The first few days of week 06 were spent just hanging out with my Norwegian friends after work before they left Tokyo. Being in Japan makes it easy to forget Norwegian holidays, so when my friends said that we had a holiday on Thursday, Friday and the coming Monday I decided to squeeze in a day trip to Kyoto on Thursday to Friday. Just one day wasn't ideal but it was the only thing within my budget – and I couldn't really extend it anyways since I had already paid for a weekend stay in Hakone on Saturday to Sunday that same week. I used the Google app "Trips" to plan my day trip in Kyoto, which saved a lot of time. Since I would be going alone I figured I'd be able see more and be very efficient with the limited time I had.
Before Kyoto I visited "Gen & Material" a Umeshu (plum wine) and Sake bar in Tokyo
Us three then headed to my favorite bar in Golden Gai (still don't know the name) and met some new people (Zur and David to the right)
I took the Shinkansen early Thursday morning, seeing Mount Fuji along the way and after two or so hours I arrived at Kyoto station. I checked in and went straight towards Arashiyama where I could get a look at the famous Togetsukyō Bridge, see the Katsura river and the bamboo forrest in one single stop.
Brought my O-bento (lunchpack) and enjoyed a fast and comfortable train down to Kyoto
Togetsukyō Bridge and the Katsura river
Walking along the riverbank where there werent a tourist crowd was perhaps the best part of my Kyoto visit
Walked up the hill and found an outlook with an amazing view
House in the hills
A little further down I found the infamous bamboo forrest
Too crowded though, took me 15 min just to walk a 100m with everyone talking selfies and whatnot
The crowd thinned out at the end though
Grabbed my rented bike and headed to Nijō Castle
Inside Nijō Castle
Went on a tour inside the main house which had amazing murals of tigers, cranes and nature – each room more beautiful than the last. Unfortunately no photos was allowed inside.
It was pretty late and I hadn't eaten or seen the golden temple Kinkaku-ji yet. Grabbed my bike and rode through the alleyways of Kyoto and arrived just in time to see Kinkaku-ji before the sun set. After Kinkaku-ji I stopped at a popular yakitori (grilled chicken skewers) place, most yakitori restaurants don't just serve chicken. This place had a wide assortment of skewers like beef, vegetables, squid, cheese, pork and more.
The golden temple – Kinkaku-ji
As the day neared the end I biked around the city for a while before heading back to my hotel
Woke up early the next day and knew I had time for one or two temples before my train back to Tokyo
Graveyard on my way up to Kiyomizu-dera
The Kiyomizu-dera was unfortunately under construction
Two monks begging for money as part of their training
Took the most popular route down the mountain so I could check out all the small shops along the road
Took the subway to Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine where I could check out the famous orange/red gates
Entrance to the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine
When you ask other people to take a photo of you..
