The Ibis Laura and I had chosen to stay in was close to the Kyoto station. So close in fact we could watch the bullet trains arrive every few minutes. Sadly however it appears the Kyoto transport network is fairly primitive compared to Tokyo, and they rely on buses for transport to the city. Anyone who knows me knows I HATE buses with a passion, it appears I was wrong. Kyoto buses are punctual and cheap and this leads to a happy Ant. After a brief stop at the information centre, where once again they spoke near perfect English. We had all the information we needed to see the few sites we wanted to see during our short stay.

Bus 9 pulled into the station and was set to take us on route. While waiting for the bus and checking the time table board it appears I upset a elderly man (with a koi fish face and expression to match). Apparently he thought we were jumping the queue ready to snatch his priority seats; like all evil westerners! This was our first real incident of unfriendlyness whereas everyone else we found to be helpful and lovely.

The bus took around 20 minutes and we were at our first stop. Nijo Castle, designated as a world heritage site in 1994 it was previously the resident of Shogun and later on the imperial family. Designed with lavish paintings and carvings that would match or beat any we saw in China. One of the more interesting parts were the nightingale floors that were installed. The explanation was difficult to understand, but it appeared special hinges were used to make the floor boards squeak, like the sound of a nightingale when walked across to warn of assassins. Laura was fascinated by this and has checked with me to make sure it goes in the blog. The gardens at Nijo castle matched the building's elegance.

Lunch was bought from a Seven Eleven which consisted of sushi. Seven Elevens are a god sent, it was often our first go to place in a new city from Hong Kong to Osaka. You can buy literally anything in them and there are over 14 thousand of them, literally on every corner of the major citys. As well as the usual convenience store items they also serve hot food such as steamed buns and noodles. I will miss them when we move on.

Our second stop was the Goldern Pavillion a peaceful gold leaf decorated temple sitting in a scenic lake. Unfortunately it as become something of a tourist attraction which ruins it's charm. While walking the paths Laura was accosted by an elderly man repeating "English ok" she quickly caught up to me and again he repeated the same to me with the added "interview". It turns out the man was a school teacher and being on a school trip he wanted his students to interview some English people. It was a great turn of events where we had our picture taken and questions asked about our thoughts on Japan. Afterwards we received a handmade keep sake book made by the children.

To finish the night we ate at a hotplate restaurant where a hotplate element was built into the table and your food was served onto it to continue cooking and keep it warm. The food was rather strange, omelette like with noodles on top and bacon and cheese. Odd but nice.