Kyoto, Japan

Hi everyone! This is the second post in my travel blog series about my solo trip to Japan during my winter vacation. This post will focus on my experiences in Kyoto, famous for its beautiful and historic gardens, temples, and shrines, among many other things. If you missed my post about Tokyo, check that out first. Let's dive in!

After my busy first three days in Tokyo, I headed out to one of Japan's more nature-y cities, Kyoto. Unfortunately, I was only there for two and a half days, which wasn't nearly enough time, so I hope to go back again when I get the chance.

Hanging out along the river in Kyoto

I woke up and took the express train (Sinkansen) from Tokyo to Kyoto, which was an expensive ticket, but worth it. Instead of heading straight to my hostel upon arrival, I decided to do some exploring near the train station. I visited a few parks and temples along my way towards the guesthouse, and the weather was beautiful! After dropping my bags off, I grabbed a beer and some snacks, walked along a river, and sat down on some rocks and enjoyed the sunset.

The encouraging worker and my Pikachu plush!

Later that night, I went towards the shopping market area, ate street food, and tried my luck at Japanese crane games, at which I failed horribly. I got sucked into one game because of a friendly, young worker who kept encouraging me and gave me free chances to play every now and then. I still ended up blowing about $35 and walked away with nothing... or so I thought! The worker must have felt really bad for me because she walked to the back of the store and whipped out a special edition Pikachu plush doll that I had been trying to win the entire time (about 30-40 minutes). I was so happy that I gave her a hug and made her take a picture with me, haha! A memory that I'll always remember.

The Golden Pavilion

The next day, I visited Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion), a zen garden, a historic castle, and a lot of shrines. There is so much sightseeing to do in Kyoto! Even though the weather was horribly cold and rainy all day, I still had fun learning about Japan's "old capital". I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Naji Castle

That evening, I met up with another Fulbrighter (Brittany!) and her boyfriend, who were also visiting Kyoto at the same time. We went to a revolving sushi bar, explored Japan's "one dollar" stores, and discussed anime and manga for a looooong time, haha! It was a blast and I was happy to have some company for once during my trip.

Revolving sushi... we did some damage

As I mentioned earlier, I didn't spend nearly enough time in Kyoto as I should have. It's on my bucket list to return again in the future! Stay tuned for my next post about Osaka.