Walking in Kyoto
The next day we took the train up to Kyoto. I wanted to walk through some temples and gardens with Ray; my wife wanted to visit her sister and shop for some culinary delights to take back home. Consulting my copy of Judith Clancy's book on walks through Kyoto, I decided to go to Shoren-in. We took the subway out to Higashiyama. A ten minute walk brought us to the temple gate. On the way we met a group of about 30 kindergarten students and their teachers. Ray wanted to tag along with the kids and it was tough to get him to say goodbye. The temple, as the guidebook promised, was almost deserted. Ray perked up when he got inside and couldn't wait to get out into the garden. We met a woman and her mother from Matsuyama. They had escaped from a museum tour and were looking for a something more tranquil. Ray took a shine to them, especially the grandmotherly one, and wanted to walk with them. Her daughter told me I could purify Ray if I got him to stay underneath the temple bell while we rang it. Ray was more than happy to crouch under the bell and inspect the pipes that had been set into the ground to amplify the sound.
The women had to return to their tour group, so we followed them out of the garden to day goodbye. Ray didn't want to leave and ran back through the gate into the garden. I chased him down and we continued on to Chion-in. This is a sprawling, heavily-touristed temple complex that was bustling with people and tour groups. The temple gate and the main hall were impressive. We also hiked up to see the bell. It is the biggest in Japan. It's enclosed by a fence that is usually locked, but Ray and I were able to follow a tour group in and get a closer look. I was impressed by how thickness of the walls of the bell, and the sheer size of the casting.
After the guides shooed us off and locked the gate, we walked down the hill toward Yasaka Shrine. We reached a side gate, but Ray didn't want to go in. He said he was tired and asked me to pick him up. He quickly fell asleep and I had to carry him down Gion to the Hanky Department Store, where mom and her sister were waiting.
