Rocks dominate the landscape at Ro Ho En -- the Japanese Friendship Garden in downtown Phoenix, Arizona -- a joint project of the City of Phoenix and its sister city, Himeji, Japan.  This serene setting offers a peaceful respite from the bustle of the city all around.
   In keeping with the spirit of this place, GemLand also offers a Zen version of this sequence of photos.  Go ahead, look.  You'll get the idea.  There are currently four scenes in either version.
   "A Japanese garden is a concentration of natural beauty, distilled within the confines of an enclosed space.  It is not a "park" in our Western sense, but rather a place where visitors may quietly reflect and seek harmony with the natural world and within themselves a tradition that is centuries old." -- City of Phoenix Guide
   Ro = Japanese word for the Heron, a bird symbolic of Himeji Castle.
   Ho = Japanese / Himeji name for the Phoenix bird
   En = Japanese for Garden
   Return to the map of "Rock Art in the Valley of the Sun" for more view locations.
   You can also send this as an E-Postcard to your friends!