Arashiyama

On the Western side of Kyoto, you'll find Arashiyama. The bus from the station went through a lot of non-descript semi-industrial areas for a long time, but then all of sudden, it was a different world. A beautiful river and rolling hills. Arashiyama is a bustling tourist spot, but as soon as you leave the main street and enter the Tenryuji temple, tranquility surrounds you. We didn't actually go into the temple itself, but the gardens were wonderful. Though I have to say we were somewhat underwhelmed by the Zen garden - we had expected circular patterns in the sand/stones, but it was all very plain. Well, I guess that's what Zen is all about. We were blessed with the weather and the shaded gardens were in full bloom.

The road going through the bamboo grove we had read so much about at the Northern exit to the Tenryuji temple was very busy. Not only with pedestrians, but also cars, mostly taxis, which was quite disappointing. Secondary-school students on their visit to Kyoto seem to be in the habit of travelling by taxi. I guess it must be cheap enough if you split the fare among 4 or 5 students. It was beautiful all the same, but I would recommend to go there early in the day to try and get a shot without strangers standing in the middle. One thing I can imagine is that it would be a lovely cool spot in the summer heat.

At the top end of the bamboo grove, we found ourselves at the entrance to Okochi Sanso Villa. We decided to go in and we were deligthed we did. The path takes you through a variety of gardens and various small buildings, houses and temples. You can't go into any of the buildings but the gardens going up and up are well worth the entrance fee (Don't miss the cup of matcha green tea included in the price. It was so refreshing.). There was hardly anybody around. We came across a Western couple, who ignored us, and an elderly Japanese couple, who were very nice, the only problem being that the only words we had in common were Nikon and Sony!

At the very top, you have lovely views of the city over the tree line, and on the other side, you can see the hill across the river valley, with a beautiful little temple amongst the trees. It was such a peaceful sight that we decided to make our way back down a path that follows the river. It was a completely different side to Arashiyama, shaded and away from the tourist shops.

I had to have a look around all the touristy shops all the same and then we had lunch in a small place, where Brendan had chicken over rice (oyako don) and I had an udon dish, which I found very tasty.

It was still early enough in the afternoon and we went for a walk on the other side of the river, though the path there was quite narrow, and a bit close to the river for my liking, but the views were so lovely it was well worth it.

We then made our way back to the little station and got onto a train that we thought would bring us back to the city centre. It didn't, and we had quite a long walk, but I got myself a green tea icecream on the way and I didn't mind one bit!