Blogs from Kyoto, Japan, Asia - page 11

So last night i was super helpful in making sure no cocktails were wasted they even put alcohol in the ones that were for display so i drank the as well haha. New day new adventure and today's adventure is Arashiyama although the weathers not to good but I'm sure it wont rain to heavily haha famous last words. I took the train from about 20 minutes to get there and then quickly found my way to the bamboo path via another temple that required me parting with my money for entry. When i was walking through the path it was impossible to guess how many bamboo trees were actually there maybe thousands lining each side of the pathway and easily deep enough on each side to not be able to see where they ended like ... read more

Having spent a little bit of time planning last night today went a lot smoother but no less tiring. I invested in a bus pass today having spent a fortune on transport yesterday but that had a lot to do with repeatedly getting lost oops. Anyway first stop of the day was Nijo Castle, a very old traditional building surrounded by lush gardens, archways and beautiful scenery. Inside the castle I was unfortunately unable to take any photographs as they say it will damage the wall art but then in the same breathe they tell you that the art on the walls are copies and if you want to see the originals you can pay to go in to the museum on site. Convenient. The building was large and quite creaky with perfect wooden flooring throughout ... read more

Today we found ourselves thrust into the heart of a Kyoto Winter. As soon as we walked outside, we were chilled to our core. I could feel my extremities begin to slowly freeze. Our love for Kyoto, however was not dampened. After a small debate over the pronunciation of castle, it was off to see the mighty castles of Kyoto. We took a bus to Nijo Castle. The castle was home to the Shoguns of Japan during the Edo period. In (extremely) layman' terms, the Shogun was a position given out by the emperor to basically make all military commands. Given world affairs at the time- an important guy. The castle and gardens were enormous and beautiful. Every wall, door handle and architrave was spectacularly detailed- and with reason. Great power is not earned through ulterior ... read more

I thought that Japan had shown me it all would regarding fancy toilets, but I was in for a surprise in a most unsuspecting place. I had previously booked a one day cycle tour of Kyoto after reading great reviews on Trip Advisor with Cycle Kyoto and so we turned up at the backstreet office near Kyoto Station at 9.30am. Greeted by Jaime, a Chilean guy who has lived in Japan for 20 years, we clambered past the many bikes in the cramped room to the low sofas at the back to wait for the other people. Through a small sliding door behind us was a compartment containing the 'restroom' - a pale avocado all-in-one sink and loo. The sink area was the top of the cistern with a solitary tap that had no mechanism to ... read more

The day started with rain, lots of rain and continued with more rain. I just don't know how rain can keep raining so much without running out of rain. I really don't. Looking out of the window this morning, my heart sank a little as it was raining as hard as rain can. Never mind, I said, a bit of rain won't stop us seeing Kyoto - we've come a long way and as always, no time to waste. But it wasn't just a bit of rain. Kyoto Station is pretty awesome and gets a few paragraphs (a futuristic entry into Japan's old imperial capital, etc) and a photo in my guidebook which proved to me that this was a station to see - although I'd already seen much of it. It has many floors, shops ... read more