Japan trip day 11: Kyoto (July 26th, 2009)

(Sunday)

Bought a day pass for buses at the bus station in front of the train station. Took the bus to Kinkakuji (Temple of the Golden Pavilion). We ate a small snack when we got off the bus because it was noon time. The coffee shop was filled with smoke, which forced us to stay there for a short time. Walked to the Kinkakuji temple. Walked along the recommended path and took many pictures of the Golden Pavilion and the surrounding lake. The lake is the home for many large gold fish. Stayed in the gift shop at the end of the path mainly because it had good air conditioning. Bought a few gifts there. On the way out found a big sign in Japanese which ended with "Thank you very much" in English. I suppose that the rest of the sign was lost in translation. Bought more cold drinks and ice cream along the way out.

Walked from Kinkakuji to the Ryoanji temple. Frommer's Japan guidebook claimed that it is a 20-minute walk. I think that is is much closer to 50 minutes. Stopped on the way in a gallery that sells Japanese block prints.

When we arrived at the Ryoanji Temple, we looked for a place to eat lunch before visiting the Zen rock garden, because it was already late (about 4pm). We found another sign that raised our eyebrows, which warned against "walking smoking" and asked to place the cigarettes in the nearby ashtray.

Bought tickets to the Ryoanji Temple, but walked along the rim of the pond to the Ryoanji Yudofuya restaurant, which serves vegetarian yudofu (tofu simmering in a pot). We sat on mats and the food was placed on low tables. From the restaurant we walked back to the Zen rock garden. The rock garden was a big disappointment. It contained 15 rocks set in waves of raked white pebbles. Rena made a picture of it, but everybody else in the family was bored.

After the Zen garden we took a bus to the hotel. This was a JR bus (a long distance bus), so I presented our JR passes when we got off.