We hired a guide to take ua to the sights of Kyoto. His name is Nobu and he is very nice and very knowledgeable. We're so happy that we hired him because it turns out he was our lucky charm. At this time of the year the temples should have been very busy with school children and other visitors. There should have been very long lines at all the places we a visited, however when we arrived at each location parking and access was easy and fast. Our first location was a traditional tea house with adjacent bamboo gardens. Sone tiny school kids were getting loaded into a wagon. Next we visited the Golden Temple, with a classic reflecting pool and a rock in the shape of a chair (only for royalty) that Queen Polly sat in. We went to the iconic Zen rock garden. We finished up at the red laqured gates where the film "Memoir of a Geisha" was filmed.
