Another dawn, another day

Another day spent here in Kyoto. Was also another day off, we really didn't go and see much. We did go and exchange some money, then walked/rode the bus over to the kyomizu temple. It was about 400 feet up a mountainside, nestled into the rocks. There we went to the sacred tunnel of st. hara, who is a Hindu saint of love and mercy, and we went "into the sacred womb" or we held prayer beads that lined the wall and went into an area that was completly cut off from light. There was one antechamber with a single sandskrit symbol written on it, and you were supposed to touch the symbol and make a wish. I tried to concentrate and make mine but my mother decided to interrupt my train of thought and bump into me. completely irritated me. I don't know if y'all know what that's like, but being interrupted during deep thought is about the worst thing in the world as far as I'm concerned. It's like being woken from a good dream. Anyhow, after that we went into the main complex, saw serveral buddha statues, and washed our hands and drank the sacred water coming out of the mountainside. It was very cold, but possibly the best tasting water I've ever had. After that we wandered into the Kyoto craft center, which had various traditional japanese artifacts on sale, at a reduced cost to foreigners, but they seemed a little touristy. None the less, I got a matching set of yukattas and mom and sarah got several other souveniors. If anyone has any requests for small things they'd like from japan, i might be able to help out, or big things if you'll pay me back. Drop an E-mail to Jacrane@gwu.edu or post a comment. 'S all good. -J