Nanzen Temple (continued)

This is not a concrete but sand, piled together to produce a shape of mountain.

Kyoto is famous for its beautiful colors in spring and autumn.  In most temples there are various type of trees, like cherry blossoms, maple trees, that change colors with the coming of new season.   

These colors reflected in the pond make beautiful pictures.  Unfortunately when i was there, most trees were lustfully green - a beautiful color but less gradation of various colors that you would be able to find in autumn.

If you come in summer, the color of leaves are even greener than springtime.  Weather will be hot and humid, therefore it is best to walk in sandals and wear short sleeves.

Kyoto Day 1 - Nanzenji (Nanzen Temple)

Priests in this temple artistically design the sand in such a way to replicate water and land.    This laborious process takes place every month and in some harsh weather like heavy rain or storms, remaking may be needed.  You can see the gradation made by brushing the sand finely to produce such a shape.

Landscape around the garden is beautiful and serene with many tall trees, many of which are cherry blossoms, pine, maples and other Japanese trees, most of which are more than a hundred year old.    On a very crowded day, it is difficult to enjoy the garden so it is best to go on a less crowded day - such as weekdays in early spring.

A Trip To Kyoto

You probably have already heard about Kyoto famous for its temples, beautiful colors in different seasons, fabulous delicacies and famous geisha, geiko, maiko dances.... well, just recently i went there again, for the third time.

http://www.princehotels.com/en/kyoto/

I stayed at the Grand Prince Hotel, just off Kokusaikaikan station.    The location is off Kyoto central station, a little far according to some people, but i like the place a lot.   It is far off the busy traffic of the city, so you can go out for a stroll for fresh air, listening to birds singing and watching a lower mountain just across the window from the hotel.     Another plus point of this hotel is that you can check in your luggages at the Kyoto central station - where the Hotel Luggage Check In and Transfer Service Center can help you out for free.  

The only limitation of this hotel is that you need to take 2 different subway trains to get there.   I suggest that you get an English train and subway maps when you arrive at Kyoto central station.

Here are some of my visits during a 2 night/3 days stay in Kyoto - covering my favorite spots:

*Nanzenji 

*Kyoto Studio Park (Toei Uzumasa Eigamura/Movie Land)

http://www.eigamura30.com/english/index.html

*Kinkakuji

*Ryoanji

At Kyoto Studio Park, both local and foreign visitors can dress up like a samurai, traditional Japanese King or Queen, a geisha, or just a local girl in kimono and enjoy taking photos at the man made town picturing the old days of Japan.   The best way is to make reservation early and to arrive a few minutes before the time reserved.   I was only 2 minutes late arriving and i lost my reservation to dress up as "oshin" for the day.... hiks ;(

For more photos of the trips, read along ....  hopefully you will love Kyoto like i do!