I recently spent an afternoon re-visiting Kyoto, a place I hadn't been back to in many years. As my train neared the city, I planned in my mind the route I would take. There were so many places I wanted to see. Can you guess what was first on my list?

Perhaps you are thinking ... Kiyomizu-dera? Ginkakuji? Ryoanji? Wrong, wrong, wrong. Those are all nice places to visit, but they are not at the top of my list. My first stop was Keihan Sanjo Bus Terminal.

Now why on earth would a bus terminal be the first place to visit in Kyoto, a city full of magnificent attractions? It's because of the 'Keihan Dentetsu'. When I first visited Kyoto, about fourteen years ago, I had a ride on these old-fashioned trams, and have never forgot-ten them. The wooden interiors, the funny old de-corations, the tracks running down the centre of the busy street, with cars weaving in and out between the trains - these things were all completely different from anything I knew back in Canada.

But over and above all these things, it was something else about these old trams that captivated me ... the sound of their horn - a mournful, yet very melodious sound. As each train pulls out of the Sanjo terminal, the driver sounds this horn, and a more magical sound I've never heard.

It was specifically to hear this sound once again that I went back to Kyoto, and I stood on the street just outside the station for a half-hour or so, listening to the trains and their horns. The sounds echo in my mind even as I write this.

I wish I could somehow write that sound down, so all of you could hear it together with me. But those of you who have been there ... you remember, don't you?