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Published: November 19th 2015
Friday 25th September 2015 On leaving Matsumoto, we took a local train for 60mins to Nagoya where we changed to the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto. My first experience of the legendary bullet trains :-) A super spacious and speedy way to cross Japan. I'm a fan! We'd bought ourselves a Japan Rail Pass before we'd left the UK. At £242 per person for 14 days they weren't cheap but with unlimited travel on all JR routes including most of the Shinkansen lines, it was well worth the money,
In Kyoto, we had booked ourselves into a business hotel which turned out to be a very compact self contained apartment. Japanese efficiency & planning at its best! Keen to see Kyoto, we started in Gion, Kyoto's most famous Geisha street. Whilst we were travelling out of season for the annual dances, we'd read about a show at a theatre on Gion Corner that aimed to give an introduction to 7 traditional Japanese arts, including the tea ceremony, banraku (traditional puppet theater), Kyogen (comic plays) and dances performed by real Maiko (an apprentice Geiko). The show is admittedly aimed at foreign tourists, but gave us the opportunity to see elements
of the culture we might not otherwise have seen. So a worthwhile thing to do in my book and a great way to kick off our time in Kyoto.
Saturday 26th September 2015 For our first sunny Saturday in Kyoto, we both rented bikes to explore the sights of the city. In contrast to crazy busy Tokyo, Kyoto struck me as far more relaxed, as we cycled the streets soaking in the historic sights. The distance between historic sights isn't too far making bikes a great way to see Kyoto and really experience the city that would otherwise be missed travelling underground on the metro.
First stop Nijo Castle; a UNESCO world heritage sight and believed to be the best existing example of castle palace architecture from Japan's feudal era. We entered through a large ornate gate, quickly accosted by a group of Japanese school children interviewing us for a school project. We spent the next hour walking through the Ninomaru palace, once the residence of the shogun, admiring the hand painted screens and wooden rooms, then out into the pretty rock garden.
From there we hopped onto our bikes to our next stop, Gingaku-ji, originally
built as the retirement villa of shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa in the 1400's and later converted into a Zen temple. The design of the main temple, the Silver Pavilion, is modeled on Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion, and is a very picturesque building surrounded by small ponds and streams, ornate bridges and lush greenery. A beautiful view over a quintessentially Japanese garden on a beautiful sunny Saturday. To reach the temple, we had to walk up a steep hill lined with all manner of green tea products; green tea drinks, biscuits, ice-cream, sweets. A sea of green; something we've seen a lot in Kyoto especially. Following a quick lunch of ramen noodle soup at the top of the hill (this time full of all types of veg, some unidentifiable?!?), in the spirit of Kyoto Chris did have a try of the green tea ice-cream with a green tea frosting. An experience he likened to 'licking ice-cream and soap at the same time'. Not sure he's really selling that one?!
After such a long day, with our legs not used to so much exercise, we returned the bikes and took the lazy approach to dinner. Bento boxes and local beer from the
nearby supermarket to take home, whilst we put out feet up in our little apartment. A busy but great first full day in Kyoto.
Sunday 27th September 2015 On Sunday, we had planned a full day of Kyoto sightseeing, however the curse of Mt Fuji struck again. We managed to take completely the wrong train from Kyoto station and, rather than going 1 stop, ended up on an express train taking us to the end of the line! Damn it! But not all bad, as we ended up in Nara, home to the Todaji Temple and Nara deer park.On arrival, it soon became apparent it wasn't so much a town with deer, but rather a town
of deer. They were everywhere; sleeping on the pavements, wandering across the main roads, chasing small children. At regular intervals along the street, you could pick up small stacks of biscuits for about Y100 (50p) from street vendors to feed to the deer. And the deer knew it....From the minute money had changed hands, the deer had you in their sights and would move en masse jostling, biting, anything to get the biscuits. After being cornered, chased and bitten on
The Big Buddha
I told you the picture was rubbish...sorry!!the bum by an impatient deer (much to Chris' amusement) we surrendered all biscuits and made a dash for the entrance of Todaji's main hall. The main hall is called the Daibutsuden, Big Buddha Hall, for exactly that reason. It's home to one of Japan's largest bronze Buddha statues. Quite a sight to see. From the angle of the sun the pictures we took are a bit rubbish and don't give much sense of scale but the detail on the statue was amazing and well worth the visit. Walking along the woodland trails, we spent the rest of our day meandering through numerous picturesque temples and shrines ending back at the station suitably worn out and ready to head back to Kyoto.
Monday 28th September 2015 After our transportation mishap yesterday, we located the local train we should have taken and 10mins later arrived at the home of one of Kyoto's most recognisable sights, the red gates of Shinto shrine Fushimi-Inari. The area is made up of long winding paths of thousands of tall red torii gates that gradually take you higher up the hillside of Mount Inari. It is amazing to see and a much longer route
of torri gates than I'd originally thought. At the beginning of the route, you find yourself sharing the space with hoards of tourists and getting that perfect tourist-free shot is a bit of a challenge. But as you climb higher, you start to see less people and can really take in what is a breathtaking sight of not only the gates, but the dense wooded forest and small shrines along the way, especially as you near the summit. On a sunny day like today, the dappled light cast by the torri really gives the whole area a peaceful feel; an experience hard to capture in just a photograph. After about 2-3hours of steep steps and winding paths, we navigated ourselves back the impressive Romon Gate at the shrine's entrance ready to continue the day's adventures.
Our next stop, Arashiyama, was just a 20min journey on a local train, and is home to a bamboo grove said to be one of the city's most photographed sights. Whilst nice when looking up at the soaring stems of green bamboo, the mapped out path is just a 5min walk lined with fences. After such a monumental morning we were slightly underwhelmed. Our
The bamboo forest
Much better when you looked up!! dreams of running through fields of bamboo, wind in our hair, sun our our backs had been shattered...leaving us feeling somewhat disappointed and very hungry!! So we left our bamboo forest and stopped at the nearest bench to enjoy our bento box. An American guy provided our lunchtime entertainment by dropping his bike padlock keys down a drain before unlocking his bike. Cue lots of gesturing with the Japanese waitresses at a nearby restaurant, who had no idea what he was trying to say but found it hilarious. He didn't!
After the thrills of Arashiyama, we headed to one of Kyoto's true gems. The Golden Pavillion, Kinkakuji. We were surprised to find only a small stream of visitors as we approached the main gate, but as we were ushered in we soon found out why. Around the first corner was the main viewing platform, which we shared with half the world and their selfie stick. Undeterred we slalomed our way to the front, fighting off flailing selfie sticks and unintentionally photobombing left, right & centre. But it was well worth it! The golden facade of the pavilion was so bright in the sunlight, reflecting off the water and contrasting
against the surrounding lush greenery. The impact of the first sight of the huge gleaming pavilion is quite something. And just like this morning at Fushimi Inari, almost impossible to capture in a picture. But we tried!! Heading home that evening, tired but happy we both agreed; an unforgettable day of unforgettable moments :-)
Tuesday 29th September 2015 After a packed schedule yesterday, we took the morning at a slower pace treating ourselves to a leisurely breakfast. In the afternoon, we made our way to Osaka, only a 25min train ride from Kyoto station. We spent the afternoon wandering along the covered shopping street in the Dotonbori area, which seems to stretch for miles & miles. But it was really Osaka by night we were most looking forward to. Once the sun goes down, much like Tokyo, Osaka is lit up by a sea of neon signs and illuminated billboards. The most famous of which is the Glico running man, the symbol of the Glico sweet company who are famous for producing caramel sweets and 'Pocky' and is a fave among selfie enthusiasts. The area is a bustling centre of people and restaurants and was a good day
trip from Kyoto :-)
We've both loved our time in Kyoto, with it's relaxed atmosphere and beautiful sights and will be sad to leave. So many great memories to take away with us as we head to our next stop;
Hiroshima.
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