Japan - Tour Day 11 - Kyoto

Today is our last activities for our tour.  Our guide, Sho, has been great. He is a fountain of information, is well organized, and has a mellow temperament. We had two National Geographic Exclusive activities today. One was a Kendo sword experience where we dressed in kimono and learned the basic movements of the Japanese swordsmanship. We at least looked good in our dress, our sword skills left something to be desired. Afterwards, we went to a Zen Buddhist temple and practiced Zen meditation. One of the memorable aspects was that the master would come and beat you with a stick if you felt you needed to move and wanted a distraction. It was definitely a distraction and was not pain free. Afterwards, we practiced some calligraphy, experienced one of the oldest Zen gardens in Japan, and had Matcha tea. Then we headed to the Golden Pavilion. The second and third floors and the interior are covered in gold leaf. This happened to be gold from the same craftsman that taught us to paint chopsticks with gold leaf in Kanazawa.

Since this is our last touring day, Sho arranged for a farewell dinner for the group at a local yakitori restaurant. We had chicken and beef skewers, chicken tempura, and deep fried Camembert - yummy!