Day 6 – Mammoth Kyoto Walk

7.56AM, Kyoto – I went to bed around half eleven and still woke at 5.30AM. I talked on Skype with Sean for an hour which was fun – seems like England is plodding on without me. I’ve checked what my tour is doing tomorrow and have planned around that to avoid overlap.

8.27AM, Kyoto Subway Station – I’m heading to North Kyoto on the underground for some temples and will then trackback and do the market and museum in central Kyoto before finishing with a shrine south of the station.

Starbucks!

1.02PM, AltreTanto Italian Cafe – You can’t take the Italian out of me, no matter where I go, I’ve got to have it. What’s nice is it’s a meal with a knife and fork! I’ve gone for pizza – it’ll be interesting to see the Japanese take on it. This morning I started with a collection of zen stone garden temples. From there I walked a couple miles to a shrine with a fantastic view over Tokyo – I had a chat with a teenage couple who were pleased to practice their English. After that I walked five miles to another shrine along the river. It wasn’t amazing, but it had a wedding on and that was interesting to see what they wear. Finally I walked another two miles to the subway, catching it to the museum of Kyoto – it doesn’t look like it’s open sadly… though I could be at the wrong door.

Despite it supposedly being Golden Week, there aren’t really any crowds. Some places I’ve been to I’m the only person there. I’ve enjoyed walking around Kyoto’s back streets which feels like ‘real Japan’ – the locals are all friendly and say hello. Kyoto seems very relaxed compared to Tokyo, despite the fact it is quite large and a popular tourist destination. I shall head back to the hostel to rest for a bit after the museum and see whether there is anything close I want to do.

Yes, the museum was closed and the pizza was pizza, good Parma Ham.

5.00PM, Kyoto – I got back to the hostel and decided to take a day’s holiday. I’ve probably walked close to 12 miles, so I’ve sat in the bar reading a magazine – it’s fairly nice to unwind. I’m in Kyoto a fair amount of time and don’t feel like I need to rush around – plus tomorrow’s tour will do a fair few sights in one go.

10.34PM, Kyoto – I just sat at the bar taking to a swede who came in. We talked about video games and the differences between our countries. The barman tonight was pretty cool as well, a Dutch man who’s married a Japanese woman.

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Tagged: 2011, diary, Holiday, Japan, marco fiori, Trip