These cute little trams operate on a single tracks with signals and lots of passing loops.
From the nearest tram stop the temple is only a 10 minute walk. This particular Zen Buddhist temple which was founded in 1450 features the world famous rock garden. It consists of 15 stones of various sizes on beds of moss, all of these in a 'sea' of raked white gravel. The backdrop to this garden is a wall made of clay boiled in oil, resulting in the peculiar colouring and pattern.
The temple also, not surprisingly, is surrounded by another amazing garden. Most of the green on the ground is not grass but moss, acres of it!
More photos of Ryoan-ji and the fun of getting there
By this time the members of our group were getting pretty hungry so as we walked to our next destination we keep an eye open for a lunch stop. We didn't have long to wait as we soon passed a cute little traditional restaurant. Another memorable meal (chicken yakitori and rice, soba noodles in Dashi broth with deep fried tofu skin - perfect!!).
None of us has yet mastered the art of sitting at low tables with any degree of dignity or ease - fortunately a lot of the locals appear to find it a bit of a challenge as well. Time now to head off to the next destination.
-- Post From Geoff's iPhone
yum keep these food photos coming!
ReplyDeleteLooks like your having a great time, looking forward to seeing you all very soon.
The amazing part about the rock garden is that you cannot see all 15 stones from any vantage point. No matter how much you move around, you cannot see all 15 at the same time.
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