Every day is special in Kyoto.
Nothing too much to say about these – it’s just a collection of some odds and ends from the last couple of weeks in Kansai. There are some shots of Chushojima, the historic sake district in South Kyoto, as well as Uji (a return visit). Lastly, we have the underrated Nishi Honganji Temple complex in central Kyoto – free, beautiful and full of National Treasures (the Founders Hall is one of the largest wooden buildings in the world, and the Karamon Gate, with it’s cacophony of animal figures, is one of my favorite temple gates in Japan). It’s been an oversight not to have visited before now, especially as I often stayed within easy walking distance of it – indeed, I walked there from my apartment today.
Rita
March 17, 2015 at 5:05 pmUghhhh gorgeous and so incredibly jealous.
I do have a question for you. I'm going to Japan in April and I'm living with my friend in Tokyo for most of the time, but I wanted to visit Kyoto for 4-5 days too. I was wondering where you stayed while you were in Kyoto: hostel, hotel, ….camping??? Or is it possibly close enough by the bullet train that you can just commute back and forth each day without losing much time. I was planning on staying at a hostel, but most of them don't have 4 straight nights available so I would have to switch boarding every day or two, so I just wanted to get some insight from someone who's already been there.
admin
March 17, 2015 at 9:20 pmComing during cherry blossom time?
If you can get in at Ks House or Khaosan, those are pretty good and reliable hostels. I certainly wouldn't want to commute from Tokyo every day, even if I had a rail pass – on the Hikari it's almost three hours each way. If you absolutely can't find anything in Kyoto I'd try to stay in Osaka, maybe.
Rita
March 18, 2015 at 4:53 pmYES CHERRY BLOSSOM TIME. I was so excited when I found out my vacation dates overlapped with when the cherry blossoms were in bloom. SO EXCITED.
I ended up staying at Khaosan for 2 days and a guest house at Musubi-an Gion Kamogawa (wow mouthful, but yay geisha) for the other 2 days since there were no straight 4 day availability XD So thanks a bunch for the heads up.
I'm super looking forwards to seeing Enzanji and Genkouan because of Kyousogiga XD Look what anime has done to me (it's great)