Last Trip to Kyoto with Yoko - Early June

Even though I saw Yoko-chan as recently as March, it was too hard to say goodbye at that time so we met each other half way between Hiroshima and Tokyo, in Kyoto. Now if I had to advise anyone going to Japan on a short vacation to go anywhere it would be the lovely and charming city of Kyoto. Unless you are into raves, clubs and the Tokyo sub-culture, then skip the rest of Japan and just go to Kyoto if your time is limited. My only complaint about the city is that it ALWAYS rains when I go there - but even still the temples are beautiful and there are many different colors (some red, some wooden, even a Gold temple). So, in short there is something for everyone.

When I got to Kyoto there are two places that I always like to return to. The first temple is named Ryoan-ji. At this temple there is a famous rock garden with 15 large rocks amidst the pebbles and shrubs, however, from any given vantage point in the temple you can only see 14 of the rocks. The idea is that you will see the 15th rock with your third eye, through meditation essentially...I am still working on that... I haven't included pictures here but will try to post a video soon.

The other place I like to go is a small temple inside the Daitoku-ji Zen Temple complex in the North of the city. The small temple is called Koto-in. I discovered this temple-gem on a previous trip to Japan and always advise people to go there and sit on the wide veranda with a cup of hot Japanese tea and traditional pounded rice and bean paste sweet treat. As you look out from the veranda you see a carpet of brilliant green moss carpet and then a bamboo forest with its lovely cacaphony of sounds amidst which to sip your tea and slowly taste your sweet treat. Here is a picture at Koto-in during the rain.















This is the entry path, I love the colors here - and Yoko and I look pretty good too!



















This is a picture of a few of the many torii (gates) at Fushimi Inari, just outside of Kyoto and accessible easily by train. I had never been here before but really liked it. There are thousands of gate covered pathways in this mountain area. I was grateful for the gates when it started raining and Yoko and I were without umbrellas!

















While in Kyoto Yoko and I were also able to meet up with Todd Morrison, a Aussie that I met when I lived in Japan for the first time over 10 years ago. I hadn't seen him in at least 4 or 5 years so it was great to catch up over lunch about what we are doing with our lives and share travel stories.