Japan – Page 2 – Cowley-Crawford Family Blog

April 1, 2016

Day 4 – Kyoto Part 1

When traveling, sometimes it is necessary to remain in one city and explore the local attractions. We chose Kyoto as our base city due to the large number of cultural destinations and historical offerings.

Early in the morning we visited the gardens (and shrines) of Maruyama-koen. As we made our way there, we attempted to find a coffee shop to quench our addition to caffeen, but were reminded that most places in Kyoto were not open before 8am (We settled for Starbucks after we explored the gardens).

We entered the Maruyama-Keon gardens through the orange colored gate below. Upon entering we were met with hundreds of vendor huts that were still closed for the night. However, the gardens were still beautiful!

Following the gardens and Starbucks stop, we headed over to one of the most famous castles in Kyoto – Nijo, home of Japan’s first Shogun.

Nijo castle was built in 1603 for Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Edo Period (1603-1867). Shortly after the Tokugawa rule fell in 1867, the castle was given to the city after being used shortly as an imperial palace.

We made our way to the other side of Kyoto to the Gion district, where we saw hundred of Geisha lining the streets and shops around the area. Sadly we didn’t get to see the Miyako Odori show due to an error in ticking (huge disappointment).

Hungry after a long day of walking, we found an amazing place for one of our favorite meals, Yakitori! We ate more chicken and beef skewers than ever before, and drank a few beers to fill in the gaps. Sadly no photos are available as we were too busy eating.

We took a stroll after dinner and enjoyed the river walk offerings and lights back to our hotel.

Next up is a full day of Kyoto offerings and a quick trip to Osaka for dinner and snacks.

March 31, 2016

Day 3 – Kisoji to Kyoto

Wow, what a day of hiking! We woke at 5am to a silent Ryoken and extremely sore legs. After a grand breakfast in the dining hall, we took a photo of ourselves in our comfortable garb, grinning ear to ear.

From Hotel Kisoji, we squeezed into the hotel’s shuttle bus with our packs on our laps (ugh!) and headed down the mountain back to The train station.

We hopped on the JR and whisked away towards Kyoto.

We arrived in Kyoto station and quickly realized that we were amidst a giant mall. Hundreds of shops and restaurants lined the station. And what a station it was!

The bustling of people is remarkable. The photo above does not do much to show how busy the station really is.

We hiked a few large blocks and checked in to our hotel/Ryoken, then zoomed outside to see more of the station (the front desk employees spoke English well, and directed us to a few great places to see and eat).

Inside the station we found some crazy architecture, odd design, and unusual layouts. There were escalators that lined what seemed to be a valley, up to 12 floors!

The views from the top were tremendous. We stopped for a donut that was not a donut, and some expensive Lipton tea to relax a bit.

We found the ramen arcade and then the skyway…

More shops, the pics below are from a dessert counter that caught Millie’s attention.

After the station, we walked out way to see Japan’s largest Pagoda at the Toji temple. The cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom, although we could envision what it might be like when all the trees bloomed at the same time.

That same day, we also explored Nishi Hongan ji temple which beckoned us with the majestic rooftops across the street from our hotel. We saw monks hammering a block of wood, an massive and intricate shrine, and expansive inner courtyards. (Photos coming)

After making our way around the town a bit, we checked in to our hotel. Sharing a bathroom with the rest of the rooms on the same floor (showers on the ground floor) was reminiscent of our college-travel days staying in hostels. However we had a great time none the less.

We took the recommendation for a great tsukamen ramen (cold noodles dipped in hot soup) from the front desk. Wow. What a great experience!

We ordered our meal from the ticket machine and sat down at the bar with about 8 other people. The room was small and we felt lucky to get a seat as we watched a line queue up outside the restaurant.

Tsukamen ramen is fantastic!!

We walked back and fell right asleep.

March 29, 2016

Day 2 – Tsujiki to Nakatsugawa, Magome, Tsumago, & Hotel Kisoji

We decided late last night (7pm) that we should get some sleep for a long Monday. 2:30am came and went, and no regrets were voiced.

At around 7am we hit the streets of the Tsujiki outer market. Our hotel was situated just within the border of the market and the deeper you went, the crazier it became.

Below is a collection of photos of the market experience.

Following the Tsukiji market, we packed our bags and toak the Metro to Tokyo Station where we picked up a JR bullet train headed to Nagoya. At Nagoya, we then took a metro to Nakatsugawa.

Nakatsugawa is a small sleepy station full of families and kids traveling to and from school and activities. It’s a mountainous region, with beautiful skies and misty mountains.

As we waited for the bus, we heard cracks of thunder break out, and saw the inevitable rain approach the top of the mountain. Since we were committed to the hike, we purchased some ponchos and loaded ourselves on the bus to Magome, which is a quite little post town about 7.6 Km from Tsumago where we hoped to take the bus to our hotel.

Areliving in Magome, we were thrilled to see the old way of Japan was kept intact for the tourists. A rock pathway directed us where to go, along with sign posts in Japanese and English (Yay!)

As we climbed the path towards Tsumago, the sky ripped open and the thunder erupted. We kept on, knowing that we had ponchos and umbrellas to keep us mostly dry. And we were glad we did!

We found our way to Tsumago, and were rewarded with sights of an old post town. Because we arrived so late, there was a welcome silence as we strolled past the historical buildings.

Because of the lack of people, we became a bit worried that the shuttle and taxi services may be shut down – and they were. So, we tightened our pack belts, set a course on Apple maps, and walked the remaining 4.2Km to our hotel – UPHILL!

It soon became very dark, the sidewalk disappeared. Then, after we discussed how much crab and steak we would eat at the buffet, we began exchanging complaints about our legs and hips.

Because our cell phones did not work, we tried stopping to call the hotel at a pay phone. Unfortunately, Google translate didn’t work well with the slow service, and we didn’t know to dial ‘0’ before we dialed the number. Oh well, we kept on going.

Our small flashlight lit our way as we avoided being hit by zooming micro-cars, but we finally arrived at Hotel Kosiji.

After getting aquatinted with our Ryoken, we scarfed down some crab and steak buffet dinner. Afterwards, Millie headed to the massage room and Brett fell asleep on the futon laid out on the floor.

What a day!