Kyoto - Day 103-106

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After three nights in Tokyo it was time to head south to Kyoto. We took one of the super fast Shinkansen trains and we were there within a few hours. The Kyoto train station is a massive open air complex that houses all sorts of offices, shops and restaurants. It also provides some great views of the whole city from the rooftop garden area. After after a tasty ramen and gyoza lunch we headed for our accomodation. We stayed at the unknowingly infamous Yuhara Ryokan (traditional Japanese guesthouse). The patrons are a mother and son family duo and quite possibly the sweetest people on earth. The Ryokan itself hasn't been updated since the first episode of the Brady Bunch. Our hostess was featured in the NY Times, LA Times, SF Chronicle and numerous news programs for catering to foreign tourists in the 70's and 80's. It was like a little timecapsule... Totally awesome!

You could spend a few years exploring all of the sights in Kyoto. We hit all of the majors -Silver Temple, Golden Pavillion, Philosopher's Path, Nijo Castle - and a few others in the short time we had there. Our visit coincided with the annual bamboo cutting ceremony just north of Kyoto in Kurama, and the monthly flea market held at Toji Temple so we added both of those events to our list. Needless to say we did a lot of walking...

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