Playing tourist in Kyoto: Silver, Gold and...Rock?

From the sunny skies, one would never have guessed it was raining buckets the previous day. We took advantage of the weather to traverse the city revisiting a few spots from our last trip, adding to my shrine book.

Our first stop was the Zen temple Ginkaku-ji, originally built as a retirement home, and then converted to a temple in 1490.

The main building, known as the Silver Pavilion, was never actually silver. It is actually called the Kannonden since it houses a statue of Kannon, the Goddess of mercy.

The grounds contain a dry sand garden and a large moss garden, ponds, bridges, trees and more.

It is all quite lovely to walk through.

And don't worry, there are stairs to climb!

We stopped to recreate this photo from two years ago. Or maybe it was just a good excuse for another green tea ice cream.

Some of the reason Ginkaku-ji might be referred to as the Silver Pavilion is to contrast it with the Golden Pavilion, Kinkakuji, after which it was designed.

The actual name of this Zen temple is Rokuon-ji. Its top two floors are covered in gold leaf.

You can see the force at which the water is falling due to all the heavy rain the previous day.

I have fond memories of visiting here the last time. There is a small temple building where I made my first real prayer at a Buddhist temple. However, the crowds were so insane this day that I felt like I was being shuffled through the paths at someone else's pace, and not able to see a thing through the throngs of tourists.

So we left, and headed for Ryoan-ji. This Zen temple is known for its famous rock garden. I remember sitting on the edge of the building, staring off into the gardens for a while, admiring the atmosphere. This time, thanks to those lovely bus issues that were plaguing the city, we arrived too late to really linger. So I only have photos from our walk around the pond on the grounds.

Despite a late start and some bus troubles, we covered a lot in a short time. And we didn't get lost once!