nanzen-Jinja.. it was really an awesome temple.. we paid sen yen (1000 yen) to enter, and it was never a waste.. it was much better than Ginkakuji, with the red leaves, big pond and there were a lot of tourist.. I think this is the best temple i've been into.. it also served green tea for tourist, which i don't know how much, don't bother at all to ask since i'm amazed with the scenery..

After that, we walked thru the Ginza area, passed thru all the temples, baseball field which there were people training.. The Kyoto Muzeum.. We also walked thru a road which all the trees were bald, not even a leave left.. its a nice scenery since we walk, a lot to see and a lot to learn.. we walked nearly 20km before we reached our hostel, near Shijo station..

Lokman made a delicious maggi me, curry flavour, 3 packets and 4 eggs.. it was good enough for us since we haven't had any proper meal for 3 days..

Later on, around 1.30 pm local time, we took densha (train) to Kyoto Station, where we should take another train to Arashiyama.. We suddenly bumped into our newly met Singaporean friends who actually going there too.. and we decided to take the trip there together.. all of them already nee-chan (sister) which is 30+ years old..

The train took about 1/2 hours before we reached Saga-Arashiyama station.. It was quite cold also.. we walked to the bridge, forgot its name (will add on later), and the scenery is really really really nice... it was colder since its beside and over the river, we all shivered to warm up ourself..

Erk, battery is running low since em writing this in Shinkansen (Bullet train).. will story more later on.. jya ne!