It had just started to rain as I walked up to the Kinkakuji temple complex. After nearly perfect sunny weather for the last 6 weeks this week looks like it will be overcast and rainy. I got out my umbrella and got in line to buy my entrance ticket.

Kankakuji is one of the most famous temples in Japan. The grounds are a classical Japanese garden with a golden pavilion as its center piece. The pavilion is completely covered with gold leaf and would have been spectacular on a sunny day but the overcast day really let its beauty stands out. The leaves are just starting to gain their fall colours which added another accent to the garden. I’m sure that it will look amazing in a few weeks. The walk through the garden was very relaxing and the temperature was pleasant. I was wearing a T shirt but most others had coats with a few ski jackets and scarves as well.

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I had taken the bus here so that I could see some of Kyoto along the way. The subway would have been faster but you don’t get to see anything. Kyoto station had really good signage making it easy to find the correct bus. Bus fare is a flat ¥220 within the city core ad you pay when you get off. I tried my Suica card but it was not accepted so I paid in cash.

The crowd was very small probably due to it being overcast and a Monday. There were no tour buses in the parking lot but a lot of high school students were arriving by cab. I’m glad that I came on a quiet day. The garden would not have been the same if it had been crowded.

The rain had stopped and the sun was peaking out by the time I came to the exit. I decided to walk back along the bus route and take a closer look at some of the things that I had seen from the bus window. There were a couple of shrines and a large park that I had a casual look through. For some reason there were a number of French bakeries along the way which had some nice looking bread and pastries although quite a few that the French would likely not recognize. After about 30 minutes I came to the Enmachi station and took the subway the rest of the way back. Again the Suica card did not work and I had to figure out the ways of the Kyoto subway ticket machine.