So I jumped back on the subway this morning and headed back north. I wanted to see more of the temples in the Daitoku-ji temple area.
Turns out there are four major temples you can visit in the complex. Yesterday I finished the day at the Ryugen-In temple and today I started out at the Zuiho-In temple.
As you can see it has a number of exquisite Zen gardens. Luckily, being the first thing in the morning there was no one else there. Very serene and a pity I couldn’t spend all day here.
Next it was off to the Daisen-In temple which has the most famous of all Zen gardens in the area. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos. Too many tourists taking too many photos with flashes has ruined for everyone else. However, it was certainly worth coming back to see this as the Zen gardens are some of the most intricate I’ve seen and I’d also have to say that the staff are some of the friendliest. I bought some souvenirs and had the head abbot sign them for me (for a fee) as my contribution to helping them maintain this amazing place.
The final temple is the Koto-In temple which is completely different from the others (they are all slight different but this is very different).
for starters it is shrouded in tall bamboo.
and instead of a rock garden it has a ‘lawn’ covered in moss (a green Zen garden I suppose). Again, you can sit on the veranda and contemplate the scenery, which is very different from any other garden I have seen during my time.
From here I headed back towards the centre of the city and to Nijo castle. It is a pretty popular place and filled with loads of school kids taking the tour.
Basically you can walk through the castle structure (again not photos allowed) and then traverse the grounds. There is probably not much to see inside the castle buildings unless you are into Japanese architecture and culture but it is included in the price of you ticket so even if you breeze through I’d still take a look.
You can then also walk the grouns.
My final destination for the day and my time in Kyoto was the Toji temple which has the tallest pagoda in Kyoto.
So all in all a very different place from Tokyo. If you are interested in the culture and history of Japan then Kyoto is really worthwhile. Many of the best sites are unfortunately a little off the beaten track and at the edges of the city but you can certainly spend a whole day in these areas seeing a whole heap of things.
So web sites I found helpful in planning my trip.
http://www.city.kyoto.jp/koho/eng/index.html
http://www.pref.kyoto.jp/visitkyoto/en/
http://www.kyotoguide.com/ver2/walking/walking-oldcapitalwalking.html
