Recently in Kyoto Category
And back in Osaka I did the unthinkable and went to Universal Studios for a lazy, familiar afternoon out.
Off in the mountains at Koya-san, between getting lost I did manage to take some photos; temples, mountain views, a graveyard where huge companies own plots for their employees when they pop their clogs, and me doing the whole ryokan thing. Mind you I've worn a yukata (that's basically a bath robe btw) in other places too, like here in Tokyo.
Briefly back in Tokyo after cutting Ise short before heading off to Fuji-san I stayed at Juyoh again. Here's a shot of the house out back with the roof garden - a month can make a big difference, here's the original image from when I arrived in Tokyo.
I hope that makes up for the wait (you know who you are ^_^)
Deciding that ALL the travel writers in the world can't be wrong, I came back to this little bit of supposed paradise - actually I'm staying in Osaka again and travelling up for the day like last time because once again accommodation is impossible to find at late notice. Maybe this is my problem as Elaine (as in Elaine and Carl, the two Australians from U-en Guesthouse) mentioned that Gion is superb after dark.
So there I was on another daytime trip to the city. I tried to move about a bit more and see a greater variety of sights than last time. First of after arriving I made a beeline for the subway and headed north out of the central station area to the International Manga Museum since they were having a cosplay (read: dress up) day on. On a large lawn in front of the museum was an area for the cosplayers to lounge around, have picnics, take photos and generally tell each other how great their costumes were. It was great, and slightly intimidating if I'm honest, although not in costume I wasn't allowed onto the lawn so it's not too bad. I wish I'd had something put together actually.
Anyway, onward into the museum where there were many, many (and I do mean many) manga compilations on bookshelves spread across three floors; their aim is to have the largest collection of manga in any language in the world. Beyond the reading spaces, where people can come in and read the manga just like in a library, there were exhibition spaces weaving their way throughout this ex-junior elementary school including one that charted an early manga artist from the 1800's who developed some of the modern day elements you would associate with the medium (I'm afraid his name escapes me for the moment).
After that, I wandered, anywhere and everywhere to the east of the river. Through Gion - during the day it is a beautiful place with geisha clacking around the streets in their wooden shoes. At one point I got lost in an expansive graveyard, built up a steep hillside on small plateau's with interconnecting stairways, and I'm pretty sure that I ended up in a place I was meant to pay to enter.
This was a much more satisfying trip to this city and one that has made me want to visit again, with enough planning so that I have some accommodation here and can experience the place after the sun goes down.
It's been a few days and no new photos? What's gone wrong! Well it's just what happens when I don't have wifi internet, but on the plus side the computer at the guesthouse I'm now at is well equiped for everything I need to do bar resize the photos so they're not gigantic.
Since I've set up house in Osaka instead of Kyoto I've been commuting to get there; three trains, 50 minutes. Awide arc on the Osaka Loop Line to Osaka Station, then a one stop stint on the Kyoto Line to Shin-Osaka station and then a 15 minute bullet into Kyoto.
I've a few photos here from Kiyamizu, a temple up in the mountains to the east of Kyoto, with some fabulous views across the city and of the temple itself too. Strolling back I went through Kyoto Imperial Palace's public gardens where some of the sakura and other plants have begun to bloom making for a beautiful view.
I was out at a pub last night, or a bar take your pick, and met this swedish guy named Fredrick and his workmate Nanaka who work for a company in Osaka (duh!). We chatted and played a few games of darts, it was fun.
I can't believe it took this long but I had udon for the first time today after visiting the Osaka Aquarium, it was cooked with some roasted veggies and went down a treat!
Right, well I'm out of Tokyo now. Anyone I've mentioned it to will know I was planning on going to Osaka and then popping up to Kyoto before going all the way down south. It turned out that there is a Sakura festival/party thing on on the 30th in Osaka so I decided in all logic that it would make sense to do Kyoto first and then go to Osaka for the end of the month. Getting into Kyoto station was easy enough and so was finding a hotel at a reasonable price. Unfortunately it turns out that they were fully booked every other night so the next morning I would be out and about looking for another place to stay.
The room itself was nice but it did feel a very impersonal place considering where I had been in Tokyo. I spent the rest of the afternoon looking around a temple and the shopping area near the hotel, which was just across the road from the station. After a wonderful nights sleep I got up, got dressed and got packed. I headed back to the information centre in the station to find another place where I ran into the same lovely American couple that sat next to me on the shinkansen ride down (they carried on to Osaka). Anyway, they mentioned that Osaka was only 15 minutes away on the bullet train so I decided to hop on and shoot down to see if I could find a place there instead.
Low and behold I am now sat in a wonderful little place in the back streets. A traditional style building with friendly owners and staff. I'll still need to find a place for Thursday and Monday as these are fully booked but they've said they can point me to a youth hostel for them days. All in all it feels much more comfortable that the Kyoto ryokan hotel.
