Up to Ginkaku-ji
A bus up to Ginkaku-ji. On the way in, a bao from a stall, and a Sumikko Gurashi shop.
Entry is ¥500 each, and like at Kinkaku-ji the ticket is a paper charm.
The sand garden
The first thing you see is the sand garden, with Kogetsudai, a flat-topped cone of sand. Funny thing about the Silver Pavilion: it was never covered in silver. Kinkaku-ji got the gold, this one stayed plain dark wood.
Past the pond, the garden was already turning.
Maples up the hill
The path goes up the hill through the maples, and we’d timed it perfectly: late November, red everywhere. The weather had other plans. Somewhere on the way up it started to drizzle, the kind of fine rain that doesn’t look like much but has your hair flat in five minutes.
At the top there’s a lookout over the temple and the city, which on a clear day is the money shot. We got a sheet of grey cloud. You can just about tell there’s a Kyoto under there.
That was more or less the end of the photos. The phones went into our pockets to stay dry, and the rest of the walk back down through the moss garden was heads down, trying not to slip on wet stone steps. So if you go, go early and check the forecast. The sand garden and the maples are worth it, and on a dry day you’d get the view we didn’t.
Onward to matcha crepes and dogs!
Postcard from Sakyo, Kyoto
The Silver Pavilion, a Zen temple at the north end of the Philosopher's Path, with a raked sand garden, a sand cone called Kogetsudai, and a moss garden up the hill. Entry ¥500.
PS: Late November is peak autumn colour, and peak crowds. Go early.