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Published: April 23rd 2012
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Not too long ago, my friend, Barbara Tucker and I, took a spur of the moment trip to Kyoto. We used overnight buses from Willer Express and found an amazing hostel, Khaosan Hostel, through Hostels.com. Our hostel was located minutes away from downtown Gion. Both the overnight bus and the hostel were decently priced. We arrived in Kyoto around 7 a.m and spent the next hour or so looking for the hostel. My sense of direction terrible, so I had us going the exact opposite way for about 30 minutes. We arrived at the hostel, since we couldn’t check in till 3 at the earliest; we just dropped of our luggage ventured out.
We decided to check out the National Garden, which was about a 20 minute walk from the hostel. Though it was raining a bit, the National Garden was worth going to. After spending a few hours at the garden and getting lunch, the overnight bus started to kick in. Yes, the buses are cheap, but they are also very cramped and a bit difficult to sleep in. So, my friend and I were hanging on by a thread by noon. We decided to take a break at
a coffee shop and hold out there till check-in time. Time passed so slowly and we ended falling asleep there for a little bit. Eventually we were able to check in and the first thing we wanted to do was get cleaned up. The bathroom and showers in Khaosan were so clean and well kept. They also sold toiletries for cheap if anyone forgot something.
We stayed in a 10 mixed gender room. There were five bunk beds and everyone kept to themselves. After resting up, we decided to check out Pontocho Alley and get dinner nearby. Pontocho Alley is really pretty at night, but so expensive. We walked around for a long time and decided just to eat at a curry shop.
The next day, luckily the weather was a lot better and we went to see the Giant Buddha and the shrines and temples in the area. The area was so beautiful and relaxing. The shops there are very nice and the shop owners are kind. Afterwards I really wanted to check out the Philosopher’s Walk that was sort of nearby. Yet again I took us in the wrong direction for about an hour or so.
That got us there about two hours later.
The Philosopher’s walk looked cool in the travel guide, but the pictures in the book were of spring and it was wintertime when we went. So the trees were a bit barren, but couples would still ride along the long path. There were small shops and nice views. There are also many cats in the area. My friend picked them and played with them for a while. It was getting late and we decided head back, but we wanted to see the Giant Tori on our way back. Though it was dark, I was expected to have the temple and tori lit up. No lights, not even a street light. So that was a bust and we headed back towards the Gion.
Be careful walking around the Gion at night. On minute you will be in an alley full of restaurants and shops and the next in the red light area.
On our final day in Kyoto we went to Nijo Castle. It rained again, but luckily most of our time was spent in the castle. The castle is near a manga museum which seemed pretty cool. After Nijo castle we wanted to finish the trip off by seeing Kinkakuji. Kinkakuji is a golden shrine. The shrine was a bit far away but since we were taking a night bus back we had plenty of time to kill. On the way there we saw a cool temple village thing. Not sure what it was but it looked cool and we decided to walk through it, which threw us off course. So we got lost again and to make matters worse we needed to find an ATM. Finding an ATM took about an hour, by that time were dying of hunger. We took shelter in a family restaurant for an hour or two. Eating and resting. After getting directions from the waitress we ventured out again. An hour and one giant hill later we finally arrived at the shrine. To our surprise we got there five minutes before the place was about to close…so they didn’t let us in. We sat down for five minutes to get over the shock.
Yeah, so back down the hill and back to Kyoto station. We got the station about two hours before the bus was going to arrive. So we killed time at a coffee shop and McDonalds. This time the bus ride back wasn’t that bad. Granted my friend was sleeping all over the place, in the aisle, on me, everywhere. We learned that the bus drivers are really nice. They will go off schedule to let you run restroom real quick. (Barbara would know.)
If I were to go on a trip like this again, I would take an afternoon bus instead and not be the tour guide.
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