Koke-dera

Also in Kyoto, we made a booking at the (in)famous Koke-dera (Moss Temple). The venerable Sean wrote a very polite postcard in kanji to the monks to reserve our time - this is the only way they'll take booking. Then, after handing over our exorbitant 3000 yen, we had to sit in the temple in seiza for an hour and copy sutras in not-so-elegant kanji. Finally, they relented and let us walk around the garden. Verdict: absolutely worth the fuss. They've been cultivating the 120 varieties of moss in there for centuries, and it shows.