Avalon

Japan Adventure Part 2- Kyoto

Monday, August 04, 2008

In the morning of Day 3, we were all ready to leave Kinosaki Onsen Town and head back to Kyoto.

Picture of the outskirts taken from the train. It was definitely not easy taking ictures on the train because it was moving too fast.

Lunch was on the Shinkansen again. But I was contented after discovering that my favourite tea was actually available as a bottled drink and it tasted good. I was trying to look for the same drink after this but I couldn't find it in the supermarkets or the family marts I visited after this... :( The rice burger was reasonable for a quick bite.

Our two-men ~~bunk~~ dormitory at K's House Kyoto.

K's house Kyoto, a good recommendation to backpackers desperate to find staff that speaks English and clean rooms at affordable prices. The place is very vibrant and always packed with Caucasians and the friendly staff is always capable of making you feel very at home. The building is quite easy to recognise because of its colour but it might still prove to be slightly difficult to locate because it is always situated away from the main roads so even taxi drivers have problems finding it at times.

And we started exploring Kyoto with a map from K's house.

Weizhuang is on the top of the... breakwaters.

This is actually a canal that separates

That's a real bird.

Two Japanese ladies clad in Kimono praying at the shrine. It is a common sight in summer to see women wearing kimono walking everywhere. Try to imagine the same if someone starts doing that in Orchard Road.

Kenininji 建仁寺

Gion Corner

Gion Kobu Kaburenjo Theatre 歌舞練塲

Outside Gion Kobu Kaburenjo Theatre

Map to get our bearings, and remind us how far we have walked. But this was only half or less of our journey.

The streets looked very neat.

Geishas spotted. But they were very shy and it doesn't feel very good to be taking pictures of them because they are not an exhibit but they were treated like one, especially when people started crowding around them and following them whenever they go, snapping away.

Yasaka Jinja 八阪神社

What a lucky guy..

They have something like a pasa malam over there.

This stand actually sells sweets and has those apple candies always featured in J drama and anime.

Asking for blessing.

Here's snippets of a drum performance we caught over there.

Can you see that this is actually a bicycle which has been turned into a temporary rubbish bin. I can't imagine the owner's reaction.

我们当时却是走得疲累多过于顺心。

A temple that's quiet and less touristy.

Sitting on the entrance steps enjoying the gentle breeze in the evening.

The Philospher's Walk. We walked the entire afternoon just to get here. If that's what philosophers did then, they must really had alot of time.

We were trying to walk to Ginkaku 銀阁寺 which really seemed unreachable at that point in time. The only thing we were thinking about was "how long more?" which sounded very much like route march.

And when we reached the place was CLOSED. Well we sort of expected that since most tourist spots in Japan close at 1700-1730. Just too bad we had no affinity with this place.

But we were rewarded with dinner. This is the Ginkaku udon I ordered, and with that we concluded Day 3- the first day of our Kyoto tour. We cabbed back, because we don't want to reach our hostel at midnight and the taxi driver tried to strike up a conversation with us, but he was limited by his command of English and us, our weak attempts at Japanese. 但我想加起来，我们也有半桶水吧。

Envoy of the Stars @ 4:31 PM
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