Japan : Rain under an umbrella

Another of our walks in Kyoto followed what was called The Philosopher's Walk (哲学の道 Tetsugaku no Michi), famed for it's beauty and popularity as a place of meditation of Philosophy Professor Kitaro Nishida.We hired bikes from K's Place (the fantastic Hostel we were staying in), and followed the river north before bearing easterly to visit the Nanzen-ji temple.It was brilliant to be out on bikes - we covered ground much quicker, and it was a pretty exhilarating way of exploring the area. Nanzen-ji occupied a large complex with separate smaller shrines dotted around it. We had to leave the bikes while exploring it, but hopped back on to reach the beginning of the Philosopher's Walk. Just as we got there and had started munching on our Onigiri (御握り; おにぎり) it started raining. Heavily! So the rest of the day involved precariously pedaling around on fairly flimsy bikes one handed (the other holding and umbrella), in torrential rain! It was actually quite good fun in the end, but our clothes were wet through.

Recorded on 22 March 2009