Two tourists who undertook a two-day journey to visit an iconic Japanese shrine were left disappointed when they found the structure had been closed for public viewing due to construction work. Instead of the promised shrine, the disappointed tourists found a giant scaffolding draped with a life-size picture of the pagoda. The humour of their situation did not escape them as they shared a rueful Reel on Instagram documenting their letdown.
Travel vlogger duo Rachel Sterner and Lauren Kokoskie shared their disappointment in an Instagram video that has left millions in splits.
The duo said they travelled for two days to reach Kumano Kodo, a network of ancient pilgrimage routes in the Kii Peninsula in Japan. Once in the area, Rachel and Lauren spent three days waiting for the weather to clear up so they could trek to the famous Seiganto-ji Temple Pagoda.
The travel content creators wanted to see the iconic shrine with its view of the Nachi Falls in the background. Instead, they found the pagoda covered on all four sides with a giant scaffolding. Draped on the scaffolding was a printed picture of the shrine.
Adding insult to injury
“It almost adds insult to injury that they put a photo of it on the scaffolding,” they wrote while sharing the video on Instagram. “We were looking forward to seeing the iconic pagoda and waterfall so much and… not only was it pouring, the pagoda was under construction.”
{{/usCountry}}“It almost adds insult to injury that they put a photo of it on the scaffolding,” they wrote while sharing the video on Instagram. “We were looking forward to seeing the iconic pagoda and waterfall so much and… not only was it pouring, the pagoda was under construction.”
{{/usCountry}}Not completely immune to the humour of their situation, they asked their viewers if this was a sign they should return one day.
Watch the video here.
The duo’s ‘expectation vs reality’ video has left thousands of viewers in splits.
“The exact same thing happened to us,” wrote one Instagram user with laughing face emojis.
“Ha! I feel your pain. So far I have seen Angkor Wat, St Basil's in Red Square, the Parthenon, the Taj Mahal, the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia covered in scaffolding,” another commiserated.