Kyoto (Day 2)

This was our itinerary for the 2nd day.

There are two ways to get to Kyoto Station. One, is to take the subway (Midosuji Line), Nishinakajima-minamigata to Shin-Osaka then take either Limited Express Thunderbird, Shinkansen, JR Special Rapid Express, Limited Express Haruka or JR Kyoto Line Rapid Express. Second, is to take the local train (Hankyu Kyoto Line), Minamikata Station to Osaka Station and take JR Kyoto Line Rapid Express or JR Special Rapid Express.

Upon arriving in Kyoto Station, tap out of the barrier and head to the Tourist Information Center at Level 2. You can buy the day passes. For 1 day bus pass, we paid 500 yen. After the purchase, we went back in the station and took the JR Sagano Line and alighted at Saga-Arashiyama Station.

From the station, turn right on the first small street. It won't be difficult to find as there are signs on directions. You will pass a bike rental shop along the way. You will cross one intersection then on the end of the road, turn left and then turn right on the first street. You will be able to see the bamboos by the time you reach the corner before turning right.

Walk the same route on the way back to the station. Take the train heading for Kyoto and alight in Emmachi. Take the left exit upon tap out of the station. There's a bus stop in front, but that's not where the bus to Kinkakuji-michi is stopping. Follow the map on the left to get to the correct bus stop. Take bus 204 or 205. There is bus timetable in the bus stop, you can see which one comes first. Get in via the back of the bus. There's a TV monitor inside that also have English announcement for the upcoming stops. Alight at Kinkakuji-michi, and with your back on the bus, walk on your left and turn right on the intersection and go straight, that is the way to Kinkakuji.

The admission fee is 400 yen. 

In Kinkaku-ji, if you can, try the simple green tea with sweets in the teahouse near the exit. For 500 yen, the experience is so worth it. You can sit either outside or inside. And sicne we were there during winter, we chose to sit inside looking out at the small garden. Since it was almost noon and we were a bit hungry, the experience is appreciated by our tummy as well.

We went back to the same bus stop where we alighted and took the same bus to Kitaoji Bus Terminal where the Kitaoji train station is also located. We took the train to go to Inari for the Fushimi Inari Taisha. Unfortunately though, it was raining when we get there, so we decided to eat on the nearby restaurant (opposite train station). The portion was too much for us, but the chicken karaage is really, really nice. The rice is also the best we had on the entire trip (dunno if we were just hungry). When we come out, it was still raining. They sell umbrellas and we still did go inside and took some pictures. Just go beyond the temple at the back and you will see torii after torii beautifully aligned in a path. I will definitely come back here, when it's not raining.

We spent some time discussing whether to go to Gion, as planned, or to head back to Osaka and go to Osaka Castle instead (hoping that it was not raining in Osaka). In the end, we still went to Gion, to try and look for a maiko. But it was raining so we just walked upto the Shirakawa area and we cannot find anybody walking down the street, we just headed back to the hotel in Osaka.

The tip on making the train transfers or just being in the station is to know the correct platform. Japanese people are also very helpful and polite, if they can help, they will.