There were 4 different types of trains we could choose from to get to Kyoto. Local, Semi-Express, Express and Limited Express (I wrote them in the order that I think is correct in terms of stops/speed). We got the Limited express and we only had 6 or 7 to Kyoto. Of course there still were the Shinkansen that still passed us.
About 45 minutes later we were in Kyoto and looking for our Ryokan (Japanese Guest house). Not long after we found it (after going into the wrong Ryonkan first).
It's indeed a very nice place with our room being 6 tamami mats in size and having a little tea table and even our own little stone garden. The Ryokan is located very central just 200m from Kyoto tower near the Kyoto JR station and for it's location it is quite big. It has a public bath. When we arrived we had to take off our shoes and put on slippers to get around the house. Before getting on the Tatami mats we had to take off the slippers.
The first point of interest was food. We decided we wanted Udon and quickly found a nice place that even made their own noodles. It was really tasty and very filling. After this we wanted to visit the Inarii Shrine in the west. We figured out that the bus we needed to take was bus number 5 and we should be able to use our 3 day Kansai thru pass. But when getting to the platform where the bus leaves we realized it only went every hour and the next one was not going to come for another 55 minutes. Time was sparse on our four night holiday and we decided to go and visit another temple. BKiyomizudera is an old Buddhist temple and an UNESCO world heritage site. The legend says two worriers were fighting on the balustrade in 1694 and one of them fell off into a 11m deep ravine but did not get injured. Since then this place has become the location of men trying to prove them as men by jumping down. In 1872 the government forbid this after 235 people have taken the leap of faith (an astonishing 85 % survived). I decided the view was nicer from the top so did not attempt any jumps. Therefore we went into the womb Zuigu-Bosatsu (known as the motherly Buddha) who would grant any wish if they were sincere enough to come true. The womb was a entirely dark passageway underneath a temple which we had to navigate without seeing anything. To be honest, there was a bit of help in form of a handrail we could follow.
From Kiyomizudera we headed north through the famous Gion district of Kyoto. Here we could see plenty of traditional Japanese houses and passed by a couple more temples, shrines, pagodas and gardens... It is just incredible how many of these kind of buildings are here. It really felt like we were walking through Kyoto in the 1600s trying to not cause any anger with the local samurai. We left the Gion district through another temple while the sun was setting and bathing our surroundings into an astonishing light. The pictures taken with my mobile (because I left the stupid charger for my camera in my bag in Korea) are nowhere near what the atmosphere was like.
Our next stop was originally going to be the Ryokan again but by chance (seriously) we passed through the pub area and stopped by a Yakitori place that. Yakitori are wooden or metal sticks with different ingredients spiked on them and then grilled over charcoal. It's similar to Shashlik but with a different twist to it. We didn't really have much since we ran out of money, so after a couple of Yakitori we left and tried to find an ATM. Finding an ATM was not a problem, finding one that would give us money however was. We tried about 6 or 7 different banks corner shops to then learn from a foreigner that the best bet would be a 7eleven.
Luckily my MapsWithMe App listed one just a 300 meter down the road. And indeed we did get our money there and went right across the road to another bar/restaurant to get some food. This time we had Teppan Yaki noodles and after asking nicely we even got our own Japanese rooms with our own Teppan yaki table. The noodles were accompanied by suchjo which is the Japanese version of Soju. I had some fond memory (at least the beginning of the evening) of this stuff in Hiroshima with Basti and Jan and this time Yuni did not like her drink so I had two... Luckily all stayed within the limits and we could even enjoy a nice hot bath when getting back to the Ryokan. It is just amazing the atmosphere after a hot bath and then having a green tee dressed in Yukatas (a kind of house kimono) sitting on tatami mats in a Japanese room in the middle of Kyoto. I can only recommend to anyone who visits Japan to stay in a Ryokan and the one we stayed in was really nice. It's called "Ryokan Heianbo".
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