Kyoto, Kinki, Japan
Wednesday, January 4, 2017

*BLAKE*
We caught train at 9.30am from Tokyo station to head off to Kyoto. We took a high speed train that got us there in 2hrs 40mins. The ride was really enjoyable as we were riding in comfort with large reclining seats, seat warmers and plenty of leg room. It was was a nice change to the cramped up plane flights we had over. Along the ride there were plenty of spectacular views of smaller towns and country side (Mt. Fuji being the highlight) which made the travel even more enjoyable. We all would recommend this mode of transport to get around Japan!
We arrived in Kyoto and needed to catch 2 trains to our accommodation. We thought it would be no problems as the transport in Tokyo was easy to use. Unfortunately it wasn't the same in Kyoto with the stations not being marked clearly and the trains not running as regularly which even confused the great lonely planet tour guide. After a bit of a guessing game we managed to get the right train and made it to our Japanese town house.
The house was small as expected and had 2 stories with kitchen, living & bathroom downstairs and a bedroom upstairs. It is squishy with all 6 of us in there but will be a cool experience living how they do.
After we dropped our bags off we made our way back to Kyoto station for lunch. By this stage is was around 2.30pm and some people were getting hangry (Dylan) so after a short look Dylan, Maja, Louise and I settled on a Teppinyaki restaurant whilst Callum & Ash went to a different Japanese restaurant. We had some traditional pancake style meal with meat which was a nice change. We then got donuts from Mister Donut & Cafe du Monde (no beignets in site) as the girls can't live without sugar!
We then walked to visit the Nishi Honganji & Higashi Hongaji bhuddist temples. The temples were huge buildings some of the largest wooden buildings in the world. Around the temples there were large court yards with trees & gardens.
After the shrines Cal & Ash continued off for a walk whilst the rest of us got a taxi home to wash up and put some warmer clothes on. This was meant to be an easy exercise but the taxi driver couldn't understand Dylan's slurred aussie slang so it took a bit longer than expected heading to two wrong locations before I cleared it all up and we arrived at our location.
We then met Cal & Ash out for dinner at Oolong restaurant. It was a nice Japanese restaurant which had tasty food. We decided to try Natto which is a traditional food consisting of fermented soy beans. Fair to say they weren't the most enjoyable thing in the world.
We left dinner and at this stage Cal & Ash were done for the day so they headed home while the rest of us headed to Pontocho St. This was a long skinny lane way which consisted of several small restaurants and bars. It was an interesting walk peering into all the kitchens and shops. We ended up at a dive bar afterwards for a few cocktails before heading home to retire for the day.