Portland Japanese Garden

Portland is a forest city. When the first pioneer settlers arrived in the 1840’s, via the Oregon Trail, they called it “The Clearing” due to the number of trees cut down to create space for their settlement. Approaching the city from the East, all you can see is forest. Even as you enter the city limits, the roads are lined with trees. I have been staying in residential Southeast Portland with my son, Alistair. The streets here are thick with foliage and there are chipmunks on our roof. And it is hot: 105F (40c). In search of somewhere cool, I headed for the famed Portland Japanese Gardens, perched high on the hills to the west of the city. These gardens were laid out in the early 1960’s by a professor from the Tokyo University of Agriculture and have been described by a Japanese ambassador as the finest Japanese gardens outside Japan. Twelve acres of the most wonderfully serene streams, pools, bridges, rocks, trees and carefully raked sand, provide the perfect environment for quiet contemplation and, even on such a hot day, exude a cooling atmosphere. Koi swim in the ponds and tourists stroll on the paths in quiet harmony.