Kyoto, once the capital of Japan, is a city on the island of Honshu. It is famous for its numerous classical Buddhist temples, as well as gardens, imperial palaces, Shinto shrines and traditional wooden houses. It’s also known for formal traditions such as kaiseki dining, consisting of multiple courses of precise dishes, and geisha, female entertainers often found in the Gion district. It is one of our favourite destinations and there is always something new to see.
Got up early this morning in order to make it in time for our reserved seat Bullet train leaving from Tokyo station. The station is massive and the subterranean precincts just go on and on. Lucky for us that Michelle knows her way around, although I noticed she had her google maps out. As it was, we had to ask which shinkansen platform our train was leaving from, because the signs were a little confusing. Wall to wall people, even at this early hour, were starting to annoy me already. Good thing I am such a mild mannered, placid person. We were soon on our way to Kyoto some 2.75 hours away by bullet train.
Our Air BnB was in a suburb so we hopped onto a subway train for the three stops to Karasuma-oike station and found a locker for our luggage, as we couldn’t check in until 3pm.
Michelle and Cae went off to hire a couple of bicycles, while Beryl and I did some sightseeing around the area. We kind of remembered the layout of this part of Kyoto from our last visit, so didn’t really get lost.
The cherry blossoms were starting to end here, having bloomed earlier than expected, but there were still plenty of flower laden trees. We found a big food hall on the top floors of a shopping complex and had an Okonomiyaki, which is a grilled, savoury type of pancake with the main ingredient being either cabbage or noodles. They are quite tasty and filling.
We continued our walk along the river, which was immensely crowded, and came across a ceremony, either Buddhist or Shinto, with much chanting and drumming. They were leaving a shrine area and hoisting palanquins onto their shoulders for the procession along the streets. It must have been an important procession, as streets were closed off as they approached and transited their way along, amongst the melee of crowds.
The first five palanquins each had a young girl in them, dressed in traditional clothing and made up (to my way of thinking) as a Maiko or Geisha. Very ornate and beautiful. Wish we could find what the ceremony signified. At the tail end of the procession, the porters hefted a very heavy looking shrine and followed the leading palanquins down the roads, chanting ‘Hoitto, Hoitto’ to the beat of a drum as they toil along. It was really quite impressive.
We walked back to the Kyoto Karasuma Rokkaku Starbucks, which looks onto the lovely Rokkakudo Buddhist Temple, to enjoy sitting in the leather armchairs with a hot coffee and free Wi-Fi, whilst waiting for ‘the kids’ to finish their bike rides so that we could check in to the apartment.
Michelle and Cae still had their bikes for the day, so Beryl and I decided to catch a bus to Ginkaku-ji (The Temple of the Silver Pavilion) from Karasuma.
Leaving today for Tsumago, to overnight in a traditional Japanese Ryokan. Out at 7.45am and on the train to Tsurumai, then a change for another 70 minute train ride to Nakatsugawa Station and transfer to the Kitaena Bus for an arrival at Magome around 10.10am.
We walked to our accommodation from Nara station, to find a most spacious, beautifully appointed Japanese home, at our disposal. The place was spotless and magnificent, unlike some of the other BnB’s we had stayed in.
After unpacking and having something to eat, we headed off for about a 30 minute walk to Nara Park.
Fushimi Inari Shrine is a must see venue so be sure to get there early, before it was innundated by the crowds. We did get there later than we wanted, about 8.30am, but it wasn’t too bad.
Continue reading