Today started with an early rise and shine, as we had a 9:12 bullet train reserved to Kyoto. We were thankful that we spent then night before carefully packing up our bags and getting ready to travel, as it made an early morning much easier. We ended up reserving an Uber the evening before, as the morning weather was projected to be very rainy, and the rail to Tokyo station was a 13 minute walk from our hotel. Our driver picked us up at 7:50, and we made the 25 minute drive to the Tokyo Station in an incredibly spacious and comfortable van. We arrived at the station, and made our way inside. This was the first time we had some confusion regarding the rail and train system. Our email tickets stated that it was necessary to print a hard copy of our seat tickets, but there was no indication on where to do this. We asked a rail way worker, and he indicated that it would print when we swiped the pasmo card that was attached to our booking. We followed the signage towards the Shinkansen bullet train. We ran into another small road block when signage for our train “Nozomi” was not present. We asked another attendant, who directed us towards the platform. We arrived here around 8:25, which gave us plenty of time before our 9:12 departure.
We settled in to some seats, and Caitlyn went off to check the stands for the famous bento boxes. It is highly recommended to purchase a bento box in the train station prior to boarding the train, and enjoying it along the ride. She found a small market that had an assortment of bento boxes, although most did not provide English translations, and google translate via lens was spotty. She opted for 3 smaller items for a DIY bento box, which included a chilled curried pork cutlet, an unagi onigiri, and some pork rice balls. Caitlyn even confirmed with the vendor via google translate that the items were to be consumed cold, which she figured would make for a great train brunch. Making her way back towards the sitting area with David, she confirmed with another train-goer of the location of the train, to which he confirmed we were at the correct platform, and we reunited. Minuted later, the same gentlemen that she spoke with came running up to Caitlyn to make sure we knew that while we were at the correct platform, our train had not arrived yet. This interaction summarizes Japanese culture so well, as they are so kind and polite to everyone. Our bullet train arrived around 9am, and we boarded to our right sided seats.
We selected seat D and E (on the right side of the train) due to its ability to see Mt. Fuji on the ride to Kyoto. However, this is only the case ~30% of the time while riding, as inclement weather and clouds will block the view. Unfortunately, as it was a cloudy day, we were unable to see Mt. Fuji. We had a smooth ride on the train, although it felt more like a regular train as far as movement of the individual cars. The countryside scenery was beautiful, and we had a variety of landscapes from mountain terrains, to farms, to small towns. Along the way, we decided to dig in to the DIY bento box we purchased. We first at the curried pork cutlet sandwich, which was good, although we wished it was spicier. Next, we opened the unagi onigiri, which was tasty but not super memorable. Lastly. Caitlyn opened the pork balls to try. In taking one look, she thought it looked off, as though the pork used was some kind of deli meat or bacon. However, in trusting in google translate she went ahead and tried some.
One bite in, and she was instantly second guessing her decision. David pulled the label from their trash bag to have another look, and found “cooking instructions” listed on the label. Turns out, this was a chilled raw pork dish, that was intended to be cooked in an oven or microwave prior to consumption. Caitlyn had just unknowingly eaten raw pork. After a lengthy conversation of what she should do (wait it out, vs. get it out), she decided to wait it out and see how things went. We quickly tossed the remaining raw pork, and tried to enjoy the remaining views of our trip. David states that caitlyn had a 1,000 yard stare for the remainder of the ride. After a quick 3 hour trip, we had arrived in Kyoto! We do want to note, that the bullet train is really incredible. The drive from Tokyo to Kyoto would have been 11 hours itself, but with the bullet train, it was only 3 hours.
We quickly got our bags and belongings together before we came to a complete stop due to only having two or three minutes to get off at the station before the train barreled on to the next destination. The Kyoto rail station was certainly different from Tokyo’s and took us some time to get accustomed to. We finally found our exit and were glad to see that our hotel was only a block and a half away (bags each weigh at least 30-35 lbs each at this point and it starts wearing on you eventually, especially because David’s is tall with his day-pack zipped on and teeters around a bit, and Caitlyn’s is both broad and doesnt have any hip straps to help support the weight). It took no time to see how different Kyoto was from Tokyo. The streets were small, with less foot traffic, and a TON of bicycles. The people dress very differently than in Tokyo, seeming less focused on fashion and more conservative. We got to the hotel and were told that check-in was not until 3:00 pm and it was currently only 11:30 am. They did have an option to leave our bags behind a roped off section in the lobby. Knowing we couldn’t carry all of our stuff all day, so we grabbed our valuables and documents and left just our clothes and replaceable belongings locked in the bags in the lobby. We then set off to the southern Higashiyama area. After avoiding what felt like hundreds of bikes while making our way through the quaint streets, we crossed the beautiful Kamo river, taking in sights that simply do not exist in Tokyo. At this point we realized that we had not had a chance to use the restroom since leaving our hotel in the morning, and we had a few coffees and waters on the train, so we used the trick we had read about online: whenever you need a public restroom in Japan, find a Starbucks. Luckily for us, there is a famous Starbucks in the historical region of Gion that we headed towards. Instead of modern buildings, the streets were lines with authentic-seeming eastern architecture structures, where you can’t tell what is a home, shop, or temple. While we were glad to be in a short walking distance from the free restroom, it was ALL an uphill walk. We first struggled to find it, looking for a more classic Starbucks like you would see in the USA or Toyko, however this one was nestled in one of the eastern-style buildings as described above. It was absolutely packed with locals, tourists, and tons of people who had rented Geisha costumes for the day (extremely popular in this area of Kyoto). We didn’t intend on getting anything, however we did spot a unique Japanese-specific drink we had to try called the “Osatsu Butter” frappuccino. It had pieces of crispy waffle cone-like bits in it, which turned out to be fried sweet potato. It was a tasty reward after the 40+ minute uphill trek.
We headed back outside to explore the Nineizaka and Sanneizaka streets (the famous areas of Kyoto with the quaint buildings), stopping by almost every store along the way to browse souvenirs and Japanese foods. It was a blast, but it must be noted that it was PACKED with tourists both Japanese and foreign, making it difficult to walk more than a few feet without interrupting someone’s photo shoot. We walked past a highly rated traditional Kyoto restaurant that we decided to pop inside for lunch. They took us back to a private section for our table, requesting we remove our shoes before ducking behind a small curtain. The table was traditional, low to the ground with cushions to sit on. Thankfully, there was a recess under the table if you wanted to drop your legs instead of sitting on them or cross-legged, making it much more comfortable. They had a pitcher of ice cold water waiting for us, which was a first so far in Japan. We both opted to try the hot soba noodles in dashi broth, with Caitlyn ordering the Kamo soba (duck), and David ordering the Nishin soba (herring). The food came out quickly and looked incredible. We quickly dug in, but unfortunately it was not exactly to our liking. We appreciated the noodles and the duck slices, however, the dashi broth had a strong, coyingly sweet yet smoky flavor that was off-putting after more than a couple bites. The herring was incredibly pungent and reminded us almost of a preserved fish (and tasted just like canned herring you’d find in the USA). We can’t say that we enjoyed the meal, and unfortunately left without finishing much of our bowls (a big no-no in Japan, but we really did the best we could). We left in a hurry as to not be seen offending their food, however both getting up out of the traditional table and attempting to put our shoes on in a small hallway was challenging and probably drew even more attention to us.
We stepped back out to the busy streets and continued on our way. We enjoyed strolling through the streets, admiring the craftwork of handmade chopsticks, tasting plum drinks and pickled vegetables, and appreciating the beautiful Japanese desserts. Caitlyn’s favorite shop was the dried chili store, which offered ample tastings of chili toppings, chili chips, chili dashi, and chili spreads. Of course she tasted everything, and wanted to buy it all…but we left empty handed.
As 3:00 quickly approached, we decided to head back to the hotel to grab our bags and check in. Thankfully our bags were totally untouched (Japanese culture is extremely honest and polite. Shopkeepers will chase you down the street if you leave a single cent more than the price), and check-in was easy. We got to our room and instantly noted that it was smaller and had less of the highly coveted surfaces we have come to know and love. This room only had a small fold-out desk surface and one tiny bedside table. The bathroom was a little bit easier to navigate than the last place, which was a huge plus! Having been gone for about a week now, we were running low on clothes, which can only mean one thing: laundry day. Thankfully there are two washers and two dryers on the first floor, so we grabbed our dirty clothes bag and David went downstairs with some yen to start the laundry. We relaxed for 30 minutes while it ran, then tossed it in the dryer for another 30 and prepared for our evening. Unfortunately, the clothes were still soaked, so we split the load in two and ran it for another 30. Unfortunately unfortunately, they were still damp but we didn’t want to wait anymore, so we grabbed the clothes and got really creative in our room – taking advantage of every hook, bar, and hangable surface available to try to dry our clothes while we were gone.
We set back off to head out down the main drag to explore the sights and sounds of Kyoto. We checked out tons of small streets, looking for anywhere to pop our heads into. Unfortunately, the area that we had wandered into was known for very expensive meals, so we had to backtrack to find a reasonable dinner. In wandering up one small street, we saw a tiny restaurant with a short line out front, highly rated, and known for its okonomiyaki (Japanese “pancake” made from vegetables, egg, batter, some oil, and assorted meats/seafood). Little did we realize that the shop only had 8 seats with only one older woman cooking absolutely everything to-order. The wait ended up being almost an hour, however we had already committed to this and stuck it out while in the heat with hot air blowing on us from the kitchens outlet. Additionally, two extremely rude Swiss people hopped in line behind us and encroached on our space, practically pushing us away so they they could lean on.a fence behind us, and chain smoking cigarettes without moving away from us. It should be known that no one in Japan smokes on the street and always goes to a designated smoking area, so this is doubly rude here. Finally, we were called into the restaurant for dinner. We entered the cramped yet cozy kitchen/dining room and were seated in the corner. Each seat had part of the teppanyaki cooktop right in front of them, on which your cooked meal was placed for you to cut and put on your plate. We o were pretty hungry at this point, and after waiting so long, we decided to order their two most recommended dishes: mixed okonomiyaki (meat and seafood) and mentaikoudon (an udon noodle dish). We sat with our mouths salivating as the chef (who looked like the picture of an older Japanese grandma) prepared dish after dish, conversing with all of the patrons about where they’re from and what languages they speak. Finally, she begun preparing our meal and we were progressively more intimidated as she added more and more and more to the pile of food simmering on the cooktop. To complete our dish, she asked if we wanted mayonnaise on top, informing us that all foreigners like mayo on the okonomiyaki. We decided to go with her recommendation, and a giant dollop of mayo was placed on top. She slide over the heaping piles of our two dishes and gave us a small spatula, and after watching other guests use it to cut the pancake before placing some on their plate, we followed suit. The okonomiyaki was about the size of a large dinner plate and about 2” thick. The noodles were just as plentiful and dusted with a beautiful red spice. We split the pancake and begun to dig in. We were less than halfway through when we both looked at each other and without even speaking, we knew that we were served FAR too much food. The menu had explicitly stated that we had to order one dish per person, but we had assumed that one dish would have been reasonable for one person and not an entire village. This was in stark contrast to the two Japanese men in the corner who seemed to be ordering dish after dish and never filling up. Towards the end, we decided that we just needed to eat as fast as possible to at least finish one full meal today and not insult our host. The noodles were nice, however forgettable for us. The okonomiyaki was far too heavy, greasy, and dense for us, especially with the mayonnaise, and was difficult to finish.
We finally finished, and with our stomachs weighing us down, we bolstered the courage to brave the 20 minute walk back to our hotel and let our stomachs rest. On the way back, the city was absolutely lit up. We enjoyed taking in the sights and culture of Kyoto, vastly differing from Tokyo. With the weather for the rest of the week predicting plentiful rain, we decided to try to find two small umbrellas. We went to a few stores and finally found one tiny umbrella that was only a few inches long and fit well in David’s small pack (also only ~$2!), and a second collapsible umbrella of standard size in case we both needed one. We also, of course, grabbed some coffees for the morning as well as a few fruit drinks to replenish our hydration to give us the best start for tomorrow. We quickly put away our mostly dry laundry and were ready to allow ourselves to pass out in our food coma.
Caitlyn’s thoughts of the day: In Tokyo we were used to being able to wander around wherever we wanted, and be spitting distance from a number of affordable but highly rated restaurant options. Night one in Kyoto proved that this was not the case. We will need to do more advance planning for our meals to make sure that we are able to get good food, but also at a good price.
David’s thoughts of the day: Everyone is out to run you down in Kyoto! In Tokyo, bikes are on paths on the street very far from the sidewalks, and the cars and bikes all stop far from any pedestrians. In Kyoto, the street is one giant sidewalk/bike lane/street. Also, everything is SO much quieter here. Tokyo isn’t loud, but it is a big bustling city like Manhattan, and Kyoto is like a giant small town with only a few large streets and no tall buildings (though it is still a big city). Also also, while online information says that Kyoto is cheaper than Tokyo aside from public transportation, we have found that food and drink seem quite a bit more expensive.
Total miles walked: 8.97
Total steps: 18,941
Bluming Travelers 