Kyoto

Up bright and early with a quick hotel breakfast in us, we head to the nearest subway bound for Kyoto. A few wrong stops, but we make it in about an hour. We pop up in the city and make for a tram that will take us to the Saga-Arashiyama area where there are a few good attractions in close proximity. We only have one day in Kyoto, so we'll be running at full speed to get as much in as possible.

We top up on Tully's coffee and head for the nearest temple, Tenryuji. OK, tick, now we're off to the Bamboo Forrest/Grove for the obligatory selfie. Cool spot for photos, but at the end of the day, it's just a bunch of trees planted close to each other.

We head to a little train station at the end of the path which has a sight-seeing trip up the river. In!

Ok, now we are at the end of the line and a fair way out of town. What's the best way to get back? How about a cruise back down the Hozigawa river on a tradional, Edo style boat? Sure.

We jump on the boat and put our hoodies on (it's pretty cold on the water) and take in the views. The 3 boatmen talk the whole way down the river, but all in Japanese apart from the odd bit of English for our benefit - we are the only Westerners on the boat.

The trip takes about an hour and brings us back into town. We wander our way to a JR station (via a 7-11 sandwhich stop) which will take us back to Kyoto central. The next attraction on the list is Fushimi Inari Taisha, the mountainside shrine with hundreds and hundreds of torii gates lining the way up to the top of Mount Inari.

Our plan is to get to the top (obviously) and see what we can see of Kyoto. Plus we figure that the crowds should start to thin out as we get up the mountain.

The trek takes a little over an hour up and back and we were right - the bottom of the mountain is absolutely packed with people. We walk the path with the crowd and admire the gates. We get some opportunities for selfies further up. By the time we get to the summit, there is only a handful of tourists left.

On the way we get a good view of the town. Kyoto looks beautiful. Much smaller than any of the other cities we've seen and quite picturesque as it's surrounded by mountains on 3 sides.

There is one more attraction on our list for the day: Kiyomizu-dera. A Buddist temple on Mount Otowa which claims to have more great views of the city from its massive balcony where the tradition used to be that if you jumped and survived the 13 metre fall, your wish would be granted.

Unfortunately the temple is under construction, so we have to make do with the views from the base of the temple (still pretty good!)

We wander back down towards town along a narrow street with plenty of shops and people. There is also a lot of cars crusing past as well; another feature of Japan we've noticed is that pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists all share the roads and paths in close proximity, but seem to do it with care and respect for those more vulnerable. This doesn't happen very well in Australia, that's for sure.

Darkness approaches as we get towards the centre of town. Lights are coming on and Kyoto puts on its charm. There are a number of little water-ways, similar to Osaka, which add to the atmosphere.

Like the other cities we've seen, there is no shortage of big name brands (Tiffany's, Gucci etc.) as we get to the centre. There is also a very large indoor/outdoor market setup, similar to what we've seen in other cities, filled with many food and entertainment options.

We hunt out a well rated restaurant nearby and are told to wait about 5 mins (out in the cold). But it's worth the wait. Lightly fried Tuna with a crust on the outside, but raw in the middle, and gyoza for entree, ramen for main and 2 giant beers. This is probably the fanciest place we've eaten at on the trip, and it's by far the best in my book.

We meander back towards the train station, taking turns here and there to see what's happening in Kyoto on a Saturday night. There is a narrow lane-way which catches our attention. Lots of little food places and even some bars (unusual for Japan, most places to drink at are food places). We are intruiged and step inside a little cocktail bar which would hold about 20 people. Jeff has a Japanese whiskey, Courts a plum wine, both fantastic. We enjoy the warmth and the eavesdropping (not hard) on two American blokes trying to pick up two American girls. A bit cringe-worthy, but it seemed to work; 3.5 stars.

We finish our drinks and head for home down another strip of bars. A number of Japanese men in suits are stumbling their way around the streets and propping each other up. We find it quite amusing, but agree this beats the hell out of Hindley street on a Saturday night.

We jump on the train and are back at our Osaka hotel in about an hour. So close that it's tempting to come back again if we get time. We'll see.