Foxy the Traveler: Konnichiwa - Japan Part II (Kyoto Day 1)

Kyoto is one of the most popular tourist destinations in all of Japan after Tokyo. Unlike the major cities of Tokyo, Osaka (and obviously Hiroshima), Kyoto was spared from heavy Allied bombing during World War II. This means that their centuries old temples still exist without heavy restorations or even rebuilding after the war. Paris is called the City of Light; NYC is the City that Never Sleeps. Kyoto should be the City of Temples. There are so many temples that one could easily spend several days exploring Kyoto, never seeing the same temple twice. My husband and I spent two full days here. For as much as we enjoyed it, we became saturated with temples. The same thing is true if you visit too many castles or cathedrals in Europe. After a while a pagoda is another pagoda, a buddha is another buddha, and you see tori gates everywhere. That should not discourage you from going to Kyoto, but just a suggestion that you pace yourself. See the really unique temples and find some other interesting things to do.

We arrived in Kyoto late in the afternoon after a 3.5 hour Shinkansen train ride from Tokyo. I was so excited to take the trains from city to city so that we could see the countryside and rice fields in between the cities. Well, I was slightly disappointed with the train from Tokyo to Kyoto because there was no countryside. Japan is one densely packed island, and between the two cities was neighborhood after neighborhood. The city never seemed to end. I loved seeing Mt Fuji off in the distance but the peaceful countryside I expected, didn't exist.

Our train arrived at Kyoto station, and much like Tokyo station, Kyoto station also beats out any USA train station in terms of grandeur, amenities and beauty. This multi-level architectural marvel had floor after floor of restaurants above ground and an underground shopping mall called Porta with more eateries.

Kyoto Station

Upon arrival we first set out on foot to find our hotel. We booked our first hotel in Kyoto on Agoda.com. Kyoto gets incredibly expensive during Cherry Blossom season, and hotels quickly sell out. We had difficulty finding anywhere to stay and thought ourselves lucky when we found the Hotel Hokke Club for around $200/night. We prepaid for the rate and noticed on the webpage that only smoking rooms were available. We're not smokers but not seeing any other options, we went with that room hoping we could ask for a nonsmoking room when we arrived. Unfortunately, the hotel insisted on giving us the room we booked which we endured for 2 nights. The horrid smoke smell aside, the room size and bathroom layout made things most difficult for us. Overall, this was our worst hotel stay of the entire trip. You can read my full trip advisor review for some more specifics.

Photo taken from the doorway. Could this room be any smaller?

Look very carefully at the plumbing.
One could not shower and use the sink at the same time.

In Kyoto, they have one or two underground subway lines that are on the JR passes that we had, but those train lines weren't suited for our tourist needs. Instead, we planned on using the bus system. During our research before the trip, we read high praise about the Kyoto busses. We bought 2-day tourist passes for Y4,000 ($50/for 2).

We set out for our first temple of the day, Sanjusengen-Do or the home of 1,001 Buddhas. Each bus stop had one of these signs. The sign told you each numbered bus that came to this particular stop, and the green circular button you see below moved indicating which bus arrived next. The tourist/bus map we got from the ticket office had excellent directions on which busses went to which temples. We found it incredibly easy to figure out which bus we needed to take.

Kyoto bus stop

While seated on the first bus, we noticed quickly that the automated bus stop voice thingy only announced the stops in Japanese. We frantically pulled out our tourist map and tried to count the number of stops until we needed to get off when all of the sudden in clear English, the automated voice said, "exit next stop for Sanjusengen-Do temple." <<OMG! Thank goodness!>> This happened again and again throughout the day. Someone later told us that prior to the Nagano Olympics in 1998, the International Olympic Committee told Japan that they needed to make their more popular tourist attractions more foreigner friendly. So, they added English to the popular bus stops which helped us know where to exit.

Our days in Kyoto were on the chilly side. I mentioned in my post on Tokyo that Japan had an unseasonably cold winter that lingered into March when we visited. At all Japanese temples (and in Thai temples too we later learned), we had to remove our shoes. This certainly didn't bother us, and out of respect we were only too happy to comply, but walking around in socks in an unheated temple on a 40 degree morning was a little unpleasant.

The age of these temples really impressed me. Inside this particular temple, there literally stood 1,001 Buddhas all in a row (about 5 Buddhas deep and about 200 abreast). We weren't allowed to take any photographs inside the temple, but they did have postcards available for purchase at the small gift shop. Has that ever happened to you while traveling? You see something amazing, but photographs aren't allowed? Read my postcard tip from a previous blog post. I bought postcards all over the place in Japan.

Sanjusengen-Do Temple - Home of 1,001 Buddhas

Walking around the grounds of Sanjusengen-Do

After Sanjusengen-Do, we hopped back on a bus to one of the most famous temples in all of Kyoto: Kiomizu-Dera. If you have to choose a season in which to visit Japan, it will be tough choice between Spring and Fall. Spring, while chilly and often cloudy, is full of beautiful blossoms (even though we missed them during the first half of our trip). If you go to Kyoto in the Fall, however, you have the chance of seeing Kiomizu-Dera surrounded by brilliant red maples. Cherry blossoms are the first flowering trees to bloom in the spring, often before any other trees are even budding. Japan was no different. The cherry trees were just starting to bud and no other deciduous trees even had leaves on them yet. But look at this image below and imagine all of the trees having vibrant, red leaves. Google Kiomizu-Dera in the Fall to see what it can look like. Ah! Stunning!

Kiomizu-Dera, Kyoto

After Kiomizu, we took the "scenic" route to Ginkakuji also knows as the Silver Pavilion. We went for a walk and found what we thought were the tori gates marking the entrance to Ginkakuji, but they weren't. We walked down a lovely shaded path that eventually led to a small tea garden. I wish I had taken a picture of that place because what remains of it in my memory is slowly fading away. On the way back, my husband took advantage of this detour to explore some more, founding a different route for us. Although terrified that we were lost, I really enjoyed walking through the residential neighborhood that we found. I loved seeing laundry hanging out to dry and women pulling weeds from their flower beds. Sometimes when I travel, I forget that although a destination is foreign to me, it's home to others.

After a 10-15 minute walk off the main street, we reconnected with the route to Ginkakuji. Before too long, we came upon the actual entrance to Ginkakuji and laughed that we ever mistook something else for it. A classic tourist attraction, there were food vendors, souvenir shops, etc. A sight that would normally make me roll my eyes, instead was quite welcomed by my famished stomach. We enjoyed hot dogs, fried potato spirals, and sesame and chocolate ice cream before making our way to the actual temple.

Ginkakuji - The Silver Pavilion

After Ginkakuji, we made our way to the historic Geisha district, Gion. Our main objective was to find an ATM. We took out Yen at the airport when we arrived in Tokyo, of course, but we didn't realize how cash dependent Japan would be. By day 3, we already found ourselves low on cash. This did not bode well for souvenir shopping! :) We walked for a very long time without any success of finding a compatible ATM. We read ahead of time that this could be an issue, and that the best way to find a ATM compatible with American cards was at 7/11's. In Tokyo, 7/11's are everywhere. In Gion, apparently they were scarce. After walking down street after street, we finally found one. Crisis averted! Now I can buy me some pretty things!

Crossing a pedestrian bridge looking over Gion

With colorful Yen in hand, I wasted no time. I bought two decorative fans and a handmade piece of fabric with a beautiful design on it that I later framed.

At night, we went to Nijo Castle. During certain times of the year, they have an exhibit called, "Nijo Castle at Night" where they have special spot lights set up to highlight the different flowering trees. Unfortunately for us, this was a bust. There were trees. There were lights. There were no blooms. See my picture below. Can you imagine how beautiful this grove of trees would be when the branches are full of blossoms? So, what did I do? You guessed it. I bought post cards of what we were supposed to see. In my photo album, I have a page that says, "Nijo Castle at Night. What we were supposed to see vs. what we actually saw."

We purchased the tickets in advance, so even though we knew the trees weren't blooming, we still went anyway. It's an experience we'll never forget even if it wasn't the experience we expected.