Kyoto Mach 2

So the last Kyoto post recalled the temple/ imperial palace parts of our Kyoto trip - which were awesome, but the more touristy aspects.

The other part of our time in Kyoto was dedicated to wandering the streets for hours at a time, taking it all in! To the north of our hotel, towards the imperial palace, there were cool cafes, shops (including one very genteel antique shop that was playing uncensored ghetto rap on the radio - I was almost blushing) and our favourite coffee shop where a 70+ male owner made us siphoned black coffee amidst a group of middle aged men (exclusively) and clouds of cigarette smoke. Not to forget the French style bake house with some of the best bread rolls stuffed with nuts could be found.

To the south, we checked out Teramachi arcade, the charms of the beautiful cherry blossom lined river and Gion, where we for the briefest of moments, caught sight of a geisha hurrying down the street. We also checked out the Daimaru and other shopping malls, but we were much more interested in just wandering around the streets.

Kyoto

Our stay in Kyoto was far too short at three nights. I absolutely loved the city and will definitely return. I knew Kyoto had been Japan's capital for a long time and I wasn't sure what to expect.
Before I get to Kyoto, a few notes about the journey there. We'd bought Japan rail passes before we left because we'd heard it was cheaper than buying tickets on the Shinkansen (bullet train). And like Europasses, you need to validate it in Japan before using it.
The validation process turned out to be straightforward but time consuming as there was a decent queue at Tokyo station. We were barred from taking the very fastest Shinkansen but the one we took was still pretty fast. A bit less schmancy than the really nice European trains, but it did the job and we had some great scenery on the way which only made me want to spend months trawling up and down the coastline visiting little towns.
The accommodation in Kyoto was all pricey so we ended up in a reasonable business hotel (Hotel Gimmond) for close to $300 a night. On the upside, everything else in Kyoto was inexpensive.
We spent the first afternoon wandering the streets in the centre of town and quickly noticed that it had the feel of a university town. Lots of young people, lots of people on bikes. Lots of cafes, restaurants and cool little shops.
It's a really easy city to explore on foot so we walked everywhere, getting slightly lost on our first night. Fortunately, a lovely Japanese woman overheard us trying to get directions and offered to walk us home. She was a former Miss Nara (?) contestant who lived near our hotel and she was a lifesaver!!
The cherry blossoms on Kyoto were, if anything, even more picturesque than in Tokyo. There is a street in Kyoto famous for the beauty of the cherry blossoms overhanging the river. It's safe to say it was not a secret. In fact, everywhere beautiful (cherry blossoms, temples) were full of people - mostly Japanese tourists it seemed.
Kyoto is famous for beautiful temples so we visited a few, as well as the Kyoto royal palace. The Kinkaku-ji temple (aka golden pavilion) was a longish bus ride from near the hotel, but definitely worth the visit. Like Tokyo Museum, the entry fees were incredibly reasonable at every attraction we visited.
Kinkaku-ji was beautiful - the temple itself was gleaming gold, surrounded by a lake and beautiful gardens. Definitely worth seeing.
After the golden pavilion, we walked to Ryoan-ji - maybe a 20 minute walk? Ryoan-ji is famous for its zen garden which we sat and looked at for a long time. The gardens were spectacular! We took the bus back into town - I love a local bus - it's always an interesting experience. I found it strange that no one seemed to stand up for the older passengers on trains but the buses seemed a bit more polite in that respect.
Other awesome memories of Kyoto to come...




Kyoto imperial palace (above and below)





On the banks of the river, Kyoto