Going by train to Kyoto was, like most rail travel in Japan,
a good experience.
The Kyoto railway station is quite large.
In Japan you buy your railway tickets at bill and coin operated
machines and then there are automatic stiles both for entry
and exit to the platforms.
The basement is full of shops and restaurants, above it there's
a department store. This in addition to all the areas required
for different railways.
Naturally we stayed at a traditional ryokan in Kyoto too,
as that's the way the trip was planned: No hotels adapted for
foreign tourists; Local trips by bus, underground, streetcar
or where necessary taxi.
Some street scenes of Kyoto.
Note that the Japanese like to wrap things in plastic.
That the food display outdoors needs to be protected I find
natural, but I've never before seen cameras on shelves
wrapped in clear plastic (and I don't saw it much in
Japan either).
Kyoto of course has many old temples. This golden one isn't
typical, but the crowd with many school classes is.
Sometime it's more the garden I was interested in, like here.
Very restful.
This temple is on hill south of the centre.
Nice view towards other hills.
One day we took a streetcar to the west of the city
in order to walk a bit along the river, visit some
parks and then walk some hours up the river valley.
Very beautiful park this, and well planned, see how well
the planted trees reflect the hills in the background.
(If you wonder, it's me int the middle picture.)
We had lunch in yet another place where you had to sit
on the tatami mats by low tables. Like always, there
were lots of small dishes with lots of different tasty
things. Japanese food is definitely best in Japan.
In the last photo, note that there are machines where
you can buy beer and liquor. But most similar machines
were of course for soft drinks. Very handy in the
rather hot weather.
Next: Takayama
Back to the index for my trip to Japan
Document last updated 1999 Dec 02
by
Urban
