We started the day with a decent breakfast at the hotel. Our room rate did not include breakfast but the hotel had a promotion on their website that entitled us to a free breakfast, which we used up today. Always pays to look at a hotel's website.
We made our way to the subway station and headed for the Imperial Palace. Just like Tokyo, we were not really interested in seeing the palace, even though slots were still available on the guided tours that are the only way to see the interior of the palace. Our quest was to see how far the sakura had progressed in the gardens, and it had, considerably more than Tokyo.
As usual, go early and beat the crowds.
We returned to the subway station and took the subway to Kyoto station. We made our way to the adjoining bus station and took the bus to Kinkaku-ji temple.
A quick note on buses and subways. There are one day passes available for the subway, as well as the Y500 one day passes for the buses. The bus pass includes the 3 RAKU Sightseeing lines that ply tourists around to the major sights.
We maximised the value of the logistics in a simple way. At the end of the day, I would map out what we were going to do the next day as well as the logistics, ie subway or buses involved. I would calculate the per unit cost of each of those journeys and then weigh it against the value of the pass. In this way we ended up buying bus passes only on one day, for all the rest, we did not take enough buses to justify the pass. Some areas involve a walk from one sight to the next, eg the Philosophers Path, so one would take a bus at the start and the end of the day and walk the rest.
Kinkaku-ji is always crowded but it was not overly so that day and the gardens are really beautiful.
We caught the bus from Kinkaku-ji to Ryoan-ji temple, which is about a 5 minute ride and a 20 minute walk. Again, there are some beautiful gardens and the path is well laid out.
We made our way to main event for Ryoan-ji - the world famous Zen garden. It comprises 15 stones and it is said that no matter which perspective you adopt, you cannot see all 15 stones, and that if you do, you have gained enlightenment. It does get very crowded here which kind of interferes with the reflective mood that is supposed to descend on you as you contemplate the garden and other lofty thoughts, but again on this day, there were few people.
So no enlightenment, but a model of the garden shows all 15 stones for all us unfortunates who are still looking for it.
We exited the zen garden enclosure and made our way through the rest of the gardens before reaching the exit.
After finishing with Ryoan-ji we decided to head off to Arashiyama. Luckily, there is a small commuter train connecting this part of Kyoto with Arashiyama, thereby negating the need to schlep back all the way to Kyoto station to take the JR line. The picture below shows details of this line. We took the train from the Ryoanji station which is about a 5-6 minute walk from the Ryoan-ji temple and needed to make one change before we got to Arashiyama.
Bamboo is a very big part of Arashiyama, as is evident from the thematic decor of the train station.
The main bridge in Arashiyama spanning the Saga river.
After looking around at some shops on the main street we made our way to the Tenryu-ji shrine. These are some pictures of its beautiful gardens.
After finishing with the gardens, make sure to take the upper exit out rather than walking back towards the entrance again. One of the "wow" moments of our trip was just outside the upper exit - the bamboo forest. These are some pictures to give a sense of this wonderful sight.
On the way back to the station we came across this house with its elaborate granite statuary.
We made our way back to the JR station and took the local train back to Kyoto station. Dinner was at an Italian place in the Cube building.
The night view of Kyoto Tower, all lit up, as visible from Kyoto Station before we headed for the subway back to the hotel.
