Japan travel report: part 2
3rd day:
Today we will be traveling to Kyoto where we will be spending a couple of days, but first we go for a stroll in the area around Shiodome. When comparing to Lisbon, that area of Tokyo is extremely quiet. I’m positive that areas like Ginza are much livelier, but we walked through pretty big streets with large walkways, while seeing few people and little traffic. European cities have almost constant high traffic everywhere, and lots of cars parked; Tokyo has little of both, so I managed to get some photos of large streets that have 2 or more lanes without a single car with just a little bit of waiting.
The weather is getting cloudy, but pleasant; we are just hoping it doesn’t start raining.
After walking for a while we go check out from the hotel and make our way to Tokyo station to get into the Shinkansen to Kyoto. The train runs very smooth and is large and comfortable, although our reserved seats were not window seats, we could sit almost anywhere since the train was half empty. The lunch we bought inside the train was surprisingly good, though as expensive as eating in a regular restaurant, but that was to be expected.
A couple of hours latter and we arrive at Kyoto. The weather is also cloudy here and threatens to rain, and it’s also a bit colder than Tokyo but still pleasant. Our planned ryokan is close to the station so bags in hand we start walking in its direction. On the way we pass the University and the imperial garden, where we can confirm that the Sakura are indeed still closed here, still this part of the City is very charming, quite unlike the hugeness of Tokyo.
Without difficulty we arrive at the ryokan in a very typical looking street, but this is where we get the one really unpleasant moment of the trip. It seems that the reservation we made had vaporized and there were no rooms available. I don’t know how it happened but I do know what ryokan I will never recommend to anyone.
The owner offered the phone for us to use to try and find another place to stay but we just wanted to get out of there. After a little asking around we get to a public phone and manage to find a hotel with rooms available so we get on a taxi there. Unfortunately it had only one room for one night, which doesn’t suit our needs, but they were very helpful calling other hotels and finding one that meet our needs.
With map and indications on hand we get on the hotel shuttle bus that takes us very near our destination, right in the middle of the busiest areas of Kyoto and very near several important bus terminals. By now it’s starting to rain lightly and we just hope it doesn’t worsen.
In no time we find the hotel near a starbucks and a very large book store that looked interesting to visit later. The hotel is a design hotel, with a weird Europeanish look, but it is well positioned in central Kyoto, the rooms are large and comfortable, and it’s not very expensive, so although we missed the chance of a more traditional stay in a ryokan, I can’t say that our accommodations where bad. Far from it.
After we settle we go out to find some dinner, but by then it was raining seriously so we run to the subway and try to figure in the map a good place to search for a place to eat. There was a station conveniently placed in a shopping mall so that where we head to. We find half a dozen restaurants. All tasty looking and decide for a Soba restaurant. I choose a cold noodle dish but it wasn’t very enjoyable. It’s not like it tasted bad or anything, but it didn’t taste that good as well. Oh and the tea they served at the beginning was dreadfully bad. I don’t know what that was, but really, it was awful.
We finish eating around 9, and we find most of the stores of the mall closed or closing, which is unnatural for us accustomed to much later closing hours, still we find one store open selling umbrellas which will save us from further rain. We also find a café that sells express coffee (not too common, but not as difficult to find as I expected), so we stay there for a while. At 10 we are told that the café is closing, so no much to do but head out.
It was not raining anymore, so we decide to walk to the hotel. By night Kyoto Like many parts of Tokyo, is quite empty and dark. On the way we pass the book store I mentioned above which is still open, so we stop there to check it out. Inside we find hundreds of books, magazines and manga, and with just a little browsing I find the issues I was missing from my collections and proceed to buy them. Japanese manga in Japan is very cheap and they even wrap the covers in protective paper. Good service.
After all that happened and wasting an afternoon where we had planned to visit the golden pavilion, we go to bed hoping for an early rise to make up for it.
4th day:
We get up on schedule have breakfast in the starbucks and proceed to get the bus to the silver pavilion. On the way there we go through a very typical looking street with many stalls selling traditional souvenirs and food, and thank god it’s cloudy but no rain.
The silver pavilion gardens are quite beautiful unfortunately the temple itself was under restoration so we couldn’t see much. Afterwards we follow the philosopher’s path, which follows a small stream through very nice scenery with several temples along its way. It’s a highly recommended way to spend a day. For lunch we have a delicious okonomyaki in a traditional restaurant where we have to seat on the floor with no shoes. Not the most comfortable but the food was great and it was a very charming place.
After seeing a couple more temples and shrines we finally arrive at the end of the path, unfortunately it was too late to walk to our next destination so we get a taxi. Still it was too late, as all the temples where now closed or closing but we still got to walk in the old Kyoto and see a couple of genuine geixa.
Time to head back and search for dinner. Unfortunately since we were very undecided the restaurants where closing, but we managed to find an all night open izakaya where we could eat and drink in peace. Comfortable place and the food was good, plus they had all the brands of beer so we could taste them all.
When satisfied and with our bellies full we return to the hotel but not without stopping once more in the book store hehe.
5th day:
Today we have to return to Tokyo nut first we go visit the Kinkakuji (golden pavilion) first thing in the morning. Unlike the Silver pavilion this one was not under restoration so we could appreciate all its beauty, and fortunately its gardens are also smaller so we managed to visit comfortably in the time we had before we had to check out from the hotel.
After we check out off we go to the shinkansen back to Tokyo. Again we have little trouble finding the hotel in the Shinbachi area, unfortunately, unlike the previous ones this is very small, and the bathroom ceiling is so low that I almost hit my head in it; still it’s clean and nice enough to spend the night.
As soon as we are settled we head to Akihabara for some shopping. I was planning in visiting some modeling shops in the area and I was not disappointed. The shops where big and stacked full of kits, tools and materials, and the prices where amazing. The only reason I didn’t get more stuff was because of limited bag space. Next time I’ll have to take bigger bags.
We eat in the area in a tempura restaurant, which once again was cheap, delicious and fast. When we are done everything is already closed or closing so we head back to the hotel.
After resting for a bit we decide to go out to check Tokyo’s night life. I must say it’s not the most pleasant thing, but then I’m not a big fan of this sort of thing anyway. Eventually we find what we were looking for, a karaoke. These are very popular there so we had to wait about half an hour for a room, but it was worth it. The room was very nicely decorated and the singing itself is incredibly addictive. We first reserved the room for an hour but when it was over we had to ask for another, which was not very easy since the employees didn’t understand much English.
When we are satisfied that we sung enough (not really, karaoke is awesome), we get a taxi and return to the hotel to rest for the next day.
Tags: Ginkakuji, Japan, Kinkakuji, Kyoto, Shinkansen, Tokyo, Travel
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