Our first stop was Sanjusangen-do. It was established in 1482. The temple houses 1000 Kannon (statues of Buddha) and the most complete set of 28 deities in the world. The statues where made between the 12th and 14th centuries. The work is incredible. The expressions are so real it seems that they could come to life at any time. Even the eyes are made from crystal.
You'll have to look up official photos since there is no photography inside the hall.
Some of you have probably heard about the archery that takes place on the porch. Well, it still does.
I finally figured out which end they used because of this:
The record is something like 18000+ shots and 13000+ hits in 24 hours. When you see the porch and realize the low arc that must be used...Well, I couldn't do it:) And to really get a feel for it pace off the 120 meters length of the porch....
Our next stop would have been Kiyumizu. But we decided to skip it today and go to Heian shrine. Yeah, I know that I was there last week. Still, Becky hadn't seen it and Jo hadn't been there in 7 years. I sometimes forget what a difference a week makes.
With the Iris' and lotus blooming and nobody there it was a completely different place. I think we took over an hour to stroll through the garden. It was rejuvenating. Especially after the crowds everywhere else.
When we finished Mark and I took the ladies to see the Budo center and Butokuden. from there we just had to go to Meirin and Tozando. Since Mark and I had already been there we let Becky and Jo have at it.
About now we decided to have lunch and to head to Ginkakuji and maybe to even try for Kinkakuji. (although we pooped out and made an early day of it)
Unfortunately for us the Kannonden (2 storied building in all the photos) was being renovated. It was kinda neat to see the structure of the building but a bummer for taking photos :)
Still, there is always good photos to be taken there.
So we finally ended up going back to the station and raiding the basement of Isetan for food. One small surprise has been the price of food. The average price for a meal 3 yeas ago was about 1200 yen. Now it's closer to 1600. Makes a bit of a dent in the food budget.
Oh, Mark just gave me reindeer droppings. So it seems I still get feed crap over here as well ;)
I'm working on the review of the hotels. Everyone has input. So probably tomorrow. After we go to Arashiyama, Kinkakuji, Daikakuji, Roanji and the Teramachi.
