Kyoto is the place which I really wanted to see.

It is so old, has such ancient traditions and there is Gion, geisha district. And many, many temples. No wonder that I wanted to go there and when I had oportunity I had to use it!

My first trip to Kyoto took place in August 1999.  It was so hot, steamy japanese summer...with giant semi making noisy concerts all days and nights. I felt I am going to mealt and my skin was sweaty and pinkish all the time. Hard to say I was looking presenftul. But I was surely in great mood. My Japanese friends were so kind to ask me if I want to go to Kyoto. They proposed that will be my guides so I accept their idea with joy. We had to wake up very early. It was still dark when we took a car and went to railway station in near by city to catch train to Nagoya and next, catch another train from Nagoya to Kyoto.

Local trains are different than posh shinkansen. people feel more free and look less posh. Some young men were sleeping on the floor in car's carridor, having old newspapers as sheets. I had to be careful to not step on their thingers.

We had just one day so my guides decided that we should go to see most famous temples. But Kyoto has so many famous temples that hard to count. So some of them were chosen and we went to see them. i must admit with shame that I do not remember their names. All of them were very old, very pretty, smelled special way and made me smile. In one I have seen thousands of Buddha statues, in other I was walking of "singing" floor, near third I have seen giant koi fish in nice pond.  I took lots of photos, but when we went to see buddhist cementry, I stopped. Japanese do not like when people take a photos of graveyards. It is bad for spirits who might be catched by camera and their peace disturbed... I did not want to disturb neither  dead nor alive Japanese.

We went to eat some lunch and because it was so hot I had just one rice ball. The best part started afternoon when we went to see Kinkakuji and Ginkakuji, one of the most famous Kyoto temples...