All About Kyoto

I just came back from Japan a few days. I spent about 2 weeks there, a getaway after completing my honours. This will be the start of a series of posts on Japan. It's too long to put everything in one post. 

Day 1: The day started with a drama as we 10 minutes upon departure, one of my friend said she left her JR Train pass at home. So, we had to turn back and get her train pass. The train pass was purchased earlier as we had to purchase it outside of Japan to be eligible for it. They do not sell the JR pass in Japan. 

We took Jetstar flight from Gold Coast to Osaka. We got a good deal for the flight ticket; we bought it during Jetstar 2 for 1 promotion. So, we ended up paying AUD469 per person. The flight departed from Gold Coast at 10.05am and the journey took 8 hours to reach Osaka. By the time we reached Osaka, it was already nearly 7pm. From Osaka Airport, we took JR train to Kyoto for ¥2000. The journey took about 45 minutes to reach Kyoto. 

Breakfast at the airport

Camwhoring in the plane

Safely landed in Osaka

Heading towards Kyoto

Once we reached Kyoto, we head straight to our accommodation to rest. The accommodation was very comfortable. We booked twin room which consists of a bunk bed. The room was small but cosy enough for us to come back for a rest after a day out. Our room was also very close to the toilet.

The people here take off their shoes before entering the premise and wear slippers inside. The light in the toilet works on sensor and they have bidet in the toilet, which is something I’ve never encountered at other places that I’ve traveled to. 

Day 2: Our first day of exploring Japan, specifically Kyoto. We went to the bus station in front of Kyoto JR Station and took bus 205 to Kenkakuji Temple (Gold Temple). We bought the ¥500 day tripper bus ticket that can be use for one whole day. The people here are very disciplined, they lind up to get on the bus and nobody cut the queue. We board the bus from the middle door and got out from the front. You pay the bus fare at the payment slot near the driver before you get off the bus.

Once we reached the temple, we paid ¥400 entrance fee to get in. The temple was very beautiful, it looked like it was floating on water and the bright sunny weather made the temple looked very bright in contrast to the blue colour of water and sky. There were saw also a lot of school children on a school trip here. 

Heading towards Kenkakuji

The map of Kenkakuji Temple area

Some of the school kids that we saw

The entrance ticket

The beautiful Kenkakuji Temple

The colourful autumn leaves

Next we wanted to go to Ryoanji Temple but we took the wrong bus so went to Kyoto Imperial Palace instead. The palace is very big, we walked around the exterior of the palace gate and went to the information office. We were lucky that the palace was open and the next tour was at 2pm. We booked ourselves for the tour and it was free. 

The bus stop. The green pellet will move indicating the location of the bus. So we can predict how long it will take for the next bus to arrive.

One of the gate at Kyoto Implerial Palace, Kenshunmon gate

We learned a lot from the tour. We were told that in those days, people play football wearing kimono. There are also many gates to enter the palace, but only certain people can enter certain gates. The palace roofs were made of cypress bark and these barks need replacement every 30 years. The palace used to be the emperor’s resident but it was not a political center. When the capital of Japan was moved to Tokyo, the palace was no longer in use. 

Inside the palace. Jomeimon gate

The emperor's personal space

Our tour guide explaining to us the history of Imperial Palace

A garden inside the palace

The emperor's schedule for a year. In one year, he could have up to 400 schedules with 14 schedules on new year's day.

Next, we went to Kyoto Manga Museum. This is a must visit place for all manga lovers. This place explains the history of manga and they have manga dated back to 1940s. You can also find manga in various languages here. Sadly, we cannot take photos in here (but we took some secretly).  

Shelves and shelves of manga

Then we went to Nijo Castle, but it was already close. Therefore, we head to Gion. In Gion, we saw five geisha and you can see tourists were chasing them to take their photos, us included. We then head to Potoncho, a small lane of fine dining area and took photo at Yasaka Shrine before heading back to our accommodation. 

Gion

Geisha

Potoncho

Yasaka Shrine

Day 3:  We took train to Saga-Arashiyama. This was the first day that we used our 14 days JR Rail Pass. At Arashiyama, we went to bamboo grove walk and Senryoji Temple. After that, we went to Tenryoji Temple and its garden.

Bamboo grove walk

Senryoji Temple

Tenryuji Temple entrance

In front of Tenryuji Temple

Tenryuji Garden

Next, we went to Nijo Castle Nijo Castle was the residence of shogun, a military leader of Japan. They did rule Japan for 15 generations before restoring the Emperor system. This castle was more luxurious compared to Tokyo Imperial Palace that we visited yesterday. This was shown on the paintings and carvings that existed in this castle. 

Entrance to Nijo Castle

Karamon Gate. the designs are more extravagant compared to the emperor's palace

Map of Nijo Castle

Honmaru palace view from the top of Donjon

After we came back from Nijo Castle, we explored Kyoto JR Station. There’s like an open amphitheater of 5 floors that makes station with rooftop garden and sky walk that have Kyoto Tower view. Then we went back to our hostel for prayers and went to Kyoto-Yoshibada, a 6 floors shopping mall that sells variety of electrical such as camera, computer, fridge, hand phone, and other household items. They were having a lot of promotions when we went there so they were many people. Due to that, I got a headache and we decided to get out from that place and head to Kyoto Station sky walk to see the night view from up there before heading back to our accommodation. 

The view from 11th floor of Kyoto JR Station

On the sky walk on top of Kyoto JR station

Kyoto tower from the sky walk

6 floors of open space at Kyoto JR station, view from skywalk

Kyoto Tower at night

Skywalk at night

Two days in Kyoto flew very fast. I wished we spent more time here as there’s a few more places that we didn’t had time to go to like Higoshiyama, Nishiki Market, Ryoanji Temple and Takao. The long shopping street of Kawaramachi is very lively here. It reminds me of George Street in Sydney. Besides that, you can spend the whole day sitting on the open amphitheater stairs of Kyoto Station and just observe the people around you. Overall, Kyoto was a nice that I don’t mind coming back here. I would really recommend this place for all tourists planning to go to Japan. Talking to the tourists that we met here in Kyoto, most of them prefer Kyoto compared to Tokyo.  

That's all for Kyoto, will update about other places in Japan soon.
Till then~