Our luck with the weather finally ran out today. As we awoke and looked out the winter the heavens had opened and it was pouring down. For most of the morning (till about midday) there was a steady stream of rain – enough that we needed umbrellas – which made trekking around the different locations difficult.

Our first stop was at the Kiyomizu Temple which is a huge multi storey temple built on the hillside – without a single nail. The roof is rebuilt every 5 years, however the structure is the original building from centuries ago. We walked around the whole area – and the rain made it quite treacherous and slippery. We even saw a “baby pagoda” – which after having seen some really large ones in Tokyo – made it seem particularly small.

Our next stop was at the Arashiyama district where we started by visiting the Bamboo Forest. It is an area approx 500 mts square with dense bamboo all around with a path cut through it. I was surprised with how thick some of the bamboo shoots actually were. They towered above us and almost blocked out the sky (but didn’t do much to stop the rain). In the same site, we then visited the Tenryu-ji Temple, which is over 800 years old. The temple has been destroyed by fires a total of eight times, most recently in 1864, and has been always rebuilt to the original design. Moreover, the landscape garden is one of the oldest in Japan and was designed in the fourteenth century.

We walked down the main street and stopped to have some lunch and dessert along the way. Bron had a matcha ice-cream wrapped in a sort-of crepe – served in a paper pouch. By this time the rain was subsiding and we even got time to get some souvenirs.

After lunch we visited the Kinkaku-ji Temple and the Zen gardens surrounding it. It is quite a large area dedicated to a serene Japanese garden. Right in the middle of a lake is a huge golden temple that was built in the 14th century. The temple used to be the center of politics and culture and was used to welcome the Emperors of Japan and trading partners from China. The temple had a phoenix right at its top and the grounds also had a tree that was over 600 years old. However, to be honest, the tree was being propped up by more sticks and supports than it actually had branches.

The penultimate stop of the day was to meet a Geisha and have a tea ceremony. The host was only 17 and hence was called a Maiko (and not a Geisha). She showed us how to make ceremonial green tea which we then copied. Bron managed to get the froth a lot better than anyone else. The Maiko then took questions and shared details about their history, culture, role etc. She even played some games with the group.