Japan 2026 - Day 9 / Kyoto

Steps today: 22 168 / 14.62km

We started the day with a visit to the Bamboo Forest which is impressive enough on it's own, but more so when you learn it's 1000 years old!!!!...  well, the area at least if not the stalks themselves, they only live for about a decade.

We also visited the Tenryu-Ji Temple, but to be honest we are templed-out for life. You won't be surprised to learn that we just enjoyed the Gardens much more.

After this, we took the bus to the Kyoto Gyoen National Gardens which also contain the Imperial Palace of Kyoto.

The highlight was this tree. Amazingly huge! I couldn't believe this was ONE tree!

We had Frank stand at the base for context.

We did visit the Imperial Palace Grounds... because it was free!

There was a café in the park, nothing fancy, but they offered Western and Japanese options which was great so Frank could have sandwich and I could have something more local.

The yellow parts look like lemon slices in the picture, it's actually Japanese Omelet

After lunch, we explored the Gion area which is the primary Geisha district. The street is lined with Tea Houses, but if you want to get a picture, forget it!

They didn't serve wine at that café, only beer. The usual. I would have appreciated a glass but WHERE??  TA-DA!!!

Next on the agenda was the Yasaka Shrine and Mauyama Park. I have to admit that even though I was Templed-out,  the Shrine was nice...  but the park was better!

From here, it was about a 45 minute walk back to the hotel where we planned to find somewhere to have supper in the Station Mall across the street.

All over Japan I felt that no matter where I was walking, if it wasn't in a modern high-rise area, I was always in a back alley. The streets seems not made for strolling.

Not far from the hotel, we came across the Higashi Honganji Temple and we were both impressed by the sheer size of it! Gargantuan!

This poor little mite has had a long day too!

When we arrived at the station, we explored a bit and "rode" the Kyoto Skyway, a series of escalators that lead up to an observatory.

Supper was great! We found a place that had just the right mix of Western and Japanese options to satisfy both of us.  My plate was delicious.

By 6:30PM we were back at the Hotel Bar for a nightcap. Sake for me; my first time. It was very subtle. Too subtle...  was there even a flavour? The thing is that since I know nothing about sake, how could I know if this was just a bad kind? It didn't even feel like I was drinking alcohol.

I did like the presentation, in a little decanter with a tiny sipping bowl...  but if this is true sake, it was my last time.

We were dead to the world after this! Zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Japan 2026 - Day 8 / Kyoto

Steps today: 18 478 / 12.17km

Changing home-bases today, taking the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto

When booking the train tickets, I made sure to sit on the right side of the train so I could get view of Mount Fuji.  This was the best I could do from a distance, by the time we go closer the clouds had moved in. Ah well.

The journey was a little under 2.5 hours and we arrived in Kyoto around 10:30AM. The hotel room was not ready, so we dumped the bags and set out to explore.

Our first stop was Nijo Castle. No pictures allowed inside and shoes off. It did NOTHING for us. What impressed me the most were the decorations under this gate / arch....

... and the clever lock system for umbrellas.

As usual, we preferred the gardens

We stopped for a coffee and dessert which served as lunch in a little Tea House on the grounds, shoes off again and sitting on the floor.  I can't remember anymore why I didn't take pictures, but I did so of my food. It was a combo of all sorts of Japanese desserts. Can't say I cared much for the dumplings and the dango, but I am glad I tried it! 

 

We were going to go to the Imperial Palace next, but changed our minds thinking it would just be more of the same and we were getting pretty saturated by now, instead we just wandered around the city.

It was so hot, over 25ºC and I was fading. It was about 230 by then, so we decided to head back to the hotel to be there by 3PM to check into our room.

I spotted there was a roof top bar at the Kyoto Tower which was practically next to the hotel, so up we went to see if we could cool down.  Success! 

Our hotel was nice and lobby was very impressive!

The room was quite comfortable and we were relived to have "real" beds and not a mattress on the floor like in Tokyo

We had pizza for supper nearby, and then went for another stroll... or was it the other way around? I don't remember any more and have no pictures, but by 6PM we were already having a nightcap at the hotel bar.  The heat had drained me completely, I was cooked! 

Cheers!