Today was supposed to be my Kyoto biking day. I'd booked a bike online from 9am but had to push it back to 11am-1pm as I went to Himeji this morning to see the White Castle due to having to keep re-arranging events due to weather and slow train connections.

The booking site gave a map and said to turn by the 7-11 when coming from Kyoto station. I walked around 3x wasting 20 mins trying to follow their map but I couldnt find their location. The drizzle started coming down again and I had to go into a hotel to ask where the rental place was.

They gave me directions which was not the same as the booking site and I found the rental place after 1pm. I said the directions were wrong when I turned from 7-11 but they were referring to another 7-11 which is not by Kyoto station.

With language problems I was not going to argue their map is wrong when they are insisting it is even though there are multiple 7-11s and their directions from Kyoto station are wrong!

I was surprised to learn there is no free parking in the city. If you park the bike on the streets it will be taken and you must pay a fine to retrieve it. You can only park in designated paid parking spots. Wow, I thought this was supposed to be such a bike friendly city but as usual in Japan everything is orderly by complex rules.

It was also confusing which side to bike at first. As cars drive on the left as in the UK and not as in Europe or North America the biking directions were also reversed when making turns. Some people cycle on the sidewalks and some on either side in the bike lanes going in the same direction so it was quite confusing what the rules were!

On my first trip in 2011 I did the town centre on foot so making use of transport I made my way out from the centre to places I hadnt gone last time. I'd planned a circular outer perimeter route.

Biking past the National Museum I made my way to the Eastern Gion district. This was similar to the Bukchon Hanok Village in the centre of Seoul, a historic neighbourhood with traditional homes.

Many people were in kimonos which I figured out can be rented or bought by tourists. Central to the district was a large pagoda. There was a big temple a long walk climbing further up but I didnt want to detour and not sure if I could park my bike there.

There was another temple with a giant statue for WWII war victims but I had to pay 500Y ($6) just to park my bike so it wasnt worth it.

I made my way out and found it quite busy with tourists and lots of women dressed in kimonos for scenic poses.

Yasaka Shrine was an orange temple complex of the edge of the district before I came back out onto the main road. The giant orange Haein Gate could also be seen in the distance.

I then made my way to the Philosophers Walk a pathway along a river stream. For all it was made up to be in the guide book it wasnt much. There were hardly any shops or tourist tea houses as I'd thought and only a couple of picturesque homes.

At the end of Philosophers Walk was a touristic street leading to Ginkaku-ji the Silver Pavilion. I left my bike outside as I saw other bikes parked.

Entrance was 500Y ($6). The unique feature of this temple was the sculpted sand garden I hadnt seen in any other temples thus far.

Off and on throughout the day was rolling drizzle so it was periods with cap on and off, jacket on and off. I now had to head across from the north east across town to the north west to another cluster of temples I'd marked out.

Mixed in with traffic I made my way to Kinkaku-ji the Golden Pavilion but it was already 5.20 and it had closed for the day. Tourists were still arriving so there's no reason they cant stay open a bit longer.

There was meant to be another big pagoda another 2km up a hill but it wasnt worth it since places were now closing, the rain was constant, and I wanted to get back before dark.

Heading back into the centre I biked past Nijo Castle before discovering a long covered shopping arcade. I whizzed to the top and back quickly exploring the local shopping area.

I made it back to the bike rental place before their 7pm closing. I'd lost half a day today because of my morning trip to Himeji instead of biking for the full day.

I guess I'll have to return again to Kyoto one day to explore more of it.

See also some of my other biking adventures

Biking Ankor Wat (Cambodia)
http://blog.travelpod.com/trav el-blog-entries/londone7/19/1328610050/ tpod.html

Biking Sun Moon Lake (Taiwan)
http://blog.travelpod.com/trav el-blog-entries/londone7/24/1360093943/ tpod.html

Biking Ganghwa Island (Korea)
http://blog.travelpod.com/trav el-blog-entries/londone7/1/1336934645/t pod.html

Biking Gyeongju (Korea)
http://blog.travelpod.com/trav el-blog-entries/londone7/1/1369688935/t pod.html

Biking Seonyudo Island (Korea)
http://www.travelpod.com/trave l-blog-entries/londone7/1/1348493001/tp od.html

Biking Mt Palgong - Songnimsa Temple (Korea)
http://www.travelpod.com/trave l-blog-entries/londone7/1/1342987463/tp od.html

Biking the Geumhogang River (Korea)
http://www.travelpod.com/trave l-blog-entries/londone7/1/1347207943/tp od.html

Budapest Biking (Hungary)
http://blog.travelpod.com/trav el-blog-entries/londone7/27/1379795268/ tpod.html

Denmark Bike Power (Copenhagen-Malmo)
http://www.travelpod.com/trave l-blog-entries/londone7/29/1415302298/t pod.html

50km Ride for Heart (Toronto)
http://www.travelpod.com/trave l-blog-entries/londone7/28/1401739817/t pod.html

Niagara Biking (Canada)
http://www.travelpod.com/trave l-blog-entries/londone7/28/1438715634/t pod.html

Biking Merida Old Town Easter Sunday (Mexico)
http://www.travelpod.com/trave l-blog-entries/londone7/33/1461009068/t pod.html

Vancouver Biking (Canada)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/34/1468351535/tpod.html