FIRST DAY IN KYOTO AT THE TEMPLE OF THE GOLDEN PAVILION | 京都之旅第一天：金阁寺

Happy New Year 2026 to all Hivers! Back to our travelling tales. Of course we travelled to Kyoto. My husband was especially thrilled to take the bullet train, Shinkansen, for the first time. I booked all the train tickets online prior to landing in Tokyo. It’s super convenient. Everything requires QR codes. As the train tickets we purchased were non-reserved seats, we were allowed to take whichever available Shinkansen to Kyoto at whatever time we wanted.

We took the Nozomi 25 Shinkansen at 10:30 am. For non-reserved seats, passengers usually board at car number 1 and 2. The train cleaners behaved like they have superhuman abilities. Cleaning although done within minutes felt like seconds, noticeable but hardly. The number of snacks we brought along the journey was unbelievable on top of a delicious station lunchbox, eki-ben. The choices of bento available at the Tokyo Station was overwhelming. I wanted to try everything if only my digestive system permitted.

We reached the Kyoto Station at exactly 10 minutes before 13:00 pm. After checking into our accommodation nearby the main station and going out for lunch, we took the Sagano Line train to Enmachi Station. Actually, the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Kinkaku-ji, was within walking distance of just 20 minutes away. However, we made a silly mistake by opting to take the bus. On top of that, we took the wrong bus and made a detour to Ginkakuji. Only one alphabetical difference but the distance is crazy far. Everything happens for a reason so it turned out to be quite an adventure really. It was as if we went on a bus tour of half the Kyoto city.

By the time we got to Kinkaku-ji, it was almost 16:00 and the sun was almost setting but nevertheless still crowded with visitors, mainly Japanese school students from other prefectures. Another comical incident happened right in front of ticket booth. A group of foreign travelers made a funny remark. Both my husband and I almost laughed out loud but decided to keep to ourselves as it’s rude to eavesdrop. The joke was so relevant. It will be our secret worthy of future reminiscence.

A brief history and description of Kinkaku-ji is inevitable. Kinkaku-ji was constructed around late 14th century. The construction site was originally a villa belonging to Saionji Kintsune. The site was later purchased by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. After the Shogun passed away, it was converted to a Zen temple by his heir in accordance to his wishes. As the Muromachi period of architectural style heavily relied on visual excesses, the two upper floors of the pavilion were coated with 0.5 micrometers of gold leaves. The current pavilion is a rebuilt in 1955 due to an arson attack although it survived the Onin War in mid-15th century. The artistic way in which the gilded pavilion is exquisitely integrated with its surrounding landscape more or less contributed to inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

Japanese school students are so smart. They know the right time to pay a visit to the Kinkaku-ji Temple. It’s carved into their DNA. Just as the sunset rays started to fall on top of the gilded pavilion, it glimmered with an intensity deserving our renewed sense of respect. We finally understood the purpose of the detour. The detour was meant to make our trip even more memorable than it has already been.

Thank you for reading! 💗

IN CHINESE

祝所有蜂巢朋友们2026新年快乐！让我们继续分享我们的旅行故事。当然，我们去了京都。我丈夫尤其兴奋，因为他第一次体验了新干线。我在抵达东京之前就在网上预订了所有火车票，非常方便。所有操作都需要扫描二维码。由于我们购买的是自由席车票，所以可以随时乘坐任何一班前往京都的新干线。

我们上午10:30乘坐了Nozomi 25号新干线。自由席的乘客通常在1号和2号车厢上车。列车清洁人员简直像拥有超能力一样。虽然清洁工作只用了几分钟，但感觉就像几秒钟一样干净，虽然明显但又感觉不到。除了美味的便当之外，我们还带了数不清的零食。东京站的便当种类之多令人眼花缭乱，真想每样都尝尝，可惜我的肠胃不允许。

我们于下午1点前10分钟准时到达京都站。在车站附近的住宿办理入住手续并外出吃过午饭后，我们搭乘嵯峨野线前往缘町站。实际上，金阁寺（Kinkaku-ji）距离车站步行仅需20分钟。然而，我们犯了个愚蠢的错误，选择了乘坐巴士。更糟糕的是，我们还坐错了巴士，绕道去了银阁寺（Ginkakuji）。仅仅一个字母不同，但距离却远得惊人。一切自有安排，这真是一次奇妙的冒险。感觉就像我们参加了一次京都半城的观光巴士之旅。

当我们到达金阁寺时，已近下午4点，太阳即将落山，但寺内依然人头攒动，游客大多是来自其他县的日本学生。售票处前又发生了一件趣事。一群外国游客说了些滑稽的话。我和丈夫都差点笑出声来，但还是决定忍住，因为偷听不太礼貌。这个笑话真是太贴切了，以后可以把它当作我们俩的秘密，好好回忆一番。

对金阁寺进行简要的历史介绍是必不可少的。金阁寺始建于14世纪末。其原址是西园寺公経的别墅，后被幕府将军足利义满购得。将军驾崩后，其继承人遵照其遗愿，将其改建为禅寺。由于室町时代的建筑风格崇尚视觉上的极致奢华，金阁寺的上两层都贴上了0.5微米厚的金箔。现存的金阁寺是在1955年因一场纵火而重建的，尽管它在15世纪中叶的应仁之乱中幸存了下来。金阁寺与周围景观完美融合的艺术美感，在很大程度上促成了它被列入联合国教科文组织世界遗产名录。

日本学生真是聪明，他们知道何时是游览金阁寺的最佳时机，这仿佛已经刻在了他们的基因里。当夕阳的余晖洒在金阁寺上，它闪耀着夺目的光芒，让我们由衷地肃然起敬。我们终于明白了绕道而来的意义所在。原来，这次绕道是为了让我们的旅程更加难忘。

感谢阅读！💗

[//]:# ([//]:# (!worldmappin 35.03912 lat 135.72932 long Kinkakuji Temple, Kyoto d3scr))