Visiting Kaneohe? Go see the Valley of the Temples

I don't really know why I wanted to go visit the Byodo-In Temple at the Valley of the Temples... I know it's a cemetery and all, but when I saw pics from friends who visited the place, it reminded of Japan and I miss Japan... :'( So I decided to bring my mom and brother here last Wednesday since we were driving around Waimanalo anyways and heading back to Honolulu via Kaneohe...

The temple is located in Kaneohe right in front of a McDonald's and Times SuperMarket, I think... It's located on Kehekili Highway and it even has it's own website (lol! I had to go check what street it's on)!  The admission fees are: $3.00 per adult, $2.00 senior citizen, $1.00 child and they only accept cash... According to their website, they are open 9:00am - 5:00pm daily.  You don't have to pay for parking and there's a security guard house right when you enter the valley to ask for directions.  He was very kind to us when I first entered...

It's a very beautiful place, and we had to force my brother to come! lol!  There was a LOT of Koi fish and they were huge!  My mom really enjoyed them and I think Beb would've liked to see them too if he didn't have work...

I don't know where the kids got the food to feed the koi though... Maybe from that gift shop back there in this pic, which I didn't get to visit because it was choke full of people... We tried to scare my mom by pretending to push her in, but I was scared that they'd eat her because there was really a lot of koi!

Again, it's very peaceful here... I didn't get to read that piece of paper that they gave us when we paid for admission about the history of the temple and stuff (I know, I suck..) so I can't really give you details about the temple, except that it's very pretty...

Inside the temple, there is a huge Buddha where people can pray and light incense.  You would have to be quiet and take your shoes off before you can go to the Buddha (I don't know if you can touch it though because I stayed outside; not my religion that's why!).

 

This is where all of the gong-ing noises come from when you first enter... you think there's going to be some kind of ceremony, but people just come up, pull the rope, and the large stick bangs into the bell... very soothing to me... my mom just pulled it and ran away, and it made a loud noise... haha... we're supposed to be quiet and calm!

 

 It's not as big of a place as I thought it would be, so I thought charging $3 was a bit much, but it said in the admission booth that if you wana take pics, you have to pay for admission. So can I enter for free without taking pics? I should've asked! lol!

Some interesting facts about the temple (after reading the website since I lost the paper. lol!) that I learned:.

-They have an ash garden or scattering garden for cremated remains... uh... ew...? kinda creepy...

-You can have weddings here! very interesting but, again, kinda creepy... if you remember that it's in a cemetery. Otherwise, it's a great place to have a wedding!

-Bon-sho (sacred bell) " is customarily rung before one enters the temple to spread the eternal teachings of Buddha. Ringing the bell will purify the mind of evil spirits and temptation. It is said that ringing this bell will bring you happiness, blessings, and a long life. It is customarily rung before entering the temple." Oops... does that mean my mom will have bad luck? I hope not... I didn't ring it so I should be safe? I dunno.. lol...

-They have peacocks on the grounds... What???!! I didn't see! So sad... but the website also says that koi can grow to be 100 years old! Wow! Just like turtles... how amazing is that! I wonder why koi aren't featured as talking characters in anime or manga when they're just so amazing... 

-Ah-ha!  The tea house gift shop IS the place where to buy food for the koi... but it doesn't say how much it costs...

 

Anyways, there are actually a couple of churches/temples/religious places in that area if you actually go around the valley, but the Byodo-In Temple was the one thing I really wanted to see... I also noticed a pet cemetery on the way out of the valley... scary but interesting... so my ratings are 3 for price and entertainment value... it was a beautiful place, but I have a little ADD (lol!) so there wasn't much for me to do/see... I think a lot of people would really like it and find it soothing (if only it can calm me down!)... But the likelihood that I'm coming back is probably a 1 because I'll only come back when  I'm playing tour guide again...