first stop Ryoanji temple...a little too crowded, wet, under repair and zen for some of us.

"What's so special about the garden at Ryoanji?" I asked him, naming the famous rock and sand garden in Kyoto's most brochured and pamphleted Zen temple.
"The spaces between the rocks," he replied

Ryoanji is a temple belonging to the Myoshinji school of the Rinzai branch of the Zen sect, famous for its "karesansui" or rock garden. 30 m wide and 10 m deep, the garden contains 15 rocks arranged on the surface of white pebbles in such a manner that visitors can see only 14 of them at once, from whichever angle the garden is viewed. Only when you attain spiritual enlightment as a result of deep Zen meditation, can you see the last invisible stone with your mind' eye.

see http://www.yamasa.org/japan/english/destinations/kyoto/ryoanji.html