Dec 25 Continued: Kyoto
We got to Kyoto on Christmas day having traveled from Ise-shi via Kintetsu railway (light blue line):
sourced from Google Earth
Huge place! Since our hotel was in the station (upstairs) we took some time to explore the immediate neighbourhood and its offerings.How good do burgers get..? Sasebo/Zats Burger Cafe (http://sasebo-burger.jp/) has made an exceptional one - one of its names being the "Log Kit". Beef, bacon, lettuce, tomato, egg, cheese, red onions, yellow onions..
above sourced from Sasebo website
Here is the 'small' version:
Okonomiyaki – a pancake of pretty much any ingredients you can put in:
Kyoto is famous for its tea, so green tea desserts could not be avoided...An interesting combination of aloe, green tea ice cream, yoghurt and mango pudding:
Still hungry afterwards, a half-bowl of ramen was offered to Kevin:
Dec 26:
Sagano/Arashiyama
The next day, yet another field day to Saga (嵯峨) Arashiyama (嵐山) in the outskirts of Kyoto to visit the base of the mountains to the east of Kyoto. Only 15 minutes away, we had hoped to take the Sagano Scenic Train (Sagano Torokko Densha) around the mountains and to have a white xmas:
Unfortunately they shut on Wednesdays. Nonetheless, with few people around, the main Saga-Arashiyama bridge was a great place for photos. Arriving at the station:
The nearby monkey park:
Leeann struggling to walk up to the top of the observation area:
And around the corner to the Arashiyama park got us to the famed bamboo forest. Again, we missed the light show by 2 weeks which would have been pretty cool.
Tucked away nearby was Tenryu-ji (天龍寺), said to be the most important Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. The Sogen Pond (曹源池) was beautiful:
Our next stop was the small Kyoto Garden of Fine Arts at the northern part of Kyoto (Kitayama Station (北山路駅). Unique in that it is completely open air, this was our second time to see Tadao Ando’s work after Omotesando Hills. The gallery featured enlarged prints of some of the most important pieces of art in history and added some modern minimalism to the generally historic city:
Dinner took us to Moritaya (モリタ屋), a Kyoto establishment with 150 years of history sitting above the train station. Oil-yaki (Like teppanyaki but in an oil hot plate) Kobe beef was on the menu and although we were big Kobe beef fans, this place was overpriced and disappointing in general. Service was ok, food was ok and it was overly expensive forwhat it served! The only thing on its side was the view from the restaurant overlooking the city:
Nonetheless, the photos of the food look pretty decent:
We went nearby for the obligatory desserts:
Dec 27:Kyoto station in the day:
Tetsuya-san and Mai-san were kind enough to take us around Kyoto and show us some of the places we would have missed out.At brunch/lunch:
After a quick bite to eat, we headed off towards Higashiyama(東山), the most popular sight-seeing district in Kyoto and one of the must see areas; Our first stop there was Kiyomizu Dera (清水寺) (Kiyomizu is literally translated to clear water). Another national heritage site like Tenryu-ji, Kiyomizu was shortlisted to be one of the 'seven new wonders of the world' is the most significant group of temples in Kyoto known for its blessed water and Edo period (1600s) architecture when it was rebuilt:
The West gate (Sai-mon):
3-story pagoda built in 1633:
A view from the main hall (Hon-do):
A view with the main hall on the right side and Kyoto city towards the left:
Construction of the main hall foundation:
Drinking the ''blessed' water:
(Some time ago, a monk was asked to find a source of holy water and he arrived at Kiyomizu. Drinking this water supposedly brings good health, wealth and longevity). The Japanese have installed ultraviolet disinfection units as thousands of people drink from these cups a day.
We saw some Maiko (apprentice Geishas) on the way in:
Upon leaving, the old-town of Kyoto in the surrounding areas have been preserved:
Leaving Kiyomizu, our next stop was Ryozen Kwannon (霊山観音), a large Buddha statue to commemorate those who died in the last war:
Followed by Maruyama Park (円山公園), known for its cherry blossoms during April:
Kevin with Mai and Tetsuya:
Two famous warriors/samurai (names of which I am unsure of) in Maruyama Park:
Heading back towards the city:
The equivalent of Kabuki-za in Tokyo:
We headed towards the center of Kyoto where we got to Nishiki market, an almost half a kilometer stretch of market between Teramachi and Takakura:
We went for dessert again soon after and then before we knew it, it was time to say bye! まいさんと哲哉さん、どもありがとうございました！Aki-san came to Kyoto to do some sightseeing herself and it was nice to see her before we headed back home! A quick trip to Marutamachi (丸太町) to try and find a store Kevin was looking for proved to be unsuccessful and we soon got hungry! We headed towards Ponto-Cho (先斗町) (one of the 5 hanamachi districts (花街) or Geisha districts like the more well known Gion). Narrow streets filled with Geisha houses (where they live) and restaurants lined this area:
With so many choices of food nearby, we stopped at a small izakaya (Japanese style bar) towards the end of Ponto-Cho and had basically one of everything. Too bad they didn't serve any horse/deer sashimi though!
After dinner:
Green tea parfait overdose for Kevin. (they are so delicious though!)We then said our goodbyes to Aki-san and got ready for a big trip the next day.
Dec 28: AmanohashidateA quick lunch before heading off with Leeann's oyster udon:
Kevin's tempura udon:
2 hours north of Kyoto is the Tango Peninsula - said to be one of the most beautiful routes to travel by train in Japan. The route from Kyoto to Kinosaki-Onsen (城崎温泉) and then along the coast half a day by local train and has some spectacular views of the Sea of Japan to the north. Our destination, Amanohashidate (天橋立) is along this route and just at the south east edge of the Tango Peninsula and is famous for its translated name of 'bridge to heaven' (more about that later). Our train took us 2 hours north from Kyoto to Nishi-Maizaru (西舞鶴), where it then started its route into the Tango Peninsula. 30 minutes later, we were at Amanohashidate.Route from Nishi-Maizuru to Amanohashidate (in red):
sourced from Google Earth
We had thought that the scenery in the Ise area was great, but some of these views from the train and at our destination were stunning:
The fact that the sun wasn't out actually made the views more exquisite as the valleys were sometimes filled with pockets of mist - even at 2pm, giving the scenery a surreal feeling.
Passing Nishi-Maizuru:
Rain started coming down as we neared Amanohashidate.
Reaching our destination, we found ourselves in a rather uninteresting but typical rural train station and quickly hopped on a taxi to get to our ryokan (Kitanoya 北野屋 http://www.hotel-kitanoya.co.jp/):The rotenburo in the room:
From there, we headed for 'viewland' http://www.viewland.co.jp/ a perch on an elevation a couple hundred meters up from the train station via tram/chairlift:
The view from the top was breathtaking:
Amanohashidate is famous for its sandbar (stretch of land) covered with pine trees and beaches over 3.5km long connecting two pieces of the peninsula. The completely natural feature, when looked at through your legs (upside down) is supposed to resemble a bridge that appears to float in mid-air (or some say it is a bridge of heaven). We couldn't really see how that works, but the view was spectacular even without the metaphor:
A small theme park with absolutely nobody on the rides was part of the ticket up to the viewpoint and it was pretty obvious that theme park had little purpose there...
Going back down on the chairlift when the rain began to come down harder:
Looking back at the bottom:
The rain subsided a little when we went to walk on the sandbar itself:
The nearby area of Monju was lined with dozens of shops selling seafood related confectionary and food, with their trademark commodity being:
As the rain came back and picked up, we headed back to our ryokan for a dip in the onsen!
There are two things we love to eat, beef and seafood. One of the ‘packages’ this ryokan had to offer was a crab and abalone special dinner, which we of course jumped at. We had the opportunity to try out the famed Matsuba-kani (Pine-needle crab) / Taiza Crab. The rough waters in the Sea of Japan mean that crab fisherman can only stay out at sea overnight and then come back, meaning that the crabs are ultra-fresh..Appetizer of crab infused bean curd topped with crab in a light soy:
We ended up having 3 crabs each, cooked in every way imaginable:
Grilled abalone on the shell:
Buri (yellowtail) shabu-shabu:
The sake locally produced:
So far, of the 3 ryokan’s we have been to (last year’s Shimoda-Yamatokan, the earlier Oishiya and finally Kitanoya), they were all great in their own respect. This one had a great surrounding area and great food.
A view from the hotel lounge:
Dec 29:
Breakfast the next morning at the restaurant:
It was sad to leave:
The end of little road trip takes us back to Tokyo via Kyoto on a 5 hour journey through Nishi-Maizaru and Nagoya and arriving back to Tokyo just before 5pm.
sourced from Google Earth
On the Kitakinki Tango (北近畿タンゴ) Discovery Train:
sourced from Google Earth
Huge place! Since our hotel was in the station (upstairs) we took some time to explore the immediate neighbourhood and its offerings.
Still hungry afterwards, a half-bowl of ramen was offered to Kevin:
And around the corner to the Arashiyama park got us to the famed bamboo forest. Again, we missed the light show by 2 weeks which would have been pretty cool.
Tucked away nearby was Tenryu-ji (天龍寺), said to be the most important Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. The Sogen Pond (曹源池) was beautiful:
Our next stop was the small Kyoto Garden of Fine Arts at the northern part of Kyoto (Kitayama Station (北山路駅). Unique in that it is completely open air, this was our second time to see Tadao Ando’s work after Omotesando Hills. The gallery featured enlarged prints of some of the most important pieces of art in history and added some modern minimalism to the generally historic city:
Dinner took us to Moritaya (モリタ屋), a Kyoto establishment with 150 years of history sitting above the train station. Oil-yaki (Like teppanyaki but in an oil hot plate) 
We went nearby for the obligatory desserts:
Dec 27:
A view from the main hall (Hon-do):
Upon leaving, the old-town of Kyoto in the surrounding areas have been preserved:
We went for dessert again soon after and then before we knew it, it was time to say bye! まいさんと哲哉さん、どもありがとうございました！
With so many choices of food nearby, we stopped at a small izakaya (Japanese style bar) towards the end of Ponto-Cho and had basically one of everything. Too bad they didn't serve any horse/deer sashimi though!
sourced from Google Earth
The fact that the sun wasn't out actually made the views more exquisite as the valleys were sometimes filled with pockets of mist - even at 2pm, giving the scenery a surreal feeling.
Rain started coming down as we neared Amanohashidate.
Amanohashidate is famous for its sandbar (stretch of land) covered with pine trees and beaches over 3.5km long connecting two pieces of the peninsula. The completely natural feature, when looked at through your legs (upside down) is supposed to resemble a bridge that appears to float in mid-air (or some say it is a bridge of heaven). We couldn't really see how that works, but the view was spectacular even without the metaphor:
A small theme park with absolutely nobody on the rides was part of the ticket up to the viewpoint and it was pretty obvious that theme park had little purpose there...
Going back down on the chairlift when the rain began to come down harder:
Looking back at the bottom:
The nearby area of Monju was lined with dozens of shops selling seafood related confectionary and food, with their trademark commodity being:
We ended up having 3 crabs each, cooked in every way imaginable:
Grilled abalone on the shell:
The sake locally produced:
Dec 29:
It was sad to leave:
The end of little road trip takes us back to Tokyo via Kyoto on a 5 hour journey through Nishi-Maizaru and Nagoya and arriving back to Tokyo just before 5pm.
sourced from Google Earth
On the Kitakinki Tango (北近畿タンゴ) Discovery Train:
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