Japan, Day 10: Arrived in Kyoto

Carol | August 15, 2015 | Japan, Travel | No Comments

We parted ways with Takayama and the Rickshaw Inn today and made our way to Kyoto via two bullet trains. It took us a bit to figure out the bus system and we ended up getting on the wrong 206 bus so we made almost a complete loop of the city, but an hour and a half later we arrived in Gion. The self check-in apartment I booked through AirBnB is fantastic and greatly exceeds our expectations. It’s only two blocks from the bus station, and is full of modern amenities, lots of space, and came fully stocked with toiletries, groceries, travel guides, and more. After settling in Karl and I took a walk through part of Gion which was bustling and packed full of both Japanese and foreign tourists. It’s currently a holiday called Obon. We didn’t stay out very long since we were tired.

Off to Kyoto!

7:10: Finished packing up, wrote a thank you message in the Rickshaw Inn’s guestbook and checked out. The owner was a very nice man that bowed deeply and said thank you ‘arigato gozaimas[u]’ and ‘hai!’ chronically. He expressed concern over us making it to our train on time with such large backpacks but we made it with a few minutes to spare. I would of liked to of arrived early but we were up till 2am packing and double checking our bags. We’re a little sleep deprived from trying to fit so much in the past week.

Bye bye Rickshaw Inn. You were fantastic.

7:45: Walked to train station

8:00 – 10:33: Shinkansen (bullet train) from Takayama to Nagoya

10:48 – 11:44: Shinkansen from Nagoya to Kyoto (Kodama 637, Car 8 Seats 6A & B)

It took us a bit to figure out where to go when we arrived at the station. We knew we needed to take a bus to Gion but the station is massive and there are lots of signs so it’s easy to get confused. We eventually made our way out of the station by following the signs for the central exit and the bus terminal. The bus terminal was a bit chaotic. We knew the bus number we needed but it took us a bit to figure out fare options and to find the loading area for the bus we wanted. We ended up getting on the wrong bus, in terms of direction, so it took us an hour and a half to reach our stop in Gion. We also got a bit turned around in Gion. Japanese maps are not oriented to the north, instead they’re oriented based on your location, which is actually quite nice once you get used to it.

No beignets! Whaaat?!

Kyoto Station, the largest train station in Japan.

Just a little overwhelming but we figured it out.

Mariko’s Apartment

For our stay in Kyoto I booked a self check-in apartment on airbnb.com with great reviews. We were not disappointed. We are in a great location and the apartment is fantastic. It came fully stocked with toiletries, travel guides, and some groceries. Fantastic!