Senso-ji Temple & Asakusa

Remember my itinerary I posted? I pretty much did everything I had set out to do. The only exceptions were on the first day--it was cold and rainy and I had a rough start. I didn't make it to the Sumo museum, I saw the river but didn't take the boat ride, and I decided against the Tokyo skytree since I was going to see the city from the Metropolitan Government Building for free anyway.

I was staying at a hostel in the Asakusa area, and on the way to the hostel I actually had to walk through the Senso-ji temple area. It was such a fun area.  They had the streets lined with little vendors selling all sorts of Japanese things--the wooden sandals, kimonos, omiyage (little treats from the area you're visiting meant to be taken back to your friends & family). The street is called Nakamise-dōri. Then I got to the temple. It was beautiful.

I wandered the grounds for a bit before attempting to find my hostel. The hostel had some step by step instructions with pictures. It wasn't as useful as I think they intended because it gave directions like "cross the small bridge" and there were several. Or "turn the corner by the temple"... luckily, on this trip I had a great sense of direction and was able to find it pretty easily :) As a matter of fact, I didn't get lost at all during the whole trip.

Anyway, the Senso-ji temple is the oldest temple in Tokyo and is on all of the must-see lists I came across. There was a giant Buddha statue in the garden right next to the temple. There was also a fountain with dragons and little scoops. Visitors are meant to cleanse themselves before going into the Temple by either scooping water into their hands to wash them, or by drinking from the cup.

I have lots of really close shots like this one since I was traveling solo. I just loved the foliage. We don't have the changing leaves too much in Texas. And the city I live in China is more urban, so there aren't a ton of trees around me.

One of the other things I liked about this area were the murals on the shop doors. When the shops closed, the coverings had paintings like the ones above. I snapped these few pictures as an example--each one was different.