Day 4 - Saturday October 28, 2017 - Kyoto
Kyoto
Posted on Saturday October 28, 2017
Today we move on to Kyoto – the Hikari 465 shinkansen at 11.09. A quick 36 minute trip to cover the 147 kms from Nagoya to Kyoto, an average of 245 kms/hour.
We have an AirBnB place arranged for our stay, fairly close to Kyoto Station, an area we know fairly well from our previous visits. We’re hoping we’ll be able to get in before the appointed 4 pm check-in time but, if not, we’ll just leave the bags in a locker at the station and go for a wander and have lunch – ramen restaurants on the 10th floor of Kyoto station, here we come!
We had a fairly leisurely start to the day, eventually walking over to the station to top up the Pasmo cards, have breakfast and then stop in the ticket office to get seat reservations for Monday on the shinkansen to Hiroshima. We were able to get the train we wanted going out on Monday morning but the train back on Monday afternoon that we wanted only had single seats available so we opted for a later train. For whatever reason, the trains coming back require a change of trains at Shin-Osaka — five minutes to get from track 20 to track 25!
Outbound — Hikari 491, car 12, seats 12AB depart Kyoto 07.20 (track 14) arrive Hiroshima 09.05
Return — Sakura 560, car 8, seats 12AB depart Hiroshima 17.22 (track 14) arrive Shin-Osaka 18.48 (track 20), connecting to Kodama 682, car 11, seats 6DE depart 18.53 (track 25) arrive Kyoto 19.07.
After breakfast, we headed back to the hotel and picked up the bags, checked out and returned to the station. We were going to have coffee at the station but the Starbucks near the shinkansen tracks was very busy so we just headed up to the platform and sat and watched the trains (and the people) coming and going. The trains glide in and within a minute or two are gone again. We debated whether to get on an earlier train and sit in unreserved seats but decided to sit and wait. We’re not in a rush today….
The weather has changed noticeably. The last two days have been blue sky, sunny and 23 degrees. Today is grey and drizzling on and off. The forecast seems to be that way for the next couple of days but then hopefully it will clear up a bit for the rest of the week.
Our train duly arrived on time and off we went; 36 minutes later we were in Kyoto. We had intended to leave our luggage in a left luggage locker but half the world had already had the same idea so we had no option but to keep the bags with us. We headed upstairs to the ramen noodle restaurants on the 10th floor of the station for lunch – spicy tan tan noodles at one of the restaurants we’ve been to before. By the time we came back down, it was raining again so we headed over the road to Starbucks for coffee. Eventually we started to wander in the direction of the apartment, stopping again for a beer. Needless to say, as soon as we ordered another drink, we got a message to say they had finished cleaning the apartment and it was ok to move in. We headed off and though it had been raining on and off, the rain held off until we got to the apartment.
As expected, the apartment is tiny (by western standards). You expect the bathroom to be nothing more than a wet room and the cooking facilities to be pretty minimal but then we eat out. The only criteria that really matter are (a) does the bed look like a proper bed that will be comfortable and (b) is there a sofa or decent chairs to sit on? We’ve learnt to critique the apartment photos on that basis – given the small size of the apartments, many do not have much in the way of comfy chairs to sit on and there’s nothing worse than coming back after a long day’s sightseeing and having nowhere to sit comfortably and put your feet up. We chose this apartment based on the bed looking decent and there being two comfy looking armchairs. The armchairs are fine and the bed seems comfortable – certainly a lot softer than the decidely firm (and too firm for me) bed we’ve been on for the last three nights in Nagoya. A good night’s sleep tonight will be welcome.
Having unpacked, we went for a walk to see what was around in the way of restaurants. There seem to be quite a few though in typical Japanese fashion, it’s hard to tell what some of them are offering – some are more gaijin friendly than others. There’s a supermarket just down the street so we stopped in there on our way back to get supplies. Feet up time for a while with a glass of wine before we head out again in search of dinner.
We tried the okonomiyaki place round the corner for dinner but they were busy and it sounded as if it was going to be an hour or more wait so we carried on down the street. A rustic looking (is that a euphemism for decrepit?) yakitori place caught our eye so in we go. Shoes off at the door and clamber on to the bench seat in front of the kitchen. Not sure when the kitchen was last remodelled but it certainly wasn’t this century. They had an English menu (without which you’d be lost) so a few chicken / pork / shitake mushroom / eggplant skewers and a couple of beers and then try to extricate yourself – at least we avoided the sitting-on-the-floor-with your-legs-crossed tables. Several of the other restaurants we passed looked interesting but tended to be small and completely full – we’ll see how we do as the week progresses. Back home to finish the bottle of red wine and then off to bed for – hopefully – a good night’s sleep. Re-reading some of the reviews for the apartment, the wi-fi sucks … which it does, virtually unusable… but the comfortable bed gets good marks – time to put it to the test.