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The Cave Temples of Dunhuang
There’s a place I’d like to see in real life if I could. It’s known as the cave temples of Dunhuang. Located in northwestern China, I’ve heard it’s a bit difficult to get to but well worth the difficulty. For now, I’m content with coming as close as I can to experiencing the caves of Dunhuang.
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Walking around Beppu
When people think of Beppu, the first thing that comes to mind is hot springs. Why’s that? Well, Beppu just happens to have a lot of hot springs. Tourists tend to flock here specifically to visit 8 of their hot springs. Although I was one of those people that wanted to see these touristy hot springs, it’s safe to say that Beppu has a lot more to see than its hot springs. I took a bit of a walk around the city and this is what I ran into.
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Nittaiji Temple
When I first visited Japan, I had Nittaiji Temple on my to-visit list. As Nittaiji isn’t a World Heritage site, you may find me strange for having this specific temple on my to-visit list. However, it’s really not all that strange. A place should never be visited just because it holds the title as a World Heritage site. A place should be visited simply because you hold interest in it or happen to stumble upon it. And I had an interest in Nittaiji. Unfortunately, I couldn’t cross Nittaiji Temple off from my to-visit list until after my first time in Japan was already over. Regardless, I made it happen in my second trip and that’s all that matters.
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Daibutsu aka The Great Buddha of Kamakura
Since I was already in Kamakura, I figured it’d do me some good to at least visit the Great Buddha aka Daibutsu of Kotokuin Temple. After all, the Great Buddha was one of the things I had wanted to see in Kamakura. Unfortunately, Kotokuin Temple, like many other temples and shrines in Japan had an admission fee. While I understand how financially helpful it may be for places of worship to collect admission fees, I couldn’t help but to feel bitter about it.
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Nanzoin Temple: Banned to Foreigners
Yes, you read that title correctly. The funny thing about it is that I had no flipping clue it was banned to foreigners until long after I had visited it but after learning about it, I now understand why some of the temple personnel looked so off (cold, uninviting, mean and judgmental). Fortunately, I encountered two staff members that weren’t like that but that’s just two out of their many staff members!