Kyoto

I walked around Koyasan for a couple of hours before taking the city bus to the Koyasan Station, which is also the terminal for the cable car.  I took the cable car down to Gokurakubashi, then a 77-minute  Nankai train ride to Shinimamiya.  Here I quickly walked across the station to the JR part of the station and took a 36-minute JR train ride to Kyoto.  It sounds complicated but the trains in Japan are so punctual that if you don't waste any time hanging around the station, you should be able to walk across to another platform and catch your connecting train in a matter of minutes.

At Kyoto Station, I met my friend Akemi at a coffee shop.  Together we took a subway and was supposed to walk 5 minutes to the Rupino Kyoto Horikawa Hotel.  Well, it never work that way.  We ended up walking about 30 minutes.  Somewhere in between, we saw the Imperial Palace and decided to take a short detour to take pictures of my first sighting of cherry blossoms.  A couple from China were also taking pictures (wedding maybe?) on the grounds and I tried to take a few shots of them.  Akemi called many hotels before finding the Rupino with rooms available.  That was about 3 months before we came.  This is the busiest time of the year for Kyoto.  Tourists from all over come here.  The tourist spots were so crowded that you are always bumping into someone.

Akemi was my guide.  I can't remember the names of all the places we went so I had to ask her to list them.  This is where we went on Day 1:

• Kiyomizu Temple
• Sannenzaka (or slope) Ninenzaka
• Kodaiji Temple
• Yasaka Shrine

We found a little place in the basement of a big building for dinner.  It turned out to be a good inexpensive authentic Japanese restaurant run by a Japanese owner/chef.

White Cherry Blossom

Pink Cherry Blossom

Kiyomizu-dera Temple

A Gate in the Gion Area

Sunset over Kyoto.  Taken at Kiyomizu-dera Temple

Korean Girl dressed in kimono posing for pictures

A Night Scene in Sannenzaka Ninenzaka

On the second day, we went to:

• Daigoji temple
• The Kyoto Imperial Gardens
• Nijyojyo Castle Garden

5-story Pagoda in the Shimo Daigo area of the Daigoji Temple

A Garden in the Daigoji Temple grounds

Bentendo Hall in the Daigoji Temple

A Gate in the Nijyojyo Castle Garden

Nijyojyo Castle Garden

That evening we treated ourselves to a fine traditional Japanese dinner at an upscale Japanese restaurant in the city center.  The restaurant is called Izumi, near the Bukoji Temple.  Unlike dinners at a ryokan, where all the courses come together at the same time, a traditional Japanese dinner is served one at a time, like any upscale Western dinner.  The focus here is on the presentation and quality of the food.  I think there are about 10 courses; I lost count.  Every course is like the work of an artist, in this case a chef.  It's like eating a "piece of art."  We sat at the counter, like a traditional sushi restaurant.  The waitresses gracefully served each dish.  It was a joy to be served by them, even though I did not under Japanese.  They try to explain each dish with a beautiful smile.

Business Card of the Izumi Restaurant

Sashimi

Fish

Tofu

Assorted plate decorated with cherry blossoms

The counter of the restaurant where we ate

On Day 3 we took an Arashiyama train to the town of Arashiyama, about an hour away.  This is a very popular tourist town, although it's usually grouped together with Kyoto.  I've never been here nor heard of the place but once I mentioned Arashiyama, everyone who has been here said how much they like the place.

We were lucky.  Akemi has a college friend, Mitsuko, who grew up here.  Naturally, she was our tour guide.  We met her at the train station at 10 am and the first place she took us was the Bamboo Groves, about 5 minutes from the train station.  Mitsuko said she jogs through here in the mornings.  Not surprisingly, it was very crowded.

Bamboo Groves

Next we walk through the small streets through town.  We stopped at a shop selling mochi, which is a popular rice cake in Japan.  They come in all shapes and forms and are usually small enough that they can be eaten in one or two bites.

Shop selling mochi

Mochi wrapped in leaves from the cherry tree.

We finally made our way to the Rakusisha Seiryoin Temple.

We then stopped by for coffee at the Suiran Hotel by the Katsura River and watched people boating or taking boats up and down and across the river.  Then we had a vegetarian lunch at the very popular Shigetsu restaurant.  One more stroll through the Tenryu-ji Zen Temple and the Sogenchi Garden, a beautiful garden with a variety of trees and many cherry blossom trees.  Finally, we had to walked across the famous Togetsukyo Bridge to the other side of town before taking a train back to Kyoto.

Cafe patio looking over the Katsura River

Zen Garden at Tenryu-ji Temple

Beautiful pink cherry blossoms at the Sogenchi Garden

Togetsukyo Bridge over the Katsura River

As a finale to our trip to Kyoto, we went downtown to an area where the canals and rivers are lined with cherry blossom trees.  At night they are illuminated with floodlights and throngs of tourists were strolling around snapping and posing for pictures

Canal lined with cherry blossom trees

Downtown Kyoto - lots of cherry blossoms trees and tourists.

I am not sure but I think Kyoto may be the most popular place in Japan to see cherry blossoms.  Not only were there a lot of foreign tourists, there were a lot of Japanese tourists as well.  The sakuras seem to be able to charm everyone.  Many Asian girls from neighboring countries, like China and Korea, come here and rent kimonos and walk around town, dressed like Japanese girls.

If you want to come here to view the cherry blossoms, my advice is to start booking hotel rooms 6 months in advance.  If you have only 1 week, I think the safest time is probably the first week of April.  Be prepared to pay high prices for a hotel room.