I live in the part of the city called Higashiyama (i.e. East Mountain) where there's a lot of low houses and souvenir shops. My base of operations is a ryokan hostel, Hanakiya, letting me sleep on the floor among other things - which is great by the way. I will have to find one of those pillows, they're perfect for me. The hostel is run by a friendly middle-aged woman, Eimi-san, and provides free tea and internet, so I'm obviously happy. And the rooms, though traditional, have AC, thus making it possible for me to sleep.
The weather so far has been rather overcast, and I'm glad for it - the heat is strong, even with the sun clouded. Yesterday there were torrential rains, which in some ways are worse: being all drenched is not that great when walking around in temples. My umbrella saved me, but by the end of the day even it could not stop me from getting wet.
There certainly are some great sights in Kyoto - the Golden Temple and the Nijo castle for example - but the city is clearly not as planned as Tokyo. Kyoto is rather sprawling, with the historic sights spread out into smaller clusters here and there. Logistically, Tokyo has the upper hand so far, since it has Kamakura as a suburb - that's like Kyoto concentrated into a much smaller area much more efficient imo). But of course, Kamakura does not have the same temples and shrines.
My itinerary of sorts for Kyoto looks something like this:
- yesterday (3/7): visit Daigo-ji and whatever else I find time for.
- today (4/7): visit the golden temple (kinkaku-ji) as well as the neighbouring templesRyoan-ji and Ninna-ji, and then visit Nijo Castle.
- tomorrow (5/7): visit the main temples in Higashiyama.
- 6/7: visit Nara (day trip)
- 7/7: either visit some more places in Kyoto or take a day trip to Ise.
The street where I'm staying
The living room
The stairs up to the attic, where I reside.
A view of Kyoto
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