A short walk down the cherry tree lined canal from Heian Jingu you'll find Nanzen-ji. The temple complex also happens to be at one end of the Philosopher's Path (Ginkaku-ji is at the other end). Nanzen-ji is a huge temple complex with enormous wooden structures and lots of nature around. Everything there is just so big that it makes you feel very small in the grand scheme of things. Although every time I have been it's crawling with tourists, I still find it quite a zen escape and classify it as one of my favorite spots in Kyoto.
There's a Roman aqueduct running alongside Nanzen-ji. It's still functioning and the water running along it comes from Lake Biwa in Shiga prefecture! We saw lots of people taking portraits under the aqueduct and decided it would be a photographer's dream. Unfortunately I failed to charge my camera battery the night before, and it had died by this point, so I was on to iPhone photos only. We tried our own little photo shoot just for fun, and I thing we have some practicing to do!
If you walk up hill through the temple, you'll come to a little shrine. It had cute little doors, and even the famous "slippery monkey tree" which apparently has something growing out of its crotch?! (The sign said it, not me!)
I have a few more photos from our last day in Japan, so stay tuned! I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend and have a great week ahead. We are already well into our's as the work week starts on Sunday here. (I don't know if I'll ever get used to it!)
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