>We saw a big temple in the middle of Kyoto called Higashi-Honganji. It was HUGE, kind of dirty and there were pigeons everywhere, but it was still really cool. After that we went to the most beautiful Temple. It is called King-gaku(although I'm not sure of the spelling on that). It was a gold temple surounded on three sides by a little moat-like lake.

I went to Higashi-Honganji on my trip to Japan too! Did you notice the beautiful smell of the wood when walking along that huge porch? I have an idea it's the biggest wooden building in the world.

We intended to go to Ginka-ku (that's how it was spelled in my guidebook) but didn't have time. There's so much to see in Kyoto. I want to spend *at least* a week there next time.

> Our train to Hiroshima was late so we had to sit on the cement floor for over an hour.

So I'm not the only one who noticed the total lack of anywhere to sit and wait in Japanese train stations.

> After lunch we went to the beach!!! I say the ocean for the first time in my life!

You have no idea how hard this is to believe. Even though I *know* you live in a big wide country, I find it almost impossible to imagine that *anyone* could drive for even a day and still not reach a coast; heck, we have an endurance event here where people RUN from the West Coast to the East Coast in one day. And that's at the wide bit of the country; up here where it's narrow, I've walked from one side to the other in five hours. Hearing someone say they've never seen the ocean gives me the same reaction as if someone said they've never seen the sky. Wow. I wish I could visit where you come from, and see if inland is as weird to me as visiting a beach is to you.

> The grounds were absolutely beautiful but, of course, it was on top of a huge hill again. What do the Japanese have against building on the ground, where it's easy to get to.

I don't know which is the correct answer, but some that spring to mind:
1) In Japan there's a shortage of flat fertile low-lying land for growing food. So when there is some, you don't waste it by sticking temples on it.
2) Tsunamis?
3) A more strategically important location? OK, maybe not so important for temples, but then again I believe political rivalry came into temple-building as much as anything else.

>Well, that is all of my trip. If you were able to survive till the end of it I congratulate you. It's not to interesting but I promise it was even harder for me.

I thought it was very interesting and if you have any more stories about your trip I look forward to reading them.

Brunnen-"and pictures! Where are the pictures?"G