Shrines, Exchanging Currency, and a Lost Folder

What a whirlwind day today has been! I'm back at my hostel right now in Kyoto and am just sitting back in awe of all of the things that happened today. My day began at the Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine. What an utterly beautiful place with many trails, shrines, forestry, and a very long history; I highly recommend it. I also was able to visit Kiyomizu Temple, Nijo Castle, and the Kyoto Imperial Palace. Unfortunately, the last two locations were both closed, but all of the other local culture I was able to experience along the way, more than made up for it.

Today, unlike other days, I traveled throughout the city nearly all on foot. This allowed me the opportunity to experience more of Kyoto than most visitors usually do. I got to walk through quiet alleyways and local markets, busy roads and construction sites. I stumbled across a shrine where the locals go to worship, a baseball team having practice in the park, and travelers from Mexico. I learned how to exchange money (they do it at the post office, not the bank). Lastly, I got baked in the sun! Today was an extraordinary day that I will never forget.

To finish off this post, I have a story to share. It shows how kind and honest Japanese people are. Today while I was at the post office exchanging money, I absent-mindedly left my binder containing all of my travel itinerary and contact information in the lobby. Later on in the day, I realized my folder was not in my bag, but figured I had left it at the hostel so I didn't pay any thought to it. Exausted from the day, I returned to my hostel at 6:30pm and slept till 11:00pm. When I awoke, my binder was waiting for me, but this is the handwritten letter that I found with it:

Mr. Derik Bron,

I found your notebook, where it was out of Central Post Office near ATM machine this afternoon. I tried to bring it to the Police Station, but I found you bought a JR Pass in the USA, at JTB. I tried to ask about your record in JTB Tokyo, but we couldn't have time to find your record, then I called your friend Kentaro and Mr. Soma (Sohma), but nobody knows where you stay in Kyoto. Sorry, I saw many pages to look for your information ... then finally, I found where you are staying Kyoto!! Please enjoy Japan and don't leave this notebook since today!!

That absolutely made my day! Not only did this woman deliver the binder to my hostel, but she also contacted several of my friends in Japan to see if they might be able to help. Yumi, if you are reading this, thanks so much for returning my documents! Wow!

Thanks, God.