Blogs from Kyoto, Japan, Asia - page 12

Trains, rains and crap automobiles. Kyoto adventures part 1. Boxes on wheels. What is it with the boxes on wheels here? As everything else gets more streamlined the cars in Japan offer about as much streamlining as Henry Rollins' head. The cars would probably be economical in the first place but surely even more so if a bit of aerodynamics was applied. I suppose it's all part of the Japanese determination to be different, something which is apparent in more ways than their transport preferences. We've already mentioned the slipper sagas, public nudity and terrifying toilets...and that's just the beginning! But this is all part of why we're here. To see trains that run on time, to sample food they wouldn't even serve in Blighty and to be helped by so many polite and friendly people ... read more

Well after an amazing 1 1/2 days in Tokyo we caught the Bullet train to Kyoto which was pretty straight forwards. The train left bang on time & travelled at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour which sometimes made you feel like you had a bit of motion sickness. We felt like 1 of the locals as we all had bento boxes to munch on the training with Starbucks coffees as apparently that is a Japanese tradition when traveling on the bulllet train. Once we arrived in Kyoto station we went to the information desk eventually as John couldn't figure out where the car hire company was & gave in & let me ask for help. Just a couple of minutes walk from the station we arrived at the car hire desk. We were ... read more

Difficile de résumer Kyoto en quelques lignes. L'ancienne capitale du Japon offre encore une ambiance très particulière avec ses petites rues d'une autre époque dans le quartier Gion, certainement l'un plus beaux quartiers du Japon. Tout au sud, il ne faut pas manquer le sanctuaire Fushimi Inari avec ses milliers de toriis orangés qui s'accrochent à la colline qui surplombe la ville. Cette image est en effet l'une des plus connues du Japon. Malgré la pluie et la chaleur écrasante, nous avons réussi à grimper au travers d'une partie de ce couloir magique pour y apprécier l'unique sanctuaire consacré au dieu du riz et du sake. À l'origine chaque torii était élevé à leurs noms par des agriculteurs, dans l'espoir d'une récolte satisfaisante. De nos jours, ce sont plutôt les commerçants actuels qui les paient pour ... read more

Konecne dlhsi spanok az do 8/30, z postele ale aj tak vypadavam az o hodinu neskor. Dnes je v plane len relax v bambusovom lese resp pri rieke Katsura. Ranna sprcha, uterak zobraty z recepcie kde ich vcera pred koncom sichty vylozil recepcny. Ubytko zatial fajn. Na ranajky do seba tlacim zeleny jogurt su susenym ovocim a orieskami, k tomu si davam 2 sendvice. Jogurt v pohode, ziadna exoticka chut. Australcanka (uci v japonsku ang) vravela, ze takyto druh vidi prvy krat v zivote. Stary HK mi dava radu aby som si za 500y kupil pass na bus. Neobmedzene jazdy,lenze ja dnes planujem len dve jazdy, takze sa mi to neoplati. Vonku teplo ale pod mrakom, kazdy chvilu sa moze spustit dazd. Z ubytka smerujem na stanicu Nijo. Najskor som chcel nabehnut do metra ale potom ... read more

Our last day in Kyoto, the historical capital of classical Japan where we have seen so many beautiful gardens and temples but will have to leave hundreds more unseen. We finished with a bang today, with one of the most famous temples and one of the best known gardens. Rokuon-ji is better known as Kinkaku-Ji, the Golden Temple, because of the gold leaf that adorns its exterior. The gleaming building is one of the great sights of Japan. It was destroyed in a notorious arson attack in 1950 and was fully restored -some say better than the original. It sits above a beautiful reflecting pond in another lovely garden and is certainly a not-to-be-missed sight. Our other stop today was Ryoan-ji, a temple famous for its stone garden but also home to some beautiful ink paintings ... read more