Advertisement
Published: February 17th 2019
Edit Blog Post
It was a slightly disorientating trip down from Tokyo. When everyone was on the bus the driver closed every curtain including the one between the passengers and himself making it impossible to see anything outside. I always like being able to see out of at least the front window but without even that I felt like I was getting a little carsick! Another surprise was the total lack of any toilet on board. It was a 10-hour journey. True, we stopped twice within the first 3 hours but that still left at least a good 7 hours without a toilet. It wasn't a problem for me but I'm sure it's caught at least a few people out and other travellers should be conscious that it's not a given!
Kyoto
As usual I didn't sleep a wink on the bus and so arrived in front of Kyoto's central train station with the same feeling I had arriving at Tokyo and looking like an extra from The Walking Dead! I zombie walked it through the station to my hostel that, fortunately, was close to the station on the northern side. I stayed at the Kyoto Hana Hostel - 20€ a
night for one of the most comfortable 8-bed dorms I've been in. I stayed here for three nights before heading to Osaka for four. It should've been the other way round! I arrived around 8am and I knew check-in was from 3pm. I was praying the room was available and they'd let me use it. It wasn't and they didn't! Feeling like crap I had 7 hours to kill. A breakfast buffet back at the station improved my mood but I just couldn't function anymore and ended up sleeping for a few hours on the sofa in the hostel common room! When I came through the room was ready although I'd wasted the best part of the day which I'd later regret slightly. I took it with what remained of the day... exploring the hostel area and later checking out the night view from the station viewing floor before a geisha-hunting stroll around the charming Gion District with a German dude from the dorm and finished off with dinner back at the hostel.
I can't remember what time I got up the next day but I'm pretty sure it wasn't early! Being so close to the station really made
it easy to explore Kyoto. The first thing on the list was the Bamboo forest - an easy ride on the JR train to Saga Arashiyama and then a simple 10-minute walk from the station. As impressive as it was seeing bamboo grow naturally, I must say they have a pretty liberal definition of the word "forest"! It's basically just a 300-metre corridor lined with bamboo trees that you can walk down and back again in a matter of minutes! As I say, being so close to the station was great. Taking the Raku Sightseeing Buses (100,101 & 102) it was easy to head up to Kinkaku-Ji - the Golden Pavilion, head round to Ginkaku-Ji - the Silver Pavilion, and then stroll down the pretty Philosopher's Walkway stopping off at Nanzen-Ji Temple and passing through the impressive Kiyomizu-dera Temple. There was just enough time left in the day to hop onto the Keihan Line Subway at Kiyomizu-Gojo down to Fushimi-Inari station to finish the day off with a stroll up Inari mountain passing through Fushimi Inari Taisha's famous red gates. It was getting late by this point and the light was beginning to fade but I made the decision to
go for the top of the mountain which I managed after a fairly decent & seriously sweat-inducing climb! I had hoped there would be a great view from the top or at least an impressive shrine of some sort, but I instead just encountered a plaque saying I was indeed at the top of the mountain and little else! Indeed, the best views are on the way up around the half-way point. But still, it was a workout if nothing else and by the time I started my decent all natural light had gone and now the red archways were attractively lit up with lanterns positioned down the pathway. An easy JR ride later and I was back at Kyoto Station and back at my hostel.
Nara
I liked Kyoto more than I liked any other place in Japan. It had an elegance about it that for me was lacking in both Tokyo and Osaka. I should've used that first day better but it's easy to say that looking back. The plan now was to get to Osaka but first swinging by Japan's first permanent capital city - Nara, for a glance at its Daibutsu (Great Buddha).
I left on Saturday 5th September from Kyoto Station and half an hour later I was there. I paid more than I needed on the way there getting confused once more by Japan's transport (did I mention it's complicated as hell yet?!) but learned my lesson and got the cheaper train to Osaka later on in the day from the Kintetsu Station. From the JR Station it was about a 25-minute walk to the Todaiji (Great Eastern) Temple bypassing the sinister looking masses of dear strolling about the place! After admiring the extraordinary carpentry of the statues standing guard at the Nandaimon Gate it was on to the Big Buddha Hall - the World's largest wooden building despite only being two thirds the size of the original temple built in 752! I've seen other Big Buddhas before but this one did seem to have a slightly more mystical feel it. Before heading off I briefly contemplated having a go at squeezing myself through the Daibutsu's nostril hole located at the bottom of one of the hall's pillars. If you can get through it you will be granted enlightenment in the next life but after watching even petit Asians struggle with
it I knew there was no way my beer belly was gonna make it through! I'll take the next life however it comes I suppose! Next stop was the Nigatsudo Hall to the east of the Buddha for a real nice view of the city from its balcony.
It was then back to the JR station to pick up my backpack that I'd left in one of the lockers and then round to the Kintetsu Station. Destination - Osaka.
Osaka
I was in Osaka for four nights in total spending the first night (5th September) at Hotel Mikado before changing to Drop Inn Osaka Hostel for the next three. I left it late to book and places fill up quick on Fridays and Saturdays. At Hotel Mikado I got a private single room for 20 Euros and at Drop Inn a 30-bed mixed dorm for 25 Euros! It might sound like it was dumb decision to move but the hostel was way better and in a much better part of the city and I slept better here than I have in many private rooms!
I think it's fair to say there's not a massive amount
of things to do in Osaka. One of the main attractions is to stand in front of the "Glico Man", a big, luminescent sign of a celebrating athlete in Dotombori. As I said, Kyoto was worth another day! The highlight of Osaka for me was meeting up with an old friend of mine that I hadn't seen since Uni days a good ten years ago. I only saw Chris on Saturday night as the following day he had to shoot off to Tokyo for a training course for a new job. After a bite to eat he showed me some of the "sights" of Osaka including the famous Glico man and the giant moving crab, triangle park for some Spanish style botelloning before ending up in The Blarney Stone pub knocking back a couple of Jagermeisters in honour of our recently-engaged friend! It was short but it was most definitely sweet. Having missed the last subway home I had to walk/stagger my way back to the hotel and was impressed with myself that I managed it albeit after an hour walking.
The following days I casually went about seeing the city. For me, the best attraction was the Osaka
Castle which has a pretty decent panoramic view of the city from the top floor. I also stopped by the aquarium which was OK although fairly standard, Kuromon Market (just another market!) and a night stroll down Hozenji Yokocho alley and visit to the attractive Hozenji Temple. On my last night I returned to Dotombori since I couldn't really remember much about it from the first night - Jagermeisters seem to have that effect!
So on Wednesday 9th I checked out and walked over to the Herbis Osaka Airport Limousine stop and 13USD and 75 minutes later I was at Kansai International Airport. Destination - Busan.
Suerte
Advertisement
Tot: 0.205s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 10; qc: 47; dbt: 0.1524s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb