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.
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.