Last Day Kyoto-Pavilion N Railroad

Yesterday, I woke up early and took the bus to the Golden Pavilion, which is a Buddhist Temple made of gold, and was a zen retirement villa. Actually, the top two floors are made up of gold leaf. It was beautiful, but mobbed. The crowds we're everywhere, particularly of school kids in line. And I couldn't get real close to the villa. So it was just crowded.

But, going out, there was a traditional Japanese tea house offering tea and a sweet for around $5.00. I decided to pay the $5.00, and a Buddhist sister put out a traditional cup of macha tea and a small (really small) sweet. She told me how to eat/drink it. (sip of tea, bite of sweet, and repeat)-she said a prayer as well. To participate, I had to take off my shoes and sit on the floor. It was nice.

After the palace, I took the bus to the train station. Kyoto as 1200 temples/shrines. It feels like I have seen many of them, and was tired of them. But the Kyoto Railroad Museum was a short walk from the train station. I took a walk through a park besides the train tracks to the museum, and found a bench to sit on and watch the trains go by (one went by every minute or so).

I made my way to the museum, which was pretty cool. The original bullet train was on display, built in 1964, along with the cars. I sat in the cockpit which looked old fashioned. There we're other trains on display as well. I went upstairs, where there was a display on electrification, which powered the trains, and also a model railroad display. I sat and waited about 20 minutes for the model train show to start. The lights went down, and the train show started with the moderator talking in Japanese, starting different trains, and showing a projection of them so all could see.

i went up to the gallery and cafeteria, both of which offered a great view of the tracks.

I was at the museum until closing. i just took a walk down the street, and decided to walk through the rain. I went through different neighborhoods, got lost, and finally found the train station again. i found a water show with water fountains next to the train station. I watched the waterplay for a few minutes and then went back to the hostel, but first stopped at a department store on the way to the rail station