Kyoto was fabulous, but it was time to move on. No train today -instead we went by bus. We rolled our luggage out, it was loaded onto the bus and we were off.

Our ultimate destination was a traditional ryokan, but we made two stops along the way. The weather failed to cooperate, as we had rain for a good portion of the ride. However, the rain was outside and we were warm and dry on the bus!

We made our first stop to visit the partially reconstructed ruins of Ichijodani Castle town. Some of the folks grabbed umbrellas and went for a short walk. Others, including Sue and I, stayed on board and exchanged some chitchat.

When the others returned, we surmised that we made the correct decision as there just wasn’t much to actually see in the rain. So in this case, the “Spark Notes” won by filling us in on the history of the site while staying warm and dry.

Our second stop was at the Daianzenji temple, where we met with a temple priest to learn about Zazen meditation. He actually was extremely friendly despite his expression in the photo below. It was very interesting and quite relaxing. The main focus was on regulating your breathing while clearing your mind. Excellent advice in this crazy world we live in.

When we completed our session, it was back to the bus to finish our journey to the Haiya ryokan.

A ryokan is a traditional Japanese inn. Many, if not all of them, will typically provide access to hot spring baths fed by the local springs. In the rooms, the flooring is a tatami mat that you only walk on with socks or bare feet.

We had some time to relax before dinner, so a few people did make use of the onsen baths. I had a recommendation from my doctor to skip the bath as the water temperature is usually quite hot.

We stayed in our room and sorted through our papers and pictures until it was time to dress for dinner.

Dinner is another highlight in a ryokan. We enjoyed our dinner of fine kaiseki cuisine, which is a multi-course specially prepared meal. We had fun swapping food items with our friends to make sure we all had ‘clean plates’. The meal was a labor of love and we all agreed it was an excellent meal and a very fun evening in our traditional outfits.

While we were at dinner, the staff changed the room around and laid out the futons and covers for sleeping.

Our awesome travel mates dressed in our yukata robes.

Below are a few photos from around the ryokan. Everything is open and the decor is in subtle shades for tranquility.

The staff came outside and waved as we were leaving. We all respectfully waved back as we pulled away.

Fergal mentioned to us that the staff told him we seemed like a fun group.

Our next stop is Kanazawa…