A Weekend in Kyoto

Kyoto is the ancient capital of Japan and it's cultural heart.  But out in the western part of the city is the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove.

The quiet, the light and the sound of the bamboo being rustled by the wind was so peaceful.  Hard to imagine that the big city is just a few hundred meters away.

Right next to the bamboo grove is the Okochisanso Garden, which is part of the estate of a famous Japanese Actor who made his home here and was the one who developed the garden.

The view of Kyoto from Okochisanso Garden.

The actor built this small shrine on his property....the garden grew around it.

Make sure to hold onto your entrance ticket.  It's good for some tea and refreshments!

Kyoto has more temples than one person can visit in a short visit.  One of the temples I wanted to visit was Ryoan-ji because I remember coming to this temple with my family in the early 1980's.  What I remember was being puzzled by everyone's intense appreciation for a rock garden.

And....here it is. When I was a kid, I just couldn't understand why there was such admiration for this rock garden.  It's just a bunch of rocks.  But now I understand that it's a place of peace and reflection and the rocks are part of that process.

The pond at Ryoan-ji.

Just up the road is THE MUST SEE temple in Kyoto...Ginkaku-ji.

The Golden Temple

It's looks peaceful and calm......

But here are the HORDES of people pushing each other to get a picture.  The temple grounds were a madhouse.

As a total non sequitur, Japanese hotels give you a "yukata" to wear.  They are comfortable!

On our second day, we went to the Higashiyama area to visit the Kiyomizu-dera Temple.  Unfortunately, the main temple is under reconstruction and Onions and I chose not to pay the entrance fee.  Instead we found other things to look at.

For 100 Yen, take off your shoes, grab the rope with your left hand, descend into the dark passages below....to find out what you see, you're going to have to go to Kiyomizu-dera yourself.

In this part of town, Gion, a large number of Japanese women wore the traditional kimono.  I'm not sure why...

Walking around at night, it seems like every building had a sign like this out front.  I found them indecipherable.