Another Rainy Day in Kyoto

Another rainy day at Ryoanji, a photo by dtk_guy on Flickr.

Feb 13. 2012:

Yes, this entry is not in chronological order with respect to the dates of my trip. Sorry about that...I'll try to keep this one short.

In my past trips through Japan I've been one to cram as much as I can into one day. This time, the day took care of that for me. Or did it?

After our 6am service and breakfast we made our way back to Nishi Hongwanji and paid a visit to the Nishi Hongwanji international affairs office. Following that we were given a tour of a couple of the buildings on the Nishi Hongwanji grounds (we've been through them before but a different guide means you hear about different things). Then we had to decide upon what to see next.

For the simple reason that I wanted to check out the train going there, I suggested we visit Arashiyama. No one else in the group had been there before (or hadn't been there in recent memory) so off we trekked out to Arashiyama for lunch and a short walk around. It started to rain so I purchased an umbrella before following my mom into the Misora Hibari "Za"/Museum. This isn't the sort of place most Canadians would ever set foot in but my mom is a fan of sorts of the late singer so it was right up her alley in terms of interest. She was given a discount on the admission fee for showing her passport (one of the benefits of bantering in English when you look Japanese). Yes, she tried to get a similar discount at other sites. Our other two traveling companions ended up checking out the Zen temple across the street from the Randen Arashiyama station (I believe it is Tenryuji).

The next stop was Ryoanji. We grabbed a cab to get there because I for one wasn't exactly sure how to get there by train or bus. The last time I visited Ryoanji it was raining quite steadily. The same thing this time. Some things don't change.

We briefly debated visiting Kinkakuji but decided we had done enough. There was some thought given to taking a bus back to Kyoto station but I found a sign indicating a close by Randen station. So off we headed to it on foot. Along the way we passed a shop where they made wooden boxes. As I was at the back of the pack I didn't get the chance to explore and so I made do with a quick photograph of the store front. Another place to check out the next time I visit the area...