Here we are at the Golden Pavilion
And at the famous Zen rock garden, considered one of the finest examples of Japanese art. I'm not going to lie: I didn't get it.
My favorite part of the temple with the rock garden was the amazing shave ice! Almost (but not quite) as good as Waiola's. Mmmmm...it's making me drool just thinking about it. No ice cream at the bottom though. =(
We also did a day trip to the towns of Kibune and Kurama (about an hour from Kyoto).
We got off the train at Kibune and hiked up the one lane mountain road into the town proper.
Once there, we visited the local shrine to the God of Water and then appropriately had lunch at one of the many restaurants built over the river.
From there, we began our hike up into the mountain, through the lush pine forest, wending our way from one hidden shrine to another.
The temple hike culminated with a visit to the Kurama temple, high up in the mountain surrounded by maple and cherry trees. It will look amazing in a couple of weeks when the trees change color, but until then it's just pretty.
We made our way back down the mountain to the little one-road town of Kurama.
We walked a little way up the road to the Kurama onsen - where you can soak in an outdoor bath surrounded by the amazing mountain scenery. It was very relaxing and serene, especially when it started raining a little bit while we were soaking. Relaxed and content, we made our way back into Kyoto.
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