jr.

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Japan Trip Day 3 - First evening in Kyoto

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Previous post in this series is here..

It was close to 6PM when we got to our hotel in Kyoto. It was a massive hotel, the Miyako opposite Kyoto Train station.

We were formally introduced by Jr. to Uniqlo store in Kyoto. I have been to this store before once in bay area and once in Taipei. Didn’t understand the hype given the prices. Turns out the price is right for Uniqlo in Japan. The clothes are amazing and lightweight and fit me wonderfully! We promptly planned for a lot more purchasing at Uniqlo. After the intro shopping we were late for the dinner.

Jr. had already picked a vegan Indian place to dine for the night. So we took an Uber XL and went to the shopping area. We walked around the stores and then made our way to the place only to find it extremely busy.

We begged the owner at Vog and he said “if you can eat and leave in 30 minutes, will give you a table for 6. we have another party coming in 30 minutes”. We told him if the food comes fast we will eat fast.

We had an amazing meal at this place even if it was rushed. Towards the end he came and gave us another 10 minutes but by that time the food was licked clean off the plates. We were full. This place gets a two thumbs up from all of us!

We walked back to the Uber pickup spot. We were told by the little one that as penance for her not being with us, we should get her a branded shoe only available in Japan. We saw that there was a line for the shoe store a mile long and after a certain time they close the line. This had to wait for another day.

A short video of the. evening.

We made it back to our hotel and called it a night. The following day was going to be busy as well. We had already changed the plan for the day while on the bus.

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Sundar becomes Sundar San at Arashiyama Bamboo Forest

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The previous post in this series is here..

After the deer park there was another ride to the Arashiyama bamboo forest complex. What made this interesting was the dress up.

Our guide told us that we could rent authentic Japanese clothing and take pictures through the forest. We could pay extra and wear it the rest of the day and return it at another branch in Kyoto.

Due to some communication mixup between the front and back of the bus, the men confirmed that we are doing this.. all six of us. As soon as the bus stopped, we were told that the groups that dress up would wait. The guide will direct the rest of the group and come back and get us. It also meant we would have 40 minutes less to spend. That meant walking faster. Sadly we got authentic Japanese sandals as well. This made the walking challenging, especially for the ladies. They were cursing us for most of the walk. We walked for almost two hours in that costume while taking pictures. The pictures came out great!

When we were still in the bus the locals wearing kimonos were wearing sport shoes. Should have noticed that! You will see it in one of the pics. Given there were almost 500 photos just at this place, this gallery is a highlight in itself.

A few shots in landscape format..

The bamboo forest is breathtaking. The crowds do spoil it. Still we got a lot of pictures without the crowd. Folks are nice and patient and let you take pictures without cutting in. Guess everyone becomes polite in Japan.. that included us.

After the fact everyone agreed it was not a bad idea. We returned the costumes right there after coming back but did not have time to get any proper lunch. So everyone had some ice cream and fruit before getting back on the bus.

Our recommendation is you do rent the costume but keep your shoes. Carry the sandals in a bag if required. Just change at places for an authentic photo. This way the walking is not compromised.

here is a video highlight

There was one more stop before we were going to be dropped at the Kyoto train station..

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From Osaka to Kyoto - First stop Nara Deer Park

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The previous post in this series is here..

One of my contributions to this trip planning was an idea to just go from Osaka to Kyoto through a Viator bus tour with three stops on the way. If you are constrained for time this is a great idea as you get a guide for three important places.

We were pros at the breakfast area on Day 3 in the Toyoko Inn as the menu was the same. We went back up to the rooms to get our luggage and it was supposed to be a 15 minute walk to the bus pickup point. The pickup said 8:30. I suggested we leave early and we did leave early. What we saw there was similar to the National Geographic video of Antarctic penguins returning home and everyone trying to find their family all at once.

There were 20 plus buses on the side of the street with guides having flags, close to a 1000 people jostling on the pavement with all their luggage trying to find their guide and bus. The penguins had it easy!

Eventually we found the guide, walked back towards the hotel to our bus and got in. The guide was a Chinese guy who spoke good English. He said it was going to be a long drive to Nara and folks who wanted to sleep can. So I dozed off till we were almost at Nara.

Once we got off the bus we went to the deer park. We got a crash course on handling the deer and the brave ones paid and got deer biscuits to feed the deer. My first attempt did not go well as an aggressive deer bit me in the stomach through my shirt. We put some hand sanitizer on it and kept going. The second attempt was better as a few deer behaved and bowed before accepting the biscuit.

As a group we had fun!

After the deer we went to visit a smaller temple near the parking lot. We were told that there is a giant buddha temple 20 minutes walk away but we will have to come back from Kyoto separately as it was a half day affair to visit that temple complex. We made a note of that and got back on the bus..

Here is a video highlight reel..

The next stop was something else..

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