This writer felt a sense of calm and connection to something timeless. An unusually hot April sun blazed over Kyoto as we arrived for a private tea ceremony, or chanoyu, in a centuries-old temple usually closed to outsiders. Our rare access came through Aman Kyoto where we were staying, and our travel consultants Blue Sky Escapes who had organised our three-week Japan journey. At the imposing wooden gate, we were greeted by an imperiously statuesque, monk, the hauteur of his high cheekbones