8 Hours in Kyoto

For her first weekend back in Japan my Mom and I traveled to Kyoto on Saturday. Her request was to see Kiyomizu in the day light since she saw it during the November special evening hours last time around and I wanted fill in some of the prominent temples that hadn't yet been a top priority. We left Nagoya early, at 5:45, hoping to avoid the hordes of school children that are common at Kiyomizu. It turns out we were just in time by arriving at 7:45. the school children starting arriving at 8:00 and were close on our heels (this group was wearing matching yellow hats). Determined to see Ryogen-in, the temple deemed to have the best zen rock gardens in Kyoto by Michael and Naomi, I took my mom to the Daitoku-ji temple complex hoping that Ryogen-in would be open for visitors. It was open and I now agree that it has 5 of the best rock gardens.It wasn't on my initial to-see list but Frommers listed Koto-in as one of the top three sub-temples in Daitoku-ji so after enjoying Ryogen-in so much we decided to check it out. The garden of Koto-in could only be described as magical and I can only imagine how amazing the Japanese maple canopy over the approach must be in Fall.After a cold soba and tempura lunch set at a restaurant across from Byodo-in we entered this temple which appears on the 10yen coin.The temple is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it decidedly impressive and distinct with its Phoenix roof ornaments, but I found the crowds of visitors distracting.

Our final stop of the day was Enryaku-ji on Mt Hiei another of the World Heritage Sites in Japan. (Navi Phone Number 077-578-0001) While it did provide nice views I was a bit surprised to learn that the toll road on Mt Hiei cost approximately $17 USD.
Given today's rain and the altitude we were literally in the clouds as we toured Dai ko-do, Kaidan-in and Konpon chu-do in the East Area of the temple complex.