After Osaka, Mom and I headed out to Arashiyama. It was not far from Kyoto itself but we had to haul our luggage to the Arashiyama station. We were staying the night at a ryokan called Togetsutei Hotel that is close to the Togetsu-kyo (bridge).
We did arrive at the hotel and left our luggage there. Then we headed out to Tenryu-ji. It was just a 10 minute walk from the hotel and we had to cross the bridge to get to the temple. At this time, the weather was starting to turn bad so it was timely that Mom and I arrived at the temple promptly. There were actually 2 entrance fees to the temple - the garden then the "house" that overlooks the garden.
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| A small stream that leads to a bigger river |
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| From the garden |
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| View from the garden looking onto the main hall of the temple |
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| The "house" and the zen garden |
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| What used to be a zen garden was a smallish pond because of the rain |
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| Another part of the stream leading to the river |
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| Lotus leaves on our way to the temple |
Mom and I got caught in the strong wind and rain when we finished visiting the temple. It was seriously windy and I mean, crazy strong winds. I thought I was going to be blown away. When we arrived at the hotel, we just stayed there and rested.
The following day was calmer than usual. We woke up bright and early to go to the Bamboo Grove. Then we headed out to Tokyo after that. I really liked the bamboo grove. Maybe because there were no hoards of people trying to take photos. It was literally empty. I read from a blogger that you definitely have to go early, because the silence of the grove and the bamboo trees send a really powerful message. I sort of get it. There is a certain charm to looking high up at the bamboo trees and into the sunlight. When I look at my pictures now, I still feel like I'm there, walking on the path of bamboo trees.
We also passed by this shrine called Nonomiya, which is for people to find good matches. We were too early and the shrine opens at 9.30am, so we took some photos and headed out.
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