To read Part 1 of this series, click HERE.
TOKYO – KYOTO 4/4 – 7/4
DAY 9, Saturday 4/4/15
Checked out Capitol Hotel before noon! 7 nights accommodation plus 2 hamburgers – total ¥367,223 (AUD$4,215.11)
We were able to leave our larger red bag here – FREE!
We walked, carried & pulled 435m+ from hotel exit to Kokkai-gijidomae Station (M14) to Marunoucchi M line, 3 stops to Tokyo Station (M17). Take lift 1 floor, go through ticket gate, up the escalator, walk to the right side.
Train departing @ 12:30pm from Tokyo Station.
NOZOMI BULLET TRAIN TO KYOTO ¥28,220 for 2, one way. The line to KYOTO took a bit of time to find, more walking than expected! Our train ride was 2hrs 20min.
KYOTO
DAY 1, Saturday 4/4/15
NOZOMI BULLET TRAIN TO KYOTO ¥28,220 for 2, oneway – 2hrs 20min.
We had seats in the reserved area (carriage 4) on the right hand side of the train so that we could perhaps see Mount Fuji, we didn’t see it but not to worry.
Unfortunately, our ability to get lost kicked in!
A young woman passed through the train carriage pushing a food trolley,
1:27 pm, Greg bought 2 bento boxes for lunch ¥2150. We only ate 1 of them on the train. The food was rather nice, not sure what it all was.
The ride was smooth & quick, toilets were easily accessible. We arrived at Kyoto Station @ exactly 2:50pm.
Unfortunately, our ability to get lost kicked in! We spent QUITE a while walking, waiting, checking maps & asking for help in the multi-level & multi-exit, large station trying to find where to connect to the next train line.
After a toilet break we finally made it to the right train which was leaving in 10 mins, 3 stops to Enmachi Station ¥190 each.
We had been in Kyoto station for at least 1¼ hrs!
Check in @ “BEST VALUE Apartment # 031” not before 3pm, 5 min walk!
Of course we went the wrong way & got lost, so on my orders, we backtracked to the station.
Greg remembered that he had downloaded a YouTube video of the directions to our apartment, which Yusuke (the owner) had given us!
I carried Greg’s device, insisting we use it as we walked, no more memorising, just follow the directions on the device.
We made it to the apartment at about 5:40pm! Took the lift to the 3rd floor. The 2 keys were locked in a small combination box on the door handle.
Yusuke had previously emailed all relevant requirements, one of which was to remove our shoes & wear the slippers provided. Not quite the usual hotel scuffs!
The door opened onto a small tiled area, just big enough for the door to open, then quite a large step up to the carpeted area. We shut the door to discover our animal print fluffy scuffs perched in a pouch on the back of the door.
The apartment is very small, narrow & hazardous. There is 1 large hump to step up & over into & out of the bathroom. I would trip over both on several occasions. The height of the bathroom door is not made for Greg size people.
We were surprised that there is no TV. The apartment is the size of an RV!
Yusuke had 6 Earl Grey teabags & a few other supplies, which was nice. Greg made us both a mug of E.G. tea with LOW FAT milk (finely found in TOKYO) & a nicked honey.
We connected our devices to Wi-Fi & then Greg texted Yusuke to let him know that we had arrived.
6:25 pm Greg went out to find some more food supplies. He went to the Fresco supermarket, bought butter, bread, OJ, yogurt for ¥789. While out he also scouted for a place to eat dinner. Indian, yum!
DAY 2, Sunday 5/4/15
We survived our bed arrangements well, had our brekky in the converted breakfast room, mucked about a bit, relaxed with a morning cup of tea & playing WWFs. [Words With Friends]
We shared the leftover ‘train’ bento box for lunch which we both agreed wasn’t as tasty as our 1st one.
Then around 2:45 we went out into the rain to a nearby clothes shop (Prestage International) we looked around for awhile, no clothes to my taste but I did buy 4 scarves for ¥590 each.
We hurried back to our apartment under heavy rain to drop off my purchases. I wore one of them, we borrowed a large brolly from Yusuke then we went to a local (Lawson’s) ¥100 shop. Greg had been keen to find one of these & although small, it had enough to make him happy.
We bought (Made in Japan) 2 large Melamine noodle bowls & 2 small ones, 2 black Japanese spoons, 4 chopsticks & 1 retractable internet cord. Each item cost only ¥100 + 8% sales tax = AUD$1.19. 9 items for ¥972.
Took our booty home again and then set off to Enmachi Station bought 2 tickets to Kyoto ¥190 each. Train stations are always problematic, we traipsed around looking for The Travel Bureau to see if there were any organised tours available tomorrow.
A well meaning worker found maps etc. but told us we would have to go to the travel agent downstairs to organise a tour.
We went downstairs & discovered that all tours, bar a walking tour had been booked out. So, without a skerrick of research, we booked the arvo tour for tomorrow ¥9,600 for 2 people departing from travel agency @ 1:30pm.
After a brief look around we headed back to our apartment.
In the evening we ventured across the road to the restaurant there. Friendly Chef/owner (presumably) didn’t speak English and menu only in Japanese and no pictures.
Plenty of charades followed. Chef decided to give Tren a friendly lesson in chopstick use, which we videoed, and then he gave her the chopsticks as a souvenir.
A free noodle starter, and then shared main (chosen by chef) was tasty. A memorable and enjoyable experience.
After, Greg went to shop, 8:18 pm, Family Mart, 2 items yogurt and milk ¥270
DAY 3, Monday 6/4/15
We headed out late morning about 11:30. It was raining, we went in search of another ¥100 shop passing the shop where I had bought the scarves yesterday, took a photo of the shop.
The girl who served us, saw us take the photo, smiled & waved as did we. We found where the ¥100 shop was but it had closed. Most likely prospect now the Lawson’s we went to yesterday.
We went to the train station & headed to Kyoto. When we arrived, before going through the gates Greg spotted some toilets in the distance so we went to see if they were usable, unfortunately they were all squat toilets!
I hand signed, (charades style) pointing to my eyes, shaking my head, raising my hand palms up shrugged & demonstrated a flamboyant flushing process.
We walked back to the gates, passed through them where I went to a toilet which had a long queue of women. The woman behind me in the queue told me; in Japanese, to use the disabled/parent toilet.
Horror! A very large toilet room & I could not see/figure out how to shut the door properly. I had to walk to the opposite wall area, about 6 steps away from the door to use the toilet dreading someone would come in.
There was so many depictions, buttons, chords and plumbing infrastructure, but I still had no idea how to flush the toilet. While I was taking photos of all the signs (to enlarge) my iPhone 6+ camera stopped working.
A woman opened the door. She was very apologetic but I was actually glad she was there. I hand signed, (charades style) pointing to my eyes, shaking my head, raising my hand palms up shrugged & demonstrated a flamboyant flushing process.
She looked a little bemused then laughed as she understood and kindly went over to a button that I had tried to push, press, lift up, swivel but nothing happened. She just did whatever she did and it flushed! We thanked each other and I headed out to Greg who had been waiting for about 15 mins.
This delay meant that we now had only about half an hour to meet up with our walking tour group at the travel agency.
We took the escalator upstairs to a nearby cafe. Café du Monde, cafe & beignets where I baggsed two stools while Greg stood in line waiting to be served.
This was not a short process. At 1:30, Greg bought one sandwich for ¥420 that we shared, not sure what was in it but it was tasty enough and light enough.
KYOTO AFTERNOON ON FOOT
1:45 – 6pm
We headed down to the travel agency & met our tour guide & 4 of our other tourers.
Our guide was a petite, slight, Japanese woman in her late 60s, early 70s (?). A good thing, we thought as she may well be a slower walker. Her English was not as good as we had been led to believe.
We went inside the travel agency to sit in the warmth to await the rest of our group to arrive. It was cold outside!
We at first had to catch a very packed public bus to start our walk.
We walked up a steep street lined with interesting shops. This is when we quickly discovered that our guide was sprightly & we were already lagging behind most of the group, [the group consisted of us, a Sydney couple in their 60s (?) (wingeing husband), an English couple who had just arrived off the plane, a mother & daughter Philippine couple who had been walking all day, & our guide.]
By the time we had weaved & staggered our way to the top of this climb we hit solid flat ground.
We walked up a smallish flight of stairs through a traditional Japanese gate onto another bitumen landing with a street heading down the hill also lined with more shops.
Our guide suggested if we wanted loos, now was the time to use them. We did, the women’s loos were all squats except for one, so there was a bit of a wait, I told the other Australian woman to go ahead of me so she could tell me how to flush it, no probs.
At this point, the Philippine mum saw the amount of uphill stairs ahead of us & chose to drop out of the tour for a while, leaving her daughter to carry on. Mum was gong back to look through the shops. I should have joined her.
The tour of the temples became a blur to me as yes, I couldn’t see well, but I think I was mainly on survival mode climbing ever more stairs. Greg found it hard to keep track of what was what as he couldn’t hear very well.
There was a light drizzle from time to time. We went into a museum which was rather dull. I kept on hearing the guide say something was either 700 or 400 years old but had been destroyed and rebuilt in the 1930s.
We had to take our shoes off to enter, tedious when wet & laces. Our guide, although sweet and willing, wasn’t that informative finishing each piece of info with a closing nod and a “hmm”.
“Highlights” were Kiyomizu Temple (on stilts)
Kodaiji Temple and museum
We walked though some lovely little traditional Japanese streets en route to the museum.
Her telling us that there was a difference between Geishas the less respected (more like escorts & partiers) and Geikos. (?) who were educated in the art of the tea ceremony & playing the Japanese 4 string (lute) type instrument. etc…
En route at the end.
Tasting stops.
Confectionary arcade – terribly sweet lingering after taste.
Savoury Biscuits, mainly sample these to get rid of the overpoweringly awful sweet crap.
Sake, which I thought was delicious, Greg thought it was perfectly drinkable.
As the tour was nearing it’s conclusion our guide, (Teira?) pointed to where we should catch the 206 bus if we wanted to go back to Kyoto Station. ¥240 each, MUST have correct change.
When our group said our farewells, in the Gion District we headed up the road looking for the stop. We had been assured we could exchange notes for coins at the bus stop.
We felt we were on the right track as 206 bus after 206 bus kept passing us. Initially, we were walking with another couple from the tour, but Greg spotted a fan & gift shop, so we stopped to have a look and the other couple continued on their way.
We were quite confident to head off alone. We walked uphill for EVER, it was gone 6pm, we already had been walking & climbing for the past 4 hours.
Finally we found a 206 stop but NO money machine. I was becoming distressed with fatigue so we asked a young trio of teenage girls if we could exchange money with them. They were coy & giggly but lovely, in the end giving us more than enough coins for 2 tickets. When Greg handed back the extra coins they were cutely embarrassed.
Their bus arrived & ours came along shortly after. We initially had to stand, but I didn’t care as long as we were heading home.
On Japanese buses, you enter at the middle door & pay & get off at the front door.
We slowly squeezed our way towards the front of the bus so that Greg could watch how other people paid their fare. They either showed their cards or put coins into a chute.
Turned out there was a money exchange machine at the front of the bus that would accept ¥1,000 notes or less. Greg only had ¥10,000 notes so he wouldn’t have been able to pay if not for the girls’ help.
I got a seat but the journey was taking longer than was earlier said. When the driver looked like he was about to take a turn, Greg asked if this was the bus to Kyoto Station, right # but wrong side of the street.
NO! We had been on the bus for about 30 mins.
The driver kindly let us off without paying & we staggered across the street heading back uphill to find the first 206 bus stop. We did & arrived back at Kyoto Station about 40 mins later.
We made it home & then had dinner at Slow Flow’s a restaurant beneath our apartments.
Only us & 2 other customers. All in Japanese, the young man taking our order suggested we may like a HAMBURG. We agreed, he asked “bread or rice?” Greg and I looked at each other, smirking, oh no not another decision, so we had one of each with a glass of white & a beer to wash it down.
It was not a hamburger as such but tasty nevertheless!
DAY 4, Tuesday 7/4/15
ARASHIYAMA
Tourist district in the western outskirts. Popular since the Heian Period (794-1185).
We had breakfast & packed & were ready to depart our apartment @ 10:37am. We walked up to Lawson’s to buy a ¥324 brolly. The weather was cold-as, chill wind but no rain. Forecast 10c.
Off to Enmachi Station ¥190 – Saga- Arashiyama, 3rd stop (away from Kyoto) Station where we left our luggage in a station locker. Greg got change from a woman at the shop nearby it cost ¥400.
Exiting on the left side of the line we set off on our walk around the scenic area. We followed our map guidelines. Turn right at small road & walk along the road to main road, dog leg left & right, carry on to bamboo grove.
BAMBOO GROVE
This was our first attraction as it was for many other people. The first time we noticed and heard about as many foreigners as there were Japanese, particularly, as is always the case, Americans.
We strolled along the paths through the bamboo groves. The bamboo has been used to make – baskets, cups, boxes & mats locally for centuries. Along our stroll there were a few points of interest but we mostly just looked from the outside of them including the NONOMIYA SHRINE.
After the Bamboo Grove stroll we hit a busy tourist shop street en route to the bridge.
1:43 pm @ FUYUSHA we bought 7 items ¥6570 ($75.94) 2×2 napkins, 2 clasp-purse glasses cases & 1 solid, material & paper magnetic fastening bifocals case.
2:54 pm Greg saw an appealing looking café & trotted up the stairs of where it was situated to see if they had loos, they did, they were nice! We enjoyed the break, warmth & just to sit for a lazy lunch @ Obu Cafe ¥2420, G – Pasta, T – Curry & we shared a glass of white wine.
Then we moved on slowly towards the bridge buying along the way.
3:41 pm @ ITOTSHUNE I bought a purse size small dragonfly fan. ¥2916. ($32.73). Wrapped deftly Origami style.
4:02 pm @ TAKENOMISE ISHIKAWA BAMBOO SHOP ¥1,080 I bought my final this time, untraditional patterned crimson hearts small Bamboo Fan.
We were a little reluctant, because of the bitterly cold wind but we headed down to TOGETSUKYO BRIDGE (lit. “Moon Crossing Bridge”). Built in the Heian period, 794-1185 & reconstructed in the 1930s.
Although the bridge was old & the river attractive the weather was way too cold to spend much time there. We were freezing. Greg had decided he only needed to wear jeans, shoes, socks, short sleeve T & spray jacket. He did wear his Trilby, he would soon regret his choice/lack of clothing, I put his spray jacket hood over his Trilby & though at first he protested he quickly realised that it did offer some more warmth.
We opted to head off away from the river to find the preserved Street – SAGA-TORIIMOTO
Much of the street has been preserved in the style of the Meiji Period (1868-1912). Many of the buildings are traditional machiya (town houses) private residences.
I wore much more gear than Greg but this meant I was carrying more weight so I started to struggle when as usual our outing grew longer when we became lost or slightly off the map route.
We finely called it quits when we didn’t officially find a preserved street. It was 5:30pm.
Back to the station, pick up our luggage ¥240 each for tickets back to Kyoto Station.
Greg did a recce to find Shinkasin 7/4. Shinkasen ticket machine helped by an official cost ¥27820 for 2 for the bullet train leaving for TOKYO @ 6:45pm.
6:22 pm Picked up a couple of bento boxes, Kirin beer & a 179ml bottle of Australian Classic White wine, chopsticks, wet towels & plastic cups incl. for ¥2797.
Went up escalator to catch Shinkasen. Platform in open area but they had a glassed warm waiting room thankfully.
Lame Video Section
Here is an unedited video Trenna filmed in our Kyoto apartment. It won’t win any film festival prizes, but it does contain Trenna’s voice.
End of Part 3…
2 replies on “The Japan Travel Diary – Part 3”
I felt tired just reading this trip but Tren soldiered on
Great to hear her voice on the video 😊
Yes, she had amazing tenacity. And I am glad you liked hearing her voice – it is so nice to have a few pieces like that.