Another full day today, sorry to say good-bye to Kyoto as I found it a truly magical place, and with all the shrines and temples around you get in touch with your own spirituality.
When I had another look at the map on the train I realised there is an awful lot that Samara and I missed even though we still got to see so much.
We started the day off early, it was cold and crisp and the hot chocolate from the vending machines kept the chill off as we wandered from the Gijon area back to our hotel (where they were holding our luggage before we left for Tokyo)
Unfortunately it was too early and it was a little like a ghost town, but it was pretty all the same. We found our 'token restaurant' but we'd already eaten breakfast :) so we didn't experiment again.
I googled before we set out and found that the straightforward trip from the Gijon area to the hotel is roughly 3ks and in that patch alone there about five temples/shrines.I think we covered a few but not sure if we got them all as there are twists and turns and roads and paths leading all over the place. It was fun exploring this area and both Samara and I would like to do it again in more detail next time.
The Yasaka Shrine was first (that's the picture at the top of the blog) it's as magnificent during the day as it is at night. From here we made our way up to Koda-ji which would be lovely in the spring or
summer as it has beautiful gardens. The rock garden was being refurbished as were a few other sites that we visited. Guess it's the right time of year for that as there are fewer tourists to be disappointed when things are closed to them. Next stop Chionin Temple,
which has the beautiful Samnon gate beckoning you in. The grounds are beautiful and there are lots and lots and lots of steps meandering around
the grounds which lead you to what you think is an ugly modern building but is in fact just a protective building covering the Meido Hall which is undergoing some restoration...should be finished by 2019...wonder if I will make it back to Kyoto before then or after.
We wandered around a bit more, taking our time to explore, but knowing we needed to leave as we have bags to pick up from storage in Tokyo before the place shuts, we didn't go as far as we would have liked. Another hot chocolate for me and a milk tea for Samara and we headed back to the hotel to pick up our cases and head for the train.
Bento boxes and Fujisan views from the window kept us amused on the Shinkansen back to Tokyo Station where we picked up our stored luggage and headed towards the new hotel. (Damn wish it was the Tokyo Plaza again)
We are staying at the Villa Fontaine Kayabacho, a nice enough hotel I guess, but if I thought the Plaza was small this is even smaller, and the Plaza was cute, this isn't. Its a perfectly servicable hotel and I think as it is in the business district is probably suitable for business people who are only staying one night.
We are not in the main building but the annexe around the side, so I assume the annexe houses the cheaper rooms. The wall to the bathroom is on the other side of the bed, thankfully we can use the little hallway to store our cases, and as we're only here two nights we don't need to worry about unpacking. Unfortunately it's so small, that we felt like we were on top of each other and as it was still early we decided that one last trip to Takeshita St for some last minute souvenirs (as we are going to pack up and send stuff home tomorrow so we don't have to carry it to the States with us)
Takeshita at night is better than the day, it's got
something to do with the bright lights, which make everything look different.
The crepe shop was great and as it is pancake day we thought why not so we ate wrapped crepes with ice-cream. They were damned good and were easy to eat as we window shopped. There are some great shops with some amazing stuff from beautiful really expensive kimonos to styles we get back in Melbourne and the interesting costume style clothing that the ' Harajuku girls' wear. We were in Kyoto over the weekend which is supposed to be the best time to see the Japanese kids, out of school uniform and into their weekend uniforms doing cos-plays in the Harajuku area, which would have been fun to see, but I guess that's another next time moment. :)
Getting back to the hotel wasn't as easy as the Tokyo Plaza (with it's one stop up from Shinjuku on the Yamonote line) we had to change lines and some of the station names can't help but make you laugh. We got to the station at Kayabacho and took a different exit to the one we had earlier in the day, so we were a little disorientated and at that time of night there is no one around to ask directions. Thankfully we noticed the bridge that we'd crossed earlier so we weren't wandering around Kayabacho all night long.
A good night's sleep is in order as it's our last day in Japan tomorrow and we have an awesome day planned, heading out of Tokyo on a train again, thank goodness for those Japan Rail passes and Shinkansen trains,