years. Quite a lucky combination! I was impressed by the devotion of the people around me.
The spiritual side of Japanese people does not seem to clash at all with their high-tech lifestyle.
-TODO: dark corridor
+Behind the temple, we were led down a narrow staircase to a dark and twisty corridor beneath
+the temple. We had to walk in the pitch black obscurity, touching the walls in search of a
+metal key of enlightenment. I could finally get hold of the key and turn it, but the most
+enlightening part of this experience was hearing the crowd of tourists apologizing for bumping
+into each other all the time ;-)
I only have outdoors [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nagano/Zenko-ji|photos]] becuase taking
pictures inside was strictly forbidden. A monk yelled at me just for fiddling too much with
museum was also great ([[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/Museum|photos]]). On our way back, we did see
a [[Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Nagano/dancing_kids|dancing show]] with cute little girls and their teachers.
-{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/Castle/00147.jpg|Soooo conventiinal!|maxwidth=640}}
-{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/Castle/00108.jpg|Scary, uh?|maxwidth=640}}
-
Apparently, by leaving Nagano we missed some kind of prayer or event held by Tibetan monks at the
[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenk%C5%8D-ji|Zenko-ji]]. Too bad, it might have been a good chance
to show some support for the Tibetan cause. Go, Tibet, Go!
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/Castle/00147.jpg|Soooo conventiinal!|maxwidth=640}}
+{{Pictures/vacation/japan_2009/Matsumoto/Castle/00108.jpg|Scary, uh?|maxwidth=640}}
+
=== April 25th: Matsumoto ===
Yesterday, we arrived on a rainy night to the mountain town of Matsumoto, where a lady with a car