Kyoto I 2008

December 2, 2008 - Kyoto - Monday

What a great day today has been!

This morning I remembered I had Skype headset with me. I figured out how to make a call within Japan to confirm my reservation for Saturday night – at the Aso Park Villa near the volcano (Aso-san) I want to see in the Kyushu region. Hopefully the weather will be clear and I can walk to the top of Aso – Saturday or Sunday.

I also figured out how to switch subway trains, to use a different route into Tokyo to avoid the crushing I got the other day at rush hour and … I got my JR rail pass, made my first seat reservations and took my first high speed Japanese train ride. I am mobile.

Before the train arrives at Tokyo station a crew of women dressed in pink uniforms appeared on the platform to flip all the seats to face in the new direction and clean the train. Everyone in the Japanese Rail (JR) and subway system wears distinctive uniforms.

On the train the woman who pushes the food cart down the aisle stops at the end of each car, turns and bows to the car, before proceeding to the next one.





The train left exactly on time and I was in Kyoto 3 hours later. I did get a quick look at Mt Fuji on the way. It is almost inconcievably huge.

As we went further south it seemed to me we moved earlier in the seasons. There were gardens with hearty vegetables still growing, more trees with leaves and by the time I got to Kyoto some of the maples still had their leaves. People come here to see the maples the way they go to New England in the fall. Kyoto is busy - the hotel rates go up.

I took one of the classic walks from where my hotel is in the eastern part of the city through several of the temples and then along the Philosophers Walk to eventually reach Ginkakuji Temple . I stopped in several temples, shrines and gardens along the way. Here are a few pictures:

















Tomorrow I meet my volunteer guide and we do Nijo Castle and some other cool stuff…