Kyoto Royal

My trip to Asia. I call this my 'Finally Top 3' because Japan, Tibet and Nepal have been three of the top five of places I've really wanted to travel. And it's been so long that they've been ranked there, and I've visited almost everywhere else that I' ...

... was to find a coin laundry. There are so few of them in Japan now, most of the them are located in hostels. Unfortunately the Kyoto Royal Garden didn't have one and I didn't want to use their laundry service and be forced to pay Y500 for a shirt! Michi ...

We boarded the Shinkansen at 8.15am bound for Kyoto and arrived about 10.30am, caught a taxi to the Kyoto Royal Hotel.  Because check in was 2pm we left our luggage and journeyed off to the Gion district which was a 15 minute walk from the Hotel, we ...

... We sampled some and found them delicious.  We later learned that they were called Izutsu Yatsuhashi, a well-known confectionary item from Kyoto. And so ends our sightseeing tour of Japan.  Tomorrow, we leave Kyoto early to head back to Tokyo, in ...

... hour in and it was getting quite dark. Luckily we bumped into an American expat who suggested a scenic walk taking in a lot of Kyoto's traditional streets that ran alongside the canal. We would never have come across this route if it wasn't for our chance ...

... with instructions on how to get to our hotel by subway.  In addition, we received the latest version of the Kyoto Visitor's guide containing tidbits of information about what to see and do. We also made adjustments to our departure JR tickets for an ...

... see how frantic people were acting to buy chocolate valentines gifts like there was no tomorrow. Touchy Lighty The shops in Kyoto station were running a promotion today. Anyone who had spent more than Y1000 would be entered into a tombola prize draw ...

... atmospheric. That night we went to a recommended Yakitori bar around the corner.  We ended up accidentally testing the fact that Kyoto is open all hours...  getting back home at 6 a.m.  Many bars were visited and many friends made during ...

Our second day in Kyoto and we boarded a local train and went to see the Fushimi-Inari-Taisha Shrine in southern Kyoto.  The head shrine of some 40,000 Inari shrines located throughout the land, it was founded in 711 and dedicated to five Shinto ...

... runway putting out flares on the ground to cordon off other vehicles. That was impressive. The moment we reached Kyoto, we were taken to Kinkakuji, the famous Golden Pavilion, which was created on 1397. The place was swarmed with ...

... and from there we boarded a train to Kyoto.  Kazu's son, Koske, made us reservations at the Rhga Royal Hotel (one of the finest in Kyoto--).  We checked in; freshened up and took a taxi to downtown.  Found a Japanese restaurant that wasn't ...

... different during daylight hours. After a while, we veered down a new alley and found ourselves in front of the Royal Hotel Kyoto. Being daring, we went in and asked the hospitality desk staff for directions to some good antique shopping areas. They were ...

... the hostel! 1-11 Kyoto is the old capital of Japan until 1868, and is still the cultural capital in a sense. People in Kyoto embody the qualities and practically define what it means to be Japanese. There are so many temples in the city that you would ...

... , restaurants - a real juxtaposition of the old and new Japan that I found particularly intriguing. I'll start by briefly mention Kyoto Station - apparently dubbed 'The Cube'.  I've said that Japan's train stations are like our airports, but that's ...

... way. Suddenly I started to walk up through more narrow streets that were getting steeper & steeper. Theses streets were like a royal mile of Kyoto with all the old style houses & shops out the front selling religious stuff to souvenirs. Most of ...

... keeping the company of an elderly couple with far more money than years left on the clock. Shamefully I reacted like a paparazzi pursuing a royal and fairly chased her down the street. Quickly coming to my sense, I then kept a more respectful distance, ...

... this is not to say that there isn't some prostitution going on around here. Because we walked through the entertainment district of Kyoto tonight, and there's plenty of trouble to be gotten in if you're looking for it. One street was lined with ...

... , Ryoanji Temple, Kinkakuji Temple, (Golden Pavillion) and the Imperial Palace, and after lunch which we will have at the Kyoto Handicraft Center, Heian Shrine, Sanjusanjen-do, and Kiyomizu Temple. In Japan there are 1000 Buddhist temples and 300 Shinto ...

... seen any pictures. Hopefully things will have settled down by the time we get there.  We spent the afternoon walking around Kyoto and touring several ancient temples. After the temples, we went back to the Kyoto train station for a better look ...