Blogs from Kyoto, Japan, Asia

Day Two was supposed to be a self-guide day, with a suggested itinerary of a morning train trip to Nara, a town located on the outskirts of Kyoto. Having awoken just too late to avail of breakfast, we wandered down to the main street to locate a café, and while sitting there decided that the toothache which started as an annoyance yesterday, was fast becoming something which could ruin my  Japanese experience. After a quick Google of dentists in Kyoto, we found an English speaking one which apparently took walk-in emergency cases, and set about finding it using the local subway. Proud of ourselves for finding it, we gingerly approached the receptionist to hope she spoke English and when that worked, to explain my plight. She asked us to take a seat, and went off to ... read more

We spent 10 days in Kyoto. On our first day, we strolled around Nishiki market before checking into our ryokan (traditional Japanese accomodation). The sparse nature of the furnishings, the sumptuous Japanese dinner and breakfast the following morning and even a somewhat uncomfortable night’s sleep on futons on the tatami mats made for an experience not to be missed! On the second day, we moved to our hotel Hotel Mystays Kyoto Shijo, a bit out of the way but otherwise quite good. We spent the day exploring the Imperial Palace and its park on foot and later by bike. We also rode northwards along the river to explore Shimogamo-jinja temple and the Botanical Gardens. Wednesday was a hot day but we still did a leisurely and sometimes vertically challenging walk in the southern section of Higashimaya. ... read more

SC writes: After a leisurely journey yesterday we arrived at our latest rather nice hotel in Kyoto - near the station, free coffee, very nice Onsen, free bowls of ramen soup after 9:30 pm. Having dropped the bags and dealt with some ticketing admin. we set off for “the philosopher‘s path”: a very enjoyable walk alongside a small waterway, with all sort of interesting and enterprising shops and cafes along the way. After an hour or more walking we found the temple and garden we were after: the Ginkakuji Temple and surrounding garden. Small, delightful landscapes and some very extravagant, raked sand. See photos and think very large frustum of a cone (CJC’s: actually, you’re meant to think ‘Fuji!‘). Our sense of timing was off a little here as we arrived at exactly the same time ... read more

We said goodbye to Takayama and took the train to Nagoya, the change point for our destination Kyoto. After a while it started to rain and suddenly the train ground to a halt. The loudspeaker announcement said that due to a thunderstorm the train would not proceed for a while. We sat for about half an hour wondering about our transfer and reserved seats on the shinkansen to Kyoto. We eventually arrived at Nagoya about 30 minutes after our scheduled bullet-train had left. There was a ticket office as we got off the train and we explained about the thunderstorm and showed our tickets. With no fuss the booking clerk issued new tickets with reserved seats for the next train which was about ten minutes later. We arrived in Kyoto just eleven minutes after the time ... read more

I cant believe it's been a week since we arrived already where does the time go?? Anyway, as usual we have a full day of sightseeing planned and this time we are heading to South Kyoto. First on the itinerary is the Tofuku-ji temple, which is meant to be renowned for it's stunning temple and landscaped gardens, especially in Spring and Autumn. After a quick pit stop at the 7-11 for our usual breakfast of steamed pork buns and rice balls (the obvious breakfast choice for the discerning western traveller), we decide to walk back to the Gion district so we can get some pictures of the area in daylight. It's a good 25 minute walk and the sun has came out, so we are absolutely roasting hot. I've decided to wear my big boots again ... read more