Japan

I think this may be one of my favorite places in the world. At least Kyoto. So much so that I extended my stay in Kyoto by a night. I've been here 24 hrs, and I may still be punchy from the flight, but the Silver Temple and a couple other shrines and gardens I saw today were so astonishingly beautiful that I almost couldn't believe they were real. I have simply never seen gardens like these. Perfect time to be here too--the maple leaves are bright crimson, pink, orange and gold, and against the evergreens and the rugged terrain the autumn foliage appears as if spotlights are trained on the leaves.

Kyoto is densely populated--not nearly to the extent of Osaka or Tokyo--but it is in a bowl surrounded by jagged and steep forested mountains, so everywhere you look you see green...beyond the stacks of apartments and buildings. Kyoto is also bursting with shrines and temples, large and small, so almost wherever you go, you stumble upon some shrine (which happens to be 1000 years old) with some buddha (usually older, due to being saved from some fire 850 years ago when most of the shrine was damaged by fire). The craftsmanship of the wood structures is astounding. Even the rain gutters and downspouts are beautiful.

There are vending machines everywhere in Japan. Since there is virtually no crime, they plop them down anywhere, without worrying about vandals or anything. This afternoon, I took advantage of a vending machine to refresh myself with a nice ice cold can of iced coffee with milk. To my surprise the can that came tumbling out of the machine was at least 195 degrees F. Yep, the vending machine sells cold drinks and hot drinks, all in cans. Another fascinating thing about the no crime issue is that not only does every store lack shoplifting alarms, but most have goods on display outside the store on tables, with no one minding them. And not just trinkets, but fairly expensive items. Pretty odd for a Manhattanite like me.

So far, the weather has been great--no rain, it seems to have missed us today. The hotel moved me to a suite for the hell of it, and since the hotel is on a mountainside on the east of Kyoto, I have sweeping views of the entire city. If the weather holds, I plan to spend most of tomorrow here in Kyoto, then catch a Nozomo Shinkansen (super express bullet train) to Osaka for my third night. Then it is off to Tokyo by Nozomo Shinkansen.