Rokuon-ji (the golden temple)

 **If you have seen this post three times on your bloglovin’ feed I’m so sorry, I’ve had HORRIBLE technical difficulties with them. Trying to work it out right now! Also to those who have commented, I did see your comments on the previous post of this! Sorry they didn’t transfer!

Going through our photos from the past couple trips is always a fun thing for me. It also reminds me how much I have yet to blog about! There are certain places that we have visited that I’m still in awe over. I mean, just look at the pictures above! I can guarantee at least a few of you are wondering, “Is that even a real place? How is that real?!” Don’t worry, as I go over the pictures myself, I’m asking the same question.

Rokuon-ji (also known as Kinkaku-ji) is a gorgeous golden temple located in the Kita-ku Ward of Kyoto, Japan. This temple was founded in 1397, but the original gold pavilion was burned down by a 22-year-old monk back in 1955. He must have been having a bad day eh? The new gold temple, coated in a similar gold leaf (I’m a little unsure what this actually is) was built in 1955. Can you imagine what this place looks like in the fall or winter? The leaves were just changing colors when we visited last September.

We were staying in the Gion Ward of Kyoto, and took the train up to the Kita-Ku Ward. It cost maybe 4-5 dollars? We stopped by the bamboo forest, which was a gorgeous place to walk around. We have a pretty cool bamboo forest right here on our little island, so I was a little disappointed how short (and crowded) Kyoto’s was. However, if you haven’t ever been to a bamboo forest, and are in the Kyoto area, you should definitely swing by! I’d suggest going early morning because by the time we got there at 12:00 it was already pretty busy! We then hopped in a taxi and rode over to Rokuon-ji. It was approx. a 20 minute drive.

Visiting both the bamboo forest and the temple only took half the day. If you’re crunched on time, I’d highly suggest visiting these gorgeous areas!