http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Japan , Kyoto , Kyoto , Gion en-us Mon, 07 Dec 09 11:26:10 +0000 Mon, 07 Dec 09 11:26:10 +0000 Gieshas hello kitty soft serve green tea ice creamWhere can you find all these wonderful things KYOTO So even after my crazy bicycle journey yesterday there was still so much of Kyoto to see It is such a contrast to Tokyo really beautiful with old style buildings being more common than not and more temples and shrines than you can shake a stick at pretty much one of every corner Hav http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-455530.html Wow we just got to spend the entire day with my friend Yayoi and at one of my favorite places in the world the Temple of the Golden Pavillion. Yayoi got here by 8a.m. and we went to breakfast nearby. Yayoi knows that I love to eat and we always laugh about our visits and how they are about eating. She had checked for a restaurant that would serve a Japanese breakfast so she knew just where to ta http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-403275.html 3rd day back in Kyoto and we were despretly waiting for the safe return of our Aussie passport from the british emassy and late this afternoon we got the news we were waiting for....Passport is ready for collection Still wont know untill tomorrow if we have been approved or not but hey at least we can leave JapanMeet up With Josh K Leeann and Rob had great luch and a nice chat before we l http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-397111.html Bij aankomst in Kyoto meteen doorgetrokken naar een 1200 jaar oud boeddhistenklooster boven op een heilige berg die over Kyoto uitkijkt. Traditioneel japans hotel inclusief onsen heet waterbron bad slapen op de grond in oprolbedden. Je slaapkamer is je woonkamer dat idee. Verder vegetarisch eten hmmm tempeleten is dus gewoon lekker in dit land. En...om 5 uur rsquos ochtends opstaan om terw http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-391304.html jaa t is alweer even geleden maar toch nog maar even een korte recap van mijn week kyoto.heel veel tempels gezien voor een historisch overzicht van japan wil je echt naar kyoto. na een gouden paleis jaja echt goud en groot ook daarom staat het er waarshijnlijk nog een samouraipaleis waar ik best had willen wonen vruuuger en meer van dezelfde categorie vond ik het wel leuk geweest. dus i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-391299.html Kyoto is supposed to be one of the most beautiful cities in Japan. For that reason I've booked 5 nights at the Kyoto Hostel sister hostel of the one I stayed at in Tokyo. I've been told over and over that if there's any one place that I need to visit in Japan its Kyoto. Its kind of a downer that the sky is crying my first day there I barely leave the hostel all day and wander for just a c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-386256.html March 16 I woke early in the morning ready to hit the ground running. I still hadn't decided what to do about staying in Kyoto for another day or heading back to Osaka. The hostel serves a 500 yen breakfast about 5 tart yogurt with pistachios and dried cranberry two homemade organic rolls one wheat and one green tea with butter and honey and one egg scrambled with chopped ham and parsley s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-382349.html For those of you who don't know I made the very difficult decision to quit the teaching job I love and accept a position as a career counselor a contracting job with the Army. The U.S. economy is having a worldwide affect and Korea's economy took a sharp downturn about 5 months ago. The Korean dollar is worth about 30 less than when I arrived. Therefore I needed to earn U.S. dollars. Sounds e http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-382147.html On Tuesday the last day of my train pass I headed into Kyoto itself and decided to follow another lonely planet walking tour walking up Chawa Zaka Sannen Zaka NinenZaka which truth be had are 3 very touristy streets but they were very cool full of shops selling traditional Japanese food sandles and bags etc.At one point I needed to go to the loo so I asked the owner of a shop I had just http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-370267.html I wake up each morning to the cold Kyoto air and the drunken ramblings of the BakPak kyoto hostel. This really is the way to live no phone no responsablility no plan just an endless horizon of things to discover. Today i went to Arishiyama national park outside kyoto. It was absolutely incredible. the whole city was like a postcard. The people i have met so far are all so great they all have http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-350900.html With only 2 days in Kyoto we could not do the city justice. Literally 100's of temples and fascinating alleyways and streets to explore. However we did our best. We also had the pleasure of meeting up with 2 of Rami and Rob's friends Tomo and Nicola whose company we enjoyed whilst they very kindly treated us to a superb authentic Japanese and gave us tour of the Gion district taking in the sights http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-346161.html A We arrived in Kyoto Tuesday evening to the first signs of Christmas on 4th November Kyoto Station was lit up with a huge Christmas tree and numerous wreaths with twinkling lights and MERRY CHRISTMAS in huge red letters I knew I would like this city immediatelyWe got to our hostel pretty easily with the help of some friendly people with a map and found and much more professional K's Hous http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-343842.html 12 Sept 08Today was another lazy day...to a point. It was overcast so the bright beautiful sun didn't have us up at the crack of dawn. Still the girls left early this morning to visit a school to check out the lunches' situation. By all accounts they had a lot of fun and the 3rd graders were so cute that Rachel wants to bring 10 of them back with her. I agree with the concept but boggle at th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-322812.html Okay I know that I wasn't going to post anymore Osaka or Kyoto blogs but this is one that I couldn't omit....Four wonderful adventurous and exciting years have passed while I have lived in Japan and although I was constantly trying different things and visiting new places there was one thing that took me forever to do.... become a maiko After studying and observing Japanese culture for http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-316848.html They say Kyoto is the most visited tourist destination on the entire planet eclipsing heavyweights like Paris and New York. Even so we have yet to spot more than a handful of Westerners. With countless World Heritage listed temples and shrines the mysterious Geisha underworld and a multitude of calming Zen gardens Kyoto is in every sense the most traditional of all Japan's large cities.Our Jap http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-315259.html I Headed out with the head teacher of my school to Gion to see the massive hikiyama carts. They basically shut down that area of the city for 4 days all the roads are closed and you can see men and women in traditional summer robes known as Yukata. It was really nice yet strange to be out with head teacher. I mean I usually see him at school. but part of me felt guilty and wondered 'Is it okay http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-302608.html This is definitely my last entry. Im sorry I didnt update more recently but we've been jammed packed nonstop for many days now. Several days ago Friday we rode the bullet train to Hiroshima and it rocked our socks I believe the average speed of these trains is 300mph man do I wish we had these back in the States. We stepped off the train and the leaders waved goodbye to teh delegates as the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-294388.html Kyoto is really beautiful with too many temples and pagodas to see Steve can hardly write his itinerary for trying It has been great weather we have finally used our sun cream Also we found a sweet Japanese man who showed us around He pointed out the real Geisha girls from the fakesWe have 5 days but to see everything you need 6 months I think.... http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-277244.html some photos of tokyo and kyoto in kyoto you'll see the golden palace thats pretty obvz I will actually sit down and write this thing out sorry if its boring and has no info but hey Im on vacacation lol picture paints a thosand words and all that there nearly 150 to keep you going lol http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-274459.html Hello EveryoneThis will be the first of a few blogs that should arrive in the next few days. Japan is such a fascinating place and we're trying to fit in so much in a short space of time that we wanted to try and keep up to date with progress rather than waiting until China when we might have less chance and the internet speed could be slower.We've been here for three days and our heads are spinn http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Japan/Kyoto/Kyoto/Gion/blog-267630.html