Traveling: Kyoto

Thursday, 18 October 2018

Japan 2018 - Part 10

Traveling To Kyoto

Thursday - September 13th 2018

Today we left Hiroshima towards Kyoto. The Shinkansen departed in the morning, but we still had enough time for a good cup of coffee at Starbucks. Around noon we arrived at in Kyoto and headed straight to the hotel to check in. We stayed at Sakura Terrace The Gallery, which was just a couple of minutes away from the main train station. The hotel had a very stylish and open look and was very popular among western guests. Unfortunately our room wasn't ready yet and so we decided to take the train to Fushimi Inari and to check into our room later in the evening. Since it was already noon, we stopped at Vegans Cafe for lunch on our way to Fushimi Inari. Claudia and I both ordered a pizza and were suprised how delicious they were.

Hello Kitty Shinkansen

Hotel Bar

Vegan Pizza for Lunch

Ice Cream

Vegans Cafe

Kyoto

Fushimi Inari is a beautiful shrine dedicated to the god of rice and business. Once we passed the great looking temple we were in the middle of the forest. The path to the top of the small mountain was seamed with the famous red gates. We followed the path, but didn't make it to the top because it was so hut and humid. Additionally it started to rain and that's why we took a break at a small coffee house from where we had a great view over the forest. Back at the temple the weather got worse and so we decided to return to the city. There we wanted to visit the Imperial Palace, but unfortunately it was already closed for the day. Since the rain didn't stop either and we were already wet, we headed back to the hotel. After a hot shower we had a hotel room picnic for dinner and spent the rest of the evening at the hotel bar.

Fushimi Inari

View over Kyoto

Taking a Break

Fushimi Inari

Our Room

Hotel Courtyard

Welcome Drinks

Bar Area

Wednesday, 17 October 2018

Japan 2018 - Part 11

Kyoto Temple Walk

Friday - September 14th 2018

Unfortunately the weather wasn't very good, but we still managed to see a lot today. After a cup of coffee we took the bus to Kinkaku-Ji, the Pavilion of the Golden Temple. Kinkaku-Ji is a must see in Kyoto and according to the guy at the entrance it is one of Japan's most visited sites. He was right, because when we arrived there was already a huge crowd waiting for a good spot to take a picture of the Golden Pavilion. Many tourists just took a photo and then left, but we decided to take a walk along the beautiful path through the temple. Once we completed the tour, we left as well, because of the huge crowds of tourists and Japanese pupils storming the site.

Kinkaku-Ji Temple

Our next stop was Ryoan-Ji Temple which was just a short walk away from Kinkaku-Ji. This Bhuddist Temple is famous for its stone garden, but honestly I wasn't really impressed. Nonetheless the whole temple area was very beautiful, but due to the bad weather, it was raining heavily, we couldn't enjoy it as much as we wanted to.

Ryoan-Ji Temple

Another short walk later we arrived at Ninna-Ji Temple, our last stop on our temple tour. Luckily the rain stopped and so we could really appreciate the whole temple area. I myself enjoyed this temple the most, because there were much less tourists, the buildings were amazing and the stone garden was really beautiful. There we spent quite some time, but since it was already early afternoon we got hungry. So we took the bus back into the city, where we had lunch at Cafe Morpho. We both ordered the delicious burger and for dessert we shared a sweet banana pizza.

Ninna-Ji Temple

Veggie Burger

Sweet Banana Pizza

Since we missed the Imperial Palace yesterday, we decided to give it another try today. Although it was not as impressive as expected, we were glad to visit the temple. We took a tour through the garden and just before the temple closed we left towards our hotel. There we relaxed a bit at the outdoor bar and later we went to Chabuton for lunch. The vegan ramen soup was as delicious as in Osaka.

Imperial Palace

Kyoto Tower by Night

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Thursday, 18 October 2018

Japan 2018 - Part 10

Wednesday, 17 October 2018

Japan 2018 - Part 11