1 day in Kyoto

Posted September 23rd, 2009 in Japan No Comments »

I was actually excited to go to Kyoto as I knew that in-laws will love seeing Japanese temples/shrines, but it was a tiring day… (>0<)

We arrived JR Kyoto station around 11 am. Kyoto station is just 3 stops away from Osaka station. Because we only had one day to explore Kyoto (tight schedule!), I was just going to take them to Shijo-Kawaramachi and Gion area. Then they told me that they want to go to see To-ji temple, which is just near the Kyoto station, so we all headed to the temple on foot. According to the map To-ji temple is just across the street, but it actually took 30mins to get there. It was very sunny day in Kyoto and sunlight was pretty strong :p My head was burning~… should had brought a hut.

To-ji temple consists of several buildings, and each buildings has several buddha statues- most of them are Japan’s national treasures – inside. The picture above is Goju-no-tou (five level tower), the tallest wooden structure in Japan. It’s 55m tall, rebuilt in 1644.

Beautiful garden…

Then we headed to the nearest subway station to go to Shijo-Kawaramachi and Gion. Map showed there’s a subway station with Shijo line near-by, and it directly takes you to Shijo station. We walked, and walked… and in the end we walked for about 50 mins!! … No joking. (T_T) We were exhausted by the time we arrived the subway station. The map was small, so everything around the area was shown as if they’re gathered up in one area. Hmm

Finally, away from the sunbeam, we sat down on chairs in subway plat home. We took a subway to Shijo-Kawaramachi. Everyone was hungry, it was already 1pm (!), so I tried to find a place to eat. They wanted to try Mos Burgers’ teriyaki burger and rice burger, so we AGAIN walked to the nearest Mos Burgers. … it took about 30 mins on foot. (T_T) We were all exhausted and sweating. Plus, unfortunately it was lunch time, so the Mos Burgers was packed with people 🙁 We had to Q, then wait for our seats.

After lunch we walked around Shijo and Gion area. Everyone bought many souvenirs there. 🙂 And, we had a quick visit at Yasaka Shrine.

Then, finally, we decided to take taxis. We couldn’t even take another step; our feet were seriously damaged! (*_*) After arriving JR Kyoto station in-laws went back to Osaka, and my hubby and I went back to Shiga. (opposite direction)

It was a super tiring day for everyone… walking around for hours under the sun. I knew I wasn’t going to be a good guide! (>o<) But at least everyone seemed to enjoy Kyoto, so it’s ok. :p