It's moving day again, this time to Kyoto.
The train schedule looked like this:
8:16 - 9:12: Sazanami express to Tokyo
10:03 - 12:48: Shinkansen Hikari to Kyoto
We were at Kisarazu 45 minutes early because our friend had to take her kids to class right after that. Her house was a bit far from the station so we couldn't just walk there.
This was our first shinkansen experience, and it's not much different than taking the TGV from Paris to London.
When we booked seats for this train a couple days ago, the train was pretty full so we couldn't get window seats, only seats 3B and 3C. The trip went smoothly and when we arrived at Kyoto station, it was raining hard. That's funny, every time we were on the move, it rained!
Kyoto Station was a very modern structure, in total contrast to the city itself.
We needed to take the bus to our hotel, and I didn't do much homework on the bus system in Kyoto at all, so right there in the station I did a crash course on the spot, studying the signs and posts and asked the bus information office about where to buy tickets, what types of day pass are available, what types of buses operated in the city, etc. I also bought a Dekkaji map book of Kyoto (¥1050) from the Kiosk bookstore in the station. What I learned were
- there are 2 types of bus passes: a City Bus all-day pass, and a Kyoto Sightseeing pass. We should buy a City pass (¥500) to go around in Kyoto for each day that we stayed in the city. The Kyoto pass is needed if we wanted to travel outside of Kyoto to Arashiyama for example.
- To get to the hotel we should take Raku bus #100 from Bus Terminal D1. This route is popular for tourists and it's kind of like an express bus which doesn't stop at every point except major sightseeing spots or main transfer points.
- you board a bus through the back door and exit the bus using the front door. Pay as you exit the bus.
- There were clear instructions in English how to use the pass on the buses. Basically first time you use the pass, insert it into a slot which will print the date on it. Subsequently, you just show the date on the pass to the bus driver when you use the bus.
- For those who want to do their homework before leaving for Kyoto, this website has all the details, except the part about using the pass, which is missing. Use the info I listed above if you use the day pass. Very simple once you know it.
On the bus, the next stop was always announced in both Japanese and English so it's easy to follow. This is not always the case on other routes which are not frequented by tourists. The bus electronic sign also lists the next stop in both Japanese and English, and again this is not always the case with other local routes. In either case, if you know how your destination bus stop is written in Kanji then you are good.
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Who should you ask for assistance
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We got off at Gion bus stop, and it still rained hard. I tried to determined where we were in relation to the hotel, but for a moment couldn't find the street name. When they say the Gion bus stop, it could be any of up to 4 bus stops depending on what direction and what street you came from, especially so when it's an intersection. My wife, true to her usual mode of operation, insisted that we asked, so I asked a man at the bus stop, but he panicked and waved his hand "wakanai". That's not surprising, and totally in line with what we've observed the whole trip, that you should approach women (young is better) when seeking assistance, as they're not so much allergic to foreigners, they're more patient, and they might understand English. Which was exactly what happened next. Another bus stopped and out came a group of school girls. Again, I initiated the request for help, figuring that they had to be locals just getting off from school. One girl took the printed map and studied it while I tried to explained in Japanese our situation. Other girls joined and asked the first one what I needed. Then my wife chimed in in English. The girl took the map and ran to the bus stop and talked to an old man, while the rest all chatted excitedly among themselves. I drew near to the old man and when I heard him uttering the words "Yasaka" and pointed across the street, I followed his finger and immediately realized where we had to be. It's all clear now and I started thanking the man and the girls. Then the girl started saying something to me in what I thought was Japanese, but then realized she's trying to speak English. It turned out they graciously offered to walked us to the hotel. How could you say no to such a sweet offer? Another girl insisted that my wife took her umbrella, then another insisted I had hers. Not wanting to abuse their kindness, I insisted that we would take only one and shared between ourselves. The whole conversation was sweet and funny, with me talking Japanese, the girls and my wife talking English, all the while walking under the rain. Before we parted ways, I found out that this group were not locals, but a group of high school girls from Hokkaido on a field trip to Kyoto. So they were tourists like us. Thanks girls for leaving a great impression on us the first day in Kyoto.
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When I found and booked this hotel I knew it's at a convenient location, but we didn't realize how much of a convenience until we stayed there. It's right in the heart of Gion, next to a main bus stop. Shijo-dori is a busy shopping street its whole length, and as we found was the case in Kyoto, things were much more accessible than the vast Tokyo metroplis. Next time in Kyoto we would come and stay here again.
The hotel lobby, interestingly, was on the 2nd floor. The first floor was a Starbucks
We booked a non-smoking room and it was much better. Since it was a twin bed room, the room was more spacious. We were again on the 3rd floor looking down to the garage and out to a view of the city. Much better view than our Tokyo stay. The bathroom was of the same type, but looked more worn out and less high-tech than the one in Tokyo, and the bathtub was a bit narrower too. However the level of cleanliness was top notch. There were 2 crane origamis on our beds as a welcome gesture, sweet.
When booking this hotel I made a guess that we would check in around 14:00, arrival by train. We actually checked in at 2:15pm, so that was pretty good.
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Shijo avenue, Teramachi street, Nishiki Food Market
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After checkin, we spent the afternoon exploring the area.
First we headed west along Shijō-dōri (4th Avenue), a busy shopping avenue. This street was lined with shops after shops, plus restaurants and cafes and sweet shops of all sorts.
Shijō-ōhashi (四条大橋) bridge
Walking west along Shijō-dōri we soon reached the Kamo-gawa (鴨川, Duck River), crossed by the Shijō-ōhashi (4th Avenue Big Bridge). Around this bridge were several landmarks:
- the Minami-za (南座) kabuki (歌舞伎, Sing Dance Action, Ca Vũ Kỹ) theater, the oldest surviving theater (rebuilt of course);
- a statue of Okuni of Izumo (出雲の阿国像), who was said to have been a miko (巫女; maidens acting as a medium, Cô Đồng) of the Izumo-taisha Shrine (出雲大社). On the bank of Shijō-gawara (四条河原) of the Kamo-gawa River, she began to perform a Nembutsu-odori (念仏踊) which attracted many people and later developed it into Kabuki-odori (歌舞伎踊). Now she is known as the founder of Okuni-Kabuki (阿国歌舞伎) and Kabuki-shibai (歌舞伎芝居, the Kabuki play);
- Pontochō-dōri alley, a concentration of geisha houses and restaurants
Teramachi street and Nishiki Market
Then we reached Teramachi-dori (literally Temple Town Street), a covered stretch of street lined with small shops. We found a temple in here, the lanterns reflected off the glimmering wet pavement. Another good time spent here, before we discovered Nishiki Ichiba, or Nishiki Market! If you walked down Teramachi strret for about 100 meters you would see the entrance to the market on the left. Awesome, that's our kitchen for dinner tonight. We tried some skewered snacks, saw what yuba (tofu skin) looked like, and surveyed the vegetables and pickles. The vegetables e.g. Chinese cabbage you see in this picture were pickled in a paste made of rice bran (nuka, cám) and salt.
Then we bought some stuff for dinner and started heading back. By Kawaramachi subway station we came across a Moss Burger joint which competed against a McDonald's close by. I wanted to see what a Japanese burger tasted like, so I got their new item on the menu, the octopus burger (¥350) with small fries (¥190). The wrapping is typical Japanese, i.e. nice. The portion was small for the price however, especially the fries!
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