Kyoto again

Sorry for the crap photos but it was pouring rain, and actually, we are crap photographers.

Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion) in Kyoto. Even in the pouring rain this was an incredible sight. It was originally built in 1397 as a retirement villa and the owner's son later converted it to a zen temple. Tragically in 1950 a young monk burnt it to the ground. It was reconstructed to exact original design sometime after that. The gold you see is real gold leaf covering lacquer. Quite a sight!

So many of the temples and shrines in Japan were burnt down over, and over, and over again and what you see today are reconstructions.





Photos below are of the Daitoku-ji temple visit, again in the pouring rain. I was not able to capture the beauty of the moss covered ground and the towering bamboo that flanked either side of this path, a shame as it was absolutely lovely. Many of the temples buildings were closed to the public so we're short on photos.