Kyoto, Japan

We took the overnight bus from Tokyo to Kyoto and although we paid for a luxury bus with sleeping pods, the trip was horrible! It was very loud and bumpy so we got next to no sleep (note: take the bullet train next time!). We arrived at Kyoto early in the morning and spent most of the day planning and relaxing.

For dinner we headed out to Pontocho alley, which is a narrow alleyway in the Gion area. It’s lined with restaurants and bars. We settled on Chinese for dinner which, although delicious, was very untraditional for Kyoto.

The next day, we felt fresh and ready for a day of sight seeing. First we headed to Tenryu-ji temple in Arashiyama. We didn’t spend too long here as there was an entrance fee and we had become ‘templed out’ so we headed next door to the bamboo forest. There, we walked for a few kms of bamboo lined pathways. It was beautiful.

Next we headed back to Gion to visit Nishiki market. This market had loads of seafood stalls which included crab, scallops, fish and octopus.

After lunch we headed out to Fushimi-Inari Taisha shrine, which is the famous Kyoto shrine with orange structures. We climbed to the top of Mount Inari, which was around a 30 minute hike through the orange arches. By the time we got to the top it was sunset, which meant our way back down was dark. It was beautiful to see the shadows which were cast by the shrine in the evening.

For dinner, we headed back to Pontocho alley and had crumbed wagyu - delicious!

The next day we headed to Osaka, but first a few more sights to see in Kyoto. We headed out to see Kinkaku-ji temple, which is the famous golden temple. Next we visited Motorikyu Nijo castle which was conveniently right near our accomodation.Read more