Blogger Ben: Kyoto

Posted on | October 11, 2010 | No Comments

I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Kansai via the ever "classy" and most importantly wallet friendly JR Highway bus! My goodness was it ever a blast. It would have been even better had the weather co-operated, but it's almost always impossible to have your cake and eat it too, I suppose.

I arrived at Kyoto central station early, and in the pouring rain at 8:30am. Great. Fortunately for me, the coffee shops were already open, so I dropped about 500 Yen for a tiny cup of tea and a pastry. I could've gone to the Lawson's down the street for an onigiri and a drink at a fraction of the price but the rain put a stop to that, of course. The tourist office wouldn't open for about another hour so I used the time to explore the massive building. When I say massive, trust me, it's freaking massive.

Kyoto Station is a major transport hub featuring a terminal for the Shinkansen, regular JR commuter train as well as local private railways. In other words, this place is busy, pretty much at all times. Near the central Shinkansen gate lies a lovely "road" of restaurants and shops called Miyako Michi. I picked up some postcards at the bookshop there and simply stared at the wax food models on display outside he restaurants. It never ceases to amaze me.

The rain finally died down a bit so I headed over to the hostel I booked a few days ago. The choice was totally random because my only criteria was that it had to be clean and cheap. That was it. I did my research on Tripadvisor.com, which hasn't failed me so far. I highly recommend it for people's views on accommodation and food -- they are quite honest and to the point. Not a lot of bashing and just facts. Long story short, a gust of wind completely destroyed my flimsy fold-up umbrella from Canada. Lucky for me Tour Club (the name of the hostel) had loaner umbrellas for guests to use. They rock. The place is clean and the staff members are as nice as they come. I recommend it because it's close to the station and it's not expensive. They don't have a lot of rooms so I suggest you book early if you want to use Tour Club.

My trip to Kyoto included meeting up with a former lab colleague from back home. She married someone who lives in the Kyoto area and subsequently relocated to Japan. They were the nices couple ever! They drove me around all day, AND bought me a really fancy kaiseki-style dinner!

My trip consisted of going to two major shrines/temples: Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺), in the eastern part of the city located on top off a hill and Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺) all the way across town. Luckily I had a ride otherwise the trip across town would've been utterly hell. Both temples were gorgeous to say the least and there's so much history within them that I can write volumes about it if I wanted to. I won't since I am 1) lazy 2) don't know anything and 3) you can look it up on wikipedia. But i posted pictures!

Photos from Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺):

Photos from Kinkaku-ji (金閣寺):

Another highlight of the day was the wonderful dinner at a nomiya/izakaya called Kyomon. My gracious hosts called ahead and reserved a set-meal containing about 10 to 12 courses of dishes made of seasonal and local ingredients. It was pretty much kaiseki food but in a casual setting for a lot less than what you'd pay in Canada, all of which I totally dig. It was crazy. The pictures speak louder than words. There are better pictures of the food on the restaurant site gnavi here. Long story short, it really really really helps to know someone local to the area!