京都 2005 - 21 Nanzenji - Eikando

[221105] chatted with a Romanian uncle as we left e hostel together early in e morning. amazing how he gets around in Japan with limited English & zero knowledge of Japanese. silly cat has no problem with English + can read a few kanji characters, & can still end up buying milk coffee instead of milk tea by mistake. already 8 nights here in K's House, & still many many interesting people from around e world to meet! =)

e #206 City bus deposited e cat at e Higashiyama Niomon stop, where it walked along e canal towards Nanzenji, & ended up along e path that passes under e 水道 suidokaku (aqueduct), linking Keage subway station & Konchi-in:



here there were plenty of schoolboys sprinting towards e high school in between Nanzenji & Eikando temples, obviously very late =P

first stop was e deserted 金地院 Konchi-in, a sub-temple of e big fat Nanzenji temple complex:



probably so empty because a big fat section was under renovation, & e famous tsuru-kame (crane & tortoise) garden could only be glimpsed through gaps in e scaffolding *grrrrrr*

e akechi-mon gate opening into e Benten-ike pond garden (left):



in & around 南禅寺 Nanzenji:









maple + ginkgo, e killer combi of e cat's two favourite trees in full autumn glory:




ginkgo:



南禅院 Nanzen-in, another sub-temple:



beautiful moss:






a short walk from Nanzenji is 永観堂 Eikando aka. Zenrinji temple, one of e best places for maples in autumn:



[1, 9, 10, 12] maples; [2, 11] ripples around e rocks & even e sticks supporting e overhanging branches of e pine trees; [3] aerial view of e Eikando grounds from e pagoda; [4] art on display in e 画仙堂 Gasendo; [6] bridge over e Hosyo pond





simply brilliant & well worth e peak season (double e usual 500 yen!) admission fee =))

[ filed under: thewanderingstraycat + kyoto_2005 + japanese1 + architecture1 + nature1 ]