Kyoto is a lovely vacation destination.
A shrine in the hills at Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a must visit location.
It is a beautiful place, with so many exceedingly scenic locations. It is home to 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites, yet amidst all the beauty, you get the feel of space, of a slow, Zen lifestyle, and nary would you say it is overcrowded (an easy descriptor for Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila).
A Kyoto cityscape from the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art, fronting the Kyoto Municipal Museum. A backdrop of mountains is a common refreshing site in Kyoto.
Our family stayed at the Rihga Royal Hotel Kyoto, a very comfortable, Western styled hotel within easy access to the JR Kyoto train station, and the main Kyoto bus terminal. Being within a short walk of a big train stop and bus station may not sound too appealing, but it is huge area, integrated with five malls, clean, quiet and a refreshing venue for tourists and locals, just as we found all of Kyoto.
Scenes from the JR Kyoto station.
Take a stroll to the highest floor of the Kyoto station, Isetan 11th level, then walk down the long staircase :)
I can understand why a trip to Kyoto might seem a bit daunting, and this likely contributes to a pleasant low incidence of over eager and undiscriminating tourists. From Kansai International Airport (KIX), you still need to take a 1-hour+ limousine bus or express train to Kyoto and your hotel. DO NOT take a taxi from KIX! And make sure you have cash in case you can't use your credit card or ATM card for the bus or train tickets (I just used my credit card though). Now once you have clear directions from your hotel's website, it's actually a breeze to find your way. Have Japan maps on hand (use Japan Map by City App on the iTunes App Store and purchase the upgrade as it's worth it; plus GPS Kit by Garafa, LLC and PRE-load the Kyoto and Kansai areas; or else use your iPhone and Google Maps with a 3G / LTE service).
Once in Kyoto, you'll find ATMs that will take your international card (e.g. there's a Citibank in Kyoto, and the bank at the Post Office building at the Kyoto station accepts international cards).
Scenes from Nijo Castle and Kinkakuji Temple or the Golden Pavilion.
My Top Three destinations in Kyoto would be the Nijo Castle, the Kinkakuji Temple or Golden Pavilion, and the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. It's easy though to rack up a list of ten or twenty locations to visit, with museums, temples, shrines, etc. We did this ourselves for our eight days in Kyoto, which we still found too fast as we still wanted to enjoy more of the unique city.
There are so many grand historic sites scattered within the city, all within easy reach. Indeed from the Kyoto central bus station, it seems every bus will go to a tourist spot, and the busses have video and voice guidance so you don't miss your stops.
Kyoto has the advanced conveniences of modern Japan (don't forget the toilet seats with more buttons than a calculator!), yet it has a distinct slower pace, even a relaxed mood in the city, and the overall feel is that you've stepped back in history. The shrines and temples are themselves centuries old, but my daughter described the city itself as feeling it was "stuck in the 80's".
Scenes around Kyoto.
There are many interesting dragon sculptures and art in Kyoto. See more beautiful, colorful dragons of Kyoto.
That the Kyoto people are master artisans is evident from the grand-scale elaborate structures, from the use of huge wood beams as well as huge rocks at some of the Nijo Castle walls, from the creation of wooden floors that intentionally squeak to the tune of hummingbirds to give notice to the Shogun and his household of the arrival of visitors, to the finely crafted art seen everywhere. There is even a special exhibit in Nijo Castle where a magnifying glass reveals that even the large brass plates and hinges are intricately derailed. These remind me how ancient builders were geniuses in their craft.
Food! Of course while you're in Kyoto, enjoy all the cuisine with the subtle Kyoto preparation style. Every Japanese restaurant is authentic! :) Restaurants and chefs don't modify their dishes to account for foreign tastes, so you get fabulous Japanese cooking anywhere. And because my daughter loves mochi, we went to the Nishiki food market on three of our eight days!
Scenes from the Gion Matsuri Festival night celebration.
At the Gion Matsuri Festival night celebration, food is a major part of the fun. This is the once-a-year major celebration, and food sellers set up all kinds of local delicacies. It's a fun atmosphere where people are relaxed, no one is overly loud or going crazy, teens and whole families are going around while chatting and sampling food, and ladies of all ages are prettily dressed in traditional kimonos and flattered to have their photos taken.
More Gion Matsuri Festival night photos. To see Gion Matsuri floats and daytime photos, see my blog.
The people of Kyoto were particularly pleasant and hospitable. And that applies to people in restaurants, shops, museums, even people on bicycles as well as car drivers. In fact my daughter stresses that the best way to view Kyoto is on a bike! She really enjoyed a ride around town with my son who navigated their bike tour. It also made an impression on me that when we forgot a newly purchased Kyoto travel book in a bus, we tried to recover it through the bus Lost and Found and attempted to communicate using a Japanese phrase book. The people on the phone line understood that we lost a book, but we couldn't understand what they wanted us to do, though it was clear they were patient in listening and trying to explain. We decided to ask our hotel to help and call the bus company, which a hotel staff kindly performed with much care, and obtained instructions for us to go to the bus office at the end of a particular route. We went there and were nicely assisted again, and straightaway got our book back. I particularly noticed there was a large table with many bags neatly organized, presumably also lost and found items, all ready for pick up. I also noticed a Louis Vuitton bag among the stack. In most any other city, we'd probably not recover our book, and such a stack would likely not be present. So my heartfelt thanks and admiration goes to the people of Kyoto.
Young ladies in kimonos were friendly and would oblige to have their photos taken. Here is one pic with my wife.
A temple just at the back of the Museum of Ikebana History in Kyoto.
My wife and daughter also had the privilege of asking directions from locals where instead of simply being given instructions, they were accompanied to where they wanted to go! I've had this experience a couple of times in Tokyo about twenty years ago, and it was heartwarming to hear of their recent experience in Kyoto.
It's curious how differences in language prevent verbal communication, but here's an interesting video I found on language origins and how differences came about, amazing ancient building technologies and people's roots.
We totally enjoyed our stay in Kyoto. It's to the point that our daughter now aspires to go back and work there after graduating, and I encourage her to do so!
Kudos to the people of Kyoto for preserving a wonderful city.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
A shrine in the hills at Kiyomizu-dera Temple, a must visit location.
It is a beautiful place, with so many exceedingly scenic locations. It is home to 17 UNESCO World Heritage sites, yet amidst all the beauty, you get the feel of space, of a slow, Zen lifestyle, and nary would you say it is overcrowded (an easy descriptor for Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila).
A Kyoto cityscape from the Kyoto Museum of Modern Art, fronting the Kyoto Municipal Museum. A backdrop of mountains is a common refreshing site in Kyoto.
Our family stayed at the Rihga Royal Hotel Kyoto, a very comfortable, Western styled hotel within easy access to the JR Kyoto train station, and the main Kyoto bus terminal. Being within a short walk of a big train stop and bus station may not sound too appealing, but it is huge area, integrated with five malls, clean, quiet and a refreshing venue for tourists and locals, just as we found all of Kyoto.
Scenes from the JR Kyoto station.
Take a stroll to the highest floor of the Kyoto station, Isetan 11th level, then walk down the long staircase :)
I can understand why a trip to Kyoto might seem a bit daunting, and this likely contributes to a pleasant low incidence of over eager and undiscriminating tourists. From Kansai International Airport (KIX), you still need to take a 1-hour+ limousine bus or express train to Kyoto and your hotel. DO NOT take a taxi from KIX! And make sure you have cash in case you can't use your credit card or ATM card for the bus or train tickets (I just used my credit card though). Now once you have clear directions from your hotel's website, it's actually a breeze to find your way. Have Japan maps on hand (use Japan Map by City App on the iTunes App Store and purchase the upgrade as it's worth it; plus GPS Kit by Garafa, LLC and PRE-load the Kyoto and Kansai areas; or else use your iPhone and Google Maps with a 3G / LTE service).
Once in Kyoto, you'll find ATMs that will take your international card (e.g. there's a Citibank in Kyoto, and the bank at the Post Office building at the Kyoto station accepts international cards).
Scenes from Nijo Castle and Kinkakuji Temple or the Golden Pavilion.
My Top Three destinations in Kyoto would be the Nijo Castle, the Kinkakuji Temple or Golden Pavilion, and the Kiyomizu-dera Temple. It's easy though to rack up a list of ten or twenty locations to visit, with museums, temples, shrines, etc. We did this ourselves for our eight days in Kyoto, which we still found too fast as we still wanted to enjoy more of the unique city.
There are so many grand historic sites scattered within the city, all within easy reach. Indeed from the Kyoto central bus station, it seems every bus will go to a tourist spot, and the busses have video and voice guidance so you don't miss your stops.
Kyoto has the advanced conveniences of modern Japan (don't forget the toilet seats with more buttons than a calculator!), yet it has a distinct slower pace, even a relaxed mood in the city, and the overall feel is that you've stepped back in history. The shrines and temples are themselves centuries old, but my daughter described the city itself as feeling it was "stuck in the 80's".
Scenes around Kyoto.
There are many interesting dragon sculptures and art in Kyoto. See more beautiful, colorful dragons of Kyoto.
That the Kyoto people are master artisans is evident from the grand-scale elaborate structures, from the use of huge wood beams as well as huge rocks at some of the Nijo Castle walls, from the creation of wooden floors that intentionally squeak to the tune of hummingbirds to give notice to the Shogun and his household of the arrival of visitors, to the finely crafted art seen everywhere. There is even a special exhibit in Nijo Castle where a magnifying glass reveals that even the large brass plates and hinges are intricately derailed. These remind me how ancient builders were geniuses in their craft.
Food! Of course while you're in Kyoto, enjoy all the cuisine with the subtle Kyoto preparation style. Every Japanese restaurant is authentic! :) Restaurants and chefs don't modify their dishes to account for foreign tastes, so you get fabulous Japanese cooking anywhere. And because my daughter loves mochi, we went to the Nishiki food market on three of our eight days!
Scenes from the Gion Matsuri Festival night celebration.
At the Gion Matsuri Festival night celebration, food is a major part of the fun. This is the once-a-year major celebration, and food sellers set up all kinds of local delicacies. It's a fun atmosphere where people are relaxed, no one is overly loud or going crazy, teens and whole families are going around while chatting and sampling food, and ladies of all ages are prettily dressed in traditional kimonos and flattered to have their photos taken.
More Gion Matsuri Festival night photos. To see Gion Matsuri floats and daytime photos, see my blog.
The people of Kyoto were particularly pleasant and hospitable. And that applies to people in restaurants, shops, museums, even people on bicycles as well as car drivers. In fact my daughter stresses that the best way to view Kyoto is on a bike! She really enjoyed a ride around town with my son who navigated their bike tour. It also made an impression on me that when we forgot a newly purchased Kyoto travel book in a bus, we tried to recover it through the bus Lost and Found and attempted to communicate using a Japanese phrase book. The people on the phone line understood that we lost a book, but we couldn't understand what they wanted us to do, though it was clear they were patient in listening and trying to explain. We decided to ask our hotel to help and call the bus company, which a hotel staff kindly performed with much care, and obtained instructions for us to go to the bus office at the end of a particular route. We went there and were nicely assisted again, and straightaway got our book back. I particularly noticed there was a large table with many bags neatly organized, presumably also lost and found items, all ready for pick up. I also noticed a Louis Vuitton bag among the stack. In most any other city, we'd probably not recover our book, and such a stack would likely not be present. So my heartfelt thanks and admiration goes to the people of Kyoto.
Young ladies in kimonos were friendly and would oblige to have their photos taken. Here is one pic with my wife.
A temple just at the back of the Museum of Ikebana History in Kyoto.
My wife and daughter also had the privilege of asking directions from locals where instead of simply being given instructions, they were accompanied to where they wanted to go! I've had this experience a couple of times in Tokyo about twenty years ago, and it was heartwarming to hear of their recent experience in Kyoto.
It's curious how differences in language prevent verbal communication, but here's an interesting video I found on language origins and how differences came about, amazing ancient building technologies and people's roots.
We totally enjoyed our stay in Kyoto. It's to the point that our daughter now aspires to go back and work there after graduating, and I encourage her to do so!
Kudos to the people of Kyoto for preserving a wonderful city.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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