By the time you get to this point in a trip to Japan you start to get “temple fatigue”. Temples all start to look alike you you get an ever diminishing value out of seeing them. Plus Todai-ji temple in Nara is just so impressive that it’s difficult to get excited about seeing more of them.
However, right next door to the bamboo forest is another UNESCO World Heritage Site at Tenryu-ji temple, which was built in the 1300s. We didn’t feel like the temple itself was all that unique, but oh my god the grounds around the temple and the setting were magnificent.
The temple grounds back right up to the mountains that run along the west side of Kyoto and with the rain clouds we had the place had a very peaceful feeling to it. As you can see the leaves are mid-color right now, probably a week or so before their peak.
The mountains are thisclose.
