This is the day to see a "non-green" garden; The Ryoanji Stone Garden.
The temple garden is considered to be one of the finest examples of a kare-sansui, a Japanese rock garden, or Zen garden, in Japan. It is rather "smallish" but that depends on what you expect to see. It is a dry landscape with rocks and gravel.¨
Started by taking the subway and then jumping on a bus. After a long ride on the bus and recognizing Gion streets we have been too, we found out we had jumped on the "wrong bus". As the bus runs in a circle, we had jumped on the bus going the wrong direction. But so what? We got a "free sightseeing". See the benefits in every mistake - FTW!
In the end - we arrived where we were supposed to be in the end. The "main" garden is 248 square meters. Along the garden runs a huge veranda, allowing the visitors to sit and contemplate about the garden. As you move up and down, different angles allow for different impressions. And once more we got the "youth experience" - it seems to have been mandatory for kids wearing traditional clothes and make a visit to these temples, gardens and other weird places. And as with all other youths - the visit should be a quick one including lots of selfies!
After a few hours we walked the neighborhood and take a tram to Arashiyama Station. Here you find an amazing Bamboo forest.
Entered Tenryuji Park. It is not the largest park you find in Kyoto. But during Autumn and the forests bursting with colors draws everyone to this location. Sure enough - we got split up from a group of individuals and roamed the garden alone. Lots of photo ops here. A wonderful pond and multicolored trees all around it. Huge carp fishes swimming lazily around. If you exit on small northern gate - you enter the enchanted Bamboo Forest. And of course people, people and more people. Those who had hoped for a magical photo - forget it. You need to be here before dawn to get one of those.
When we had done the walk up and down the Bamboo forest, the last part of the day was a nature hike. As not everyone was interested we all walked back to Arashiyama Station and the group split in half. One team went to the Kyoto Handicraft Museum for a Shopping Bonanza; the rest of us took a "cab" up to the starting point. We walked along the Hozu river in an area called Takao. It was a very nice nature hike, just a few kilometers and not too hard. Every hikers here is a friendly soul. Konichiwa here and Konichiwa there. It's like "you are walking here hence you are a nice person and I say 'Hello' to every nice person I meet". Ok, some areas required you to get a good grip on a piece of rope to traverse slippery rocks but in general - a rather healthy walk. It ended at a "party" district with these cool "teahouses" next to the river. Supposedly very posh restaurants - never checked them out. We took a slow stroll up the steps to the local bus station for a trip back. As darkness fell, we drove on narrow, dark mountain roads until we hit the queues in Kyoto.
As the group was divided, the four of us "nature lovers" ended up at a great Japanese restaurant back in Kyoto where we ended up a constant barrage of food and Sake. Got my first horse sashimi. OK.. more a tartar but still raw. Me Like!! And then the Sake. That is not the awful paint remover I have gotten before when I ordered such a product in Sweden. Sake in Japan, there is material enough for an infinite number of books. The easy stats are: Thousands of breweries. At least 3 different ways to start the mash, at least 10 different ways of handling the product after fermentation. Add to that - different ways to handle the huge variety of rice.. All this ends up with you getting a HUGE selection of differently tasting Sake bottles available.
The temple garden is considered to be one of the finest examples of a kare-sansui, a Japanese rock garden, or Zen garden, in Japan. It is rather "smallish" but that depends on what you expect to see. It is a dry landscape with rocks and gravel.¨
Started by taking the subway and then jumping on a bus. After a long ride on the bus and recognizing Gion streets we have been too, we found out we had jumped on the "wrong bus". As the bus runs in a circle, we had jumped on the bus going the wrong direction. But so what? We got a "free sightseeing". See the benefits in every mistake - FTW!
In the end - we arrived where we were supposed to be in the end. The "main" garden is 248 square meters. Along the garden runs a huge veranda, allowing the visitors to sit and contemplate about the garden. As you move up and down, different angles allow for different impressions. And once more we got the "youth experience" - it seems to have been mandatory for kids wearing traditional clothes and make a visit to these temples, gardens and other weird places. And as with all other youths - the visit should be a quick one including lots of selfies!
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| Not for sale |
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| It was a "flat rate bus" luckily |
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| Ryoanji |
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| Magic |
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| Awesome graphics |
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| Lots of young people in dress-up |
After a few hours we walked the neighborhood and take a tram to Arashiyama Station. Here you find an amazing Bamboo forest.
Entered Tenryuji Park. It is not the largest park you find in Kyoto. But during Autumn and the forests bursting with colors draws everyone to this location. Sure enough - we got split up from a group of individuals and roamed the garden alone. Lots of photo ops here. A wonderful pond and multicolored trees all around it. Huge carp fishes swimming lazily around. If you exit on small northern gate - you enter the enchanted Bamboo Forest. And of course people, people and more people. Those who had hoped for a magical photo - forget it. You need to be here before dawn to get one of those.
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| One of the many ways we travelled |
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| Always shop until you drop |
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| You are here! |
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| The Bamboo Forest |
When we had done the walk up and down the Bamboo forest, the last part of the day was a nature hike. As not everyone was interested we all walked back to Arashiyama Station and the group split in half. One team went to the Kyoto Handicraft Museum for a Shopping Bonanza; the rest of us took a "cab" up to the starting point. We walked along the Hozu river in an area called Takao. It was a very nice nature hike, just a few kilometers and not too hard. Every hikers here is a friendly soul. Konichiwa here and Konichiwa there. It's like "you are walking here hence you are a nice person and I say 'Hello' to every nice person I meet". Ok, some areas required you to get a good grip on a piece of rope to traverse slippery rocks but in general - a rather healthy walk. It ended at a "party" district with these cool "teahouses" next to the river. Supposedly very posh restaurants - never checked them out. We took a slow stroll up the steps to the local bus station for a trip back. As darkness fell, we drove on narrow, dark mountain roads until we hit the queues in Kyoto.
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| Takao |
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| Takao - dangerous walks |
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| Takao, some awesome walks |
As the group was divided, the four of us "nature lovers" ended up at a great Japanese restaurant back in Kyoto where we ended up a constant barrage of food and Sake. Got my first horse sashimi. OK.. more a tartar but still raw. Me Like!! And then the Sake. That is not the awful paint remover I have gotten before when I ordered such a product in Sweden. Sake in Japan, there is material enough for an infinite number of books. The easy stats are: Thousands of breweries. At least 3 different ways to start the mash, at least 10 different ways of handling the product after fermentation. Add to that - different ways to handle the huge variety of rice.. All this ends up with you getting a HUGE selection of differently tasting Sake bottles available.
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| Selfie of the day |
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