Kyoto (until next visit)...

Ginkakuji Temple, also known as Silver Pavilion.  Katie headed back to Yoko for work the next day, but I decided to stay an extra day and check out a little more of Kyoto.  I'm really glad I did, even though I missed the great company.  It finally stopped raining while I was walking around this temple.  Finally!  It had a path we could walk up on the hillside and had a great view looking out over Kyoto.  This temple also had a lot of interesting Zen rock gardens. 

Zen garden 

View of the Silver Pavilion and Kyoto in the background.

So peaceful once it stopped raining.

Philosophers' Path.  It's famous for it's cherry blossoms during the spring time, but it was still very peaceful to walk along on a rainy day.

Another huge temple I found as I was looking for the bus stop and ultimately getting lost.   I guess you can't technically call it lost since I got to see something cool along the way...

Not sure which temple this was, but I saw a lot of lights as I was walking around after dinner trying to find Kodaji Temple, so I checked it out.  All the white lanterns lit up at night looked really pretty.

Kodaji Temple illuminated at night.  It reminded me of a fairy tale with a little cottage on the other side of a lake looking extremely inviting.  Too bad it was super crowded to really enjoy it too much. 

Umm... not much else I can say about this picture except, WOW! 

View of the Pagoda and Kyoto tower at night.   

Bamboo forest in Arashiyama.  I didn't have a lot of time in this area, but I at least was able to walk around the groves a little bit and visited another temple.  Next time I go, I want more time to explore this interesting area!

It was almost mystical walking through the bamboo forrest!

View of the Zen lake at the Tenryuji Temple in Arashiyama.  It had beautiful gardens and grounds to walk around. 

Nishiki Market near Gion.  They had a lot of fresh food, spices and herbs.  I couldn't really read a lot of the signs and I wasn't quite sure on what a lot of it was, so I didn't buy anything.  Oh well, my Japanese cooking abilities are still lacking.