Blogs from Gion, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, Asia - page 9

Japan is FANTASTIC. If you haven't already heard, Shanghai wasn't really my cup of tea. Not to put anyone off their travels there but it's a polluted, stinky (really, there was a 'melting plastic' aroma almost everywhere I went) people spit in the street, people try to scam you (Idiot number 1 over here, scammed for AU$155) I was even latched onto and chased by one beggar, one minute you're talking to someone about your drawings and the next they're getting a bottle smashed over their head??!!. Yep, Shanghai was one big stinky, smoggy, crappy, overpopulated chinese city. So I was pretty happy when I boarded and sailed off on the ferry to Osaka, Japan. Woohoo! I did however have some very hilarious and　memorable experiences there, for example when I arrived at Shanghai station from the ... read more

We departed Osaka on Sunday 23rd Sep and caught the Express train to Kyoto. The train service here is superb and really cheap - it cost 400 yen (about £1.70) each for a journey which took over an hour. This way of travelling gives a great view into how people live in Japan as you pass through towns and villages and what the countryside housing is like etc. The carriages were really busy as it was (another) public holiday and being the gentleman that I am, I gave up my seat so an elderly Japanese couple could sit down (if I’m honest, this was only part of the reason as I wanted to keep my eye on our cases behind us as well). They were extremely grateful and several bows were exchanged; as we neared ... read more

Coucou! Ici Katherine en direct de Yokohama! Pour ceux qui se demmandaient qu'est-ce qu'on faisait, on etait a Kyoto! on a pas beaucoup de temps, alors voici ce qu'on a fait en gros! 21: Voyage d'environ 10 heures avec arret a Nara pour voir un temple superbe! 22: Kyoto day! Visite de 2 temples epoustouflants et transformation plus qu'extreme! 23: Marche a travers les arches oranges d'un temple celebre et retour a Yokohama en voiture. On a manque le chateau de Nagoya parce qu'on a eu trop de traffic! Alors c'est tout! Les details arriverint avec nous demain! En attendant, on va toutes bien et on profite de notre derniere journee!... read more

Så er vi ankommet til Kyoto efter at have forladt Miramaya og Hiroshima i eftermiddags. Turen nordpå tog godt 3 timer med et Shinkansen-hurtig tog, som vi alle havde set frem til at prøve. Well, måske mest Kim! Kyoto er Japans kulturelle centrum og både gammel hovedstad og kejserby. Vi skal i de næste 5 dage se nærmere på nogle af de mere end 2.000 (totusinde) templer og helligdomme, som ligger i området. Der bliver også tid til en afstikker til Nara, som ligger 45 min. væk med "bumletog". Her skal vi se to templer, som UNESCO har placeret på deres Heritage-liste over bevaringsværdige bygninger af høj historisk og kulturelsel værdi. Indtil videre er vi endnu engang installeret i en Ryokan, hvor vi til forskel fra den tidligere spiser på værelset ogå. Efter aftensmaden trylles bordet ... read more

Day 9 - we left Takayama early and caught the train for Kyoto, (where we got off at the wrong stop and jumped back on in the nick of time). The transport here is excellent though (if you pay attention!), the trains are spacious and always on time (to the nearest session). All of the stations show the name in English and label exits as to which sights you can get to from each. This hasn't stopped us getting a bit confused at times as some of the stations are HUGE but on the whole Japan has been a very easy country to travel around. The rail passes we bought before coming here have been great value and are really easy to use. When we arrived at our hostel in Kyoto we met up again ... read more