Kyoto: Apr 1 to 5, 2012 — Kyoto, Japan

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Kyoto: Apr 1 to 5, 2012 - Kyoto, Japan

Kyoto, Japan

Another great benefit of being able to travel for longer periods of time is visiting places further away and Kyoto is one of these places. I booked a package through JTB which included the Shinkansen (bullet train) and hotel stay and then booked a tour for each day when we were in Kyoto. It was relatively pricey for the 5 days but worth it for all that we were able to see and do and also cheaper by booking the package. The ride on the bullet train is a neat experience. Overall, I'm happy that we finally made it to Kyoto and Hiroshima and got to experience the amazing sights and eats. I would definitely recommend it.

Accommodations:

• ANA Hotel Kyoto. This was a pretty decent hotel across the street from the palace so the view was impressive. They offered a free shuttle bus to the Kyoto train station which was useful and it was also relatively close to the subway.

Tours:

• Hiroshima and Miyajima. An early, tour-coordinated taxi pickup swept our small group to the Kyoto station where we boarded a Shinkansen to Hiroshima. After arriving in Hiroshima, we boarded a local train for 30min and another 10min ferry ride to Miyajima. This is a beautiful place and we would definitely go back. The serendipitous surprise was that it was well known for oysters and we love oysters! We tried a lot of them. The local deer inhabitants were fun to watch. After Miyajima, we were on a coach to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. It was sobering, peaceful, and beautiful. The walking tour and museum visit were memorable. At the end of a long day, it was back on the Shinkansen with a dinner picked up from the various vendors at the train station. Our tour hosts were excellent.
• Kyoto Bus Tour. Another early taxi transported us to the meeting point and we boarded the bus as the rain poured down (and us having forgotten to take one of the many umbrellas at his mom's place). Bus tours are a mixed bag. You get to see a lot but you can't choose who goes on these tours or fathom just how many tour buses there will be at each stop. This tour included a multi-course lunch which was amazingly executed for 200+ people in a small, cramped room. The tour included visits to various shrines, palaces, and temples. In the afternoon, the skies darkened and the driving rain and lightning stranded us at a shrine where we weren't allowed to take pictures. We bought the last umbrella from the monk selling charms and jumped the puddles and streams back to the tour bus. One of the tour highlights was the nightingale floors at the shogun's temporary palace which were called nightingale because they were designed to chirp when you walk on them, basically a "ninja alarm". Other highlights were the 1001 Buddhas in the longest wooden building in Japan and drinking from a waterfall at a shrine to give us good health.
• Sagano and Arashimaya. We made our way to another hotel to board the tour bus and saw some familiar faces from the previous tours (of course, some welcome and some not so much). We met our tour guide and took the train to Sagano. We walked through the town of Sagano towards the bamboo grove which was majestic and beautiful. After visiting a temple up on a hill, and walking past the only Shinto shrine for hair, we went to a temple with a very large koi pond. We visited some tourist shops, tried some interesting eats and then headed back to the train for the conclusion of the tour.
• Imperial Palace. This wasn't a tour but we learned from one of our tour guides that the palace would be free one of the days we were there so we hiked over to see it. It was beautiful from the outside and the surrounding grounds were immense (and our tired feet felt it too).

Shopping:

• Nishiki Market. When we arrived in Kyoto we went to the Nishiki Market and it was still busy for a Sunday afternoon even though not all of the stalls were open. We ate huge roasted chestnuts, grilled oysters at a hole in the wall (literally), and other tasty eats.
• Department Stores. Takashimaya and Daimaru are some of the amazing food halls we visited to pick up a variety of foods to try for our meals.
• Kyoto Handicraft Center. Skip this. The selection is slim and touristy.
• Sanjo Shopping Arcade. Skip this too. I read about it in a tourist guide which must have been written 30 years ago based on how unoccupied it was. It's basically now a thoroughfare for bikes.

Eats:

• Ippudo Ramen. Brian spotted this restaurant (related to the famous Ippudo Ramen in New York) on the way to Nishiki Market. It was a great find. The two types of ramen we tried were delicious. You can even pick how well done to cook your noodles. The iced rooibos tea at the table was a perfect complement to the meal.
• Ramen Alley at Kyoto Station. On the 10th floor of the Kyoto Train Station there are several different types of ramen restaurants. We tried small bowls from two of the restaurants and they were very good.
• Tofu restaurant above Isetan in Kyoto Station. Unfortunately the restaurant name was in Japanese. We were told by Brian's mom and step dad that Kyoto was known for tofu so we made an attempt on our last day in Kyoto to find a tofu restaurant. We tried two different tasting menus and it was a fun and tasty experience.