We arrived atop Mt. Koya (Koyasan) after many hours of travelling on bumpy, stomach shaking trains through small towns of rice paddies, fluruo green gields and thatched roofs. The cable car was ridiculously steep, so slanted you practically had to whip out some rock climbing gear to get out. When we hesitantly pattered into the deserted wooden halls of Shojoshinin, the temple where we were staying, the silence was deafening, taking up all the space so that I felt...

It seems we saved the best for last: Fushimi-Inari Taisha was both our favourite temple in Kyoto. We arrived at dusk, neatly avoiding the tourist traffic, and were left, save a few joggers, by ourselves to walk beneath the hundreds and hundreds of red torii. As the light faded, the woods took on quite an eery feel, huge complex spiderwebs illuminated by flickering lamps, mysterious shadows coast on the uneven ground, deadly quiet graves and evil looking statuesof...

We are staying in a converted Temple in Takayama, called Zenkoji Temple. Our room is complete with futon mats, and not much else as seems to be the Japanese style. The walls are literally paper between us and other rooms, and our doors open up to a lovely view of the courtyard garden, wild and overgrown, with a tiny pond in the middle. Tommy, the master, gave us the run down on the Temple and on town, and even showed us his "very precious" brochures of ...

We spent this morning strolling through the many little shrines and temple of Tenruji Temple, in Arashiyama, giggling at a particular little chipmunk statue who seemed very proud of showing off his GIANT balls - and wouldn't you be too?The gardens were, of course, beautiful, framed by Kyotos western mountains and as we wandered over the bridges and under the arches we passed many Japanese on their knees, heads down and hands clasped in prayer within the open vera...

So our only real disapointment here is that Autumn is late (how inconsiderate!) Despite the fact that the trees are only just beginning to show some red and orange signs, Kyoto is still a beautiful city! We spent the day exploring its cobbled streets and spiritual temples in Southern Higashiyama. I must admit, when we first stepped out of Kyoto station and we were met with a grey wave of concrete and skyscarpers, I felt a bit cheated! Where were the colourful kim...