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“"...they were surrounded by the Kodak army."” |
Peter and Ani took us out to Kyoto, to visit the Kiyomizu Temple and the Imperial Gardens (like Tokyo, you can’t visit the Palace). It costs Y220 for each trip on the bus but we grabbed a day pass for Y500. Unfortunately we were there at the wrong time of year because the place is covered in cherry trees and it would look incredible in blossom. The temple is amazing and is a finalist for the New Seven Wonders of the World. We took our time, wandering through and when we got to the end we managed to see a couple of geisha and got a photo. We did feel bad for them because once we had a photo they were surrounded by the Kodak army.
The streets around the temple were packed full of tourists but were also really interesting. The fan shops had heaps of beautiful fans but they were also expensive. Tonnes of food places were in the streets and the buildings were faux old school but cool. We made our way through the old geisha district, Gion, to catch a bus to the Imperial Palace. We picked up our first rice triangles along the way, cheap and tasty - once you master the art of opening them. The Palace was hidden behind the longest wall, and we could see nothing of the buildings. Another walled off area had a guard but the gate was closed, we think we missed out on the gardens again.
Feeling like we’d
had enough of walking for the day we headed back to the train. Adrienne and Sean booked tickets on the
Shinkansen to Hiroshima on Tuesday, and to Shiminonseki on Wednesday. The Y28,300 cost of the Japan Rail Pass was really making things cheap and
easy for us. If you're visitng japan definitely investigate the pass.
Alcohol can be consumed anywhere in Japan, so we grabbed some beer and chu-hi (fruity, alcoholic drink) to make the ride home more interesting.
previous travel blog entry
Tim and Sue says:
Fantastic journal entry .. should be required reading for anyone travelling to Kyoto/Japan !! .. Thanks for all the wonderful updates. Armchair travel at it's best. Moece Sue & Tim