Kyoto - Zen to the Max

I had a fantastic morning today.  Fantastic.  As usual I woke up early and was out the door by about 7am.  I had decided to visit the northern part of the Higashiyama of Kyoto.  Higashiyama is the area in the eastern foothills of Kyoto.  It took me almost two hours to walk there but it was a beautiful morning and I feel there is no better way to get to know a place then to walk it.  I walked along the banks of the Kamo River and through residential areas on northeastern Kyoto.



My destination was the Ginkaku-ji Temple.  This is one of Kyoto's many World Heritage Sites, and with good reason.  It dates from the late 15th Century and has the most beautiful garden I have yet to see...anywhere.  It is a zen garden and I walked through it twice because I could not get enough of it.  It has carpets of a wide variety of different mosses.  The sand/gravel gardens are immaculate and perfect.  The Japanese maple trees had also started turning their fiery reds.   Unfortunately the temple building is being restored at this time but it made no difference....the garden made up for it.




From there I walked along Tetsugaku-no-michi (The Path of Philosophy).  This is a stone path that follows a canal and I walked southbound from Ginkaku-ji.  I took a break from all my walking on one of the many stone benches the line its way.  I was happy that most tourists stick to their buses as this is a road less travelled.



Along my walk I stopped for a brief visit in another Zen temple.  This one is called Honen-in on honour of the founder of the Jodo Sect of Buddhism.  I noticed there how the smoke from burning incense not only gives off a nice smell but it also creates a thin veil that the suns rays pierce through.  Gives the place a bit of more mystical feel.


I continued on "The Path" to its end at the Nanzen-ji Temple.  It is the headquarters of the Rinzai School of Zen.  Another phenomenal location of extreme beauty.  As I have done at a few times I followed a few less travelled paths and ended up in a forest that had loads of hiking trails in it.  Without a map though I didn't venture more than 15 minutes into it.  Gosh I wish I could get my hands on some hiking maps.  The stories behind these trails must be interesting.



Back into Kyoto for lunch at an Italian bistro on the Takase River and back to my hotel via an art exhibition in the Takase River and the backstreets of central Kyoto.   An amazing day.


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