On Jun 5, 7:15 pm, Thitherflit > wrote:

> In summary, the very first thing that comes to mind is the line of tea
> shops in Uji.
>
> Have fun!
>
> james-henry holland
>
> =

I will 100% second the opinion of going to Uji. As nice as some of
the temples in Kyoto are, I'd say that Byodo-In rivals any of them, if
not more. The Phoenix Hall, being in a nice little lake of its own
and actually accessible (not like the somewhat gaudy and overvisited
Kinkaku-ji) is charming and nice, and the museum attached to the Byodo-
In has some stunning artwork. The walk from the train station to
Byodo-In takes you past the line of old teashops, which are extremely
interesting in itself. It's a great place to go and really not that
hard to get to. I really want to go back to the Kyoto area, and Uji
is the first place I want to visit again.

Last time I've been there was about 4 years ago, and I suspect not
much has changed. The tea-ceremony place was there when I went for a
very modest sum. Uji is a great place to visit if you love tea and
want to see nice architecture and be away from the big crowds. Bring
your camera.

MarshalN
http://www.xanga.com/MarshalN