Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Kyoto

Arriving in Kyoto after our train ride from Mt. Fuji we found ourselves in a sauna. Kyoto is surrounded by mountains and the heat from the ocean gets trapped in the town. Luckily after visiting the beautiful sites when quickly forgot how much we were sweating.

Our favorite spot in Kyoto was Ryoan-ji Temple. A pan of Ryoan-ji

We arrived early in the morning before the crowds arrived to sit in front of the zen garden, consisting of 15 rocks of various sizes stating in a seas of raked white gravel.


Glenn, Sandy, and Megan spent a long time sitting between the rock garden and the adjacent moss garden.




















Afterward, we walked around the lake where we found a small tea house that served us a vegetarian snack overlooking a secluded Japanese garden.





The lily pad lake in Ryoan-ji was perfect. There was even a small island in the middle that you could get to by a small bridge. Unfortunately they did not allow us to take the boat out.








In every temple you will find the water spouts that are used for tea ceremonies or for washing your hands before entering a sacred area.















Before my parents left for Japan, Sarah told them to keep an eye out for the rainbells that hang down from the gutters. We took many pictures of these and hope to add them to our Ithaca cottage.















Another favorite spot was Fushimi Inari in the southeastern side of Kyoto. We took a long hike at dusk through hundreds of red torii up and down the mountain. The mountain was very spooky with the cicadas screeching all around us.


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