Yesterday I rode my bike to Saiho-ji with my friend, Melissa, which was like 1:30 away from downtown Kyoto. My other friends said they were going to meet us there so Melissa and I got there at 12:45 for our 1:00 reservation. We tried to enter the temple, but they gate guard wouldn't let us go in until everyone was there. So we waited and Patrick arrived there on time, but the rest of my friends were late. I was a bit impatient and upset because my friends were late and I could hear the sutra chanting and stuff going on from outside the gates. The thing about Saiho-ji is that you have to listen to sutras and copy them before you can enter the really famous garden. So once everyone finally arrived like 20 min late, we rushed in and sat down to copy sutras. I have to say that while concentrating on writing this sutra with calligraphy brush and ink it was very calming and my initial frustration and hurriedness subsided with each character I copied. After you finish copying the sutra, you can go into the garden, which is where the real good stuff is.
The garden is famous for its moss, which covers a large part of the grounds and has many different species of moss in it. It also has a pond with some islands that are supposed to form the character for kokoro (心), but I couldn't see it while walking in the garden. I strolled around in the garden with my friends stopping to take many pictures and briefly sitting by the pond for a while to watch the single orange carp swim lazily through the shallow water. We also went in to one of the 3 tea houses they have in the garden as well, which was nice to see some post-Rikyu tea architecture.
The place was also super-photogenic and the lighting was great, so I took a bunch of nice pictures.
Tree Bark on a Sacred (Shimenawa-bound) Tree
Close-up of Mossy hills
Absolutely gorgeous!
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