As part of an upcoming Delta story (stay tuned!) I had the opportunity to visit Japan. I decided to skip over my arrival city and stay in Kyoto - one of the few cities left largely untouched by world war two or subsequent natural disasters in the country. While only two and a half days it was an incredible incredible trip. I really hope to go over with my wife soon and stay for a week or two. Uber clean, super polite, punctual to the second (no joke), and just all-around awesome. Probably my favorite country visited so far. With that...a few of the best so far:
Fushimi Inari: a famous and well-travelled shrine on the southeast part of town. The main shrine stands at the bottom of Mt. Inari. But smaller shrines and communities of shrines extend up to the top of the mountain, often encased by these gateways (for lack of the more correct term). I wandered the grounds for hours, thinking I made it to the top of the 900ft mountain only to discover I didn't even come close.
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A legion of small foxes grace a family shrine mid-way up the mountain:
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One of the highlights and an instant draw the moment I realized I'd be in town for it was the Hanatouro Illumination, located in the outlying Arashiyama district northwest of Kyoto. Many of the local temples in addition to the bamboo forests were lit up for the evening. Being an over-saturated photo event (I counted dozens of DSRLs around) I really tried to find something different. So I shot up straight up into the canopy of the bamboo forest, hoping it would work out:
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The N700 series of Shinkansen train, operating today with JR West Nozomi 106 service to Tokyo. It was every bit as awesome as I'd hoped. Worth every last penny and I'd do it again tomorrow without thinking twice. A few interesting factoids: the trains run at speeds approaching 200mph: the average train arrives within SIX seconds of the scheduled time on the dispatch paperwork: they create small sonic booms when entering/exiting tunnels:
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Located at the top of mid-sized mountain nearby Arashiyama, a troop of roughly 130 snow monkey's (Japanese macaques - see Ikea monkey) live in the wild. Attracted by a feeding station, they've become quite used to people. A few tips: they like apples, enjoy the hot springs (though it was pouring too hard that afternoon for them to be in it, and of course covered in snow the day I left), and will attack you if stared at. This baby monkey was particularly cute:
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