Best part of Japan
Written: Apr 08 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: beautiful scenery, quiet, experience old Japan
Cons: many famous places are far away from each other, a lot of walking
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| yangzi's Full Review: Kyoto |
Although I'm Japanese born in Japan and had lived there more than 20 years, I'd never been to Kyoto until last year. I always wanted to visit this traditional city of Japan. When I was a student, I leaned a lot about history of Kyoto (Kyoto is an origin of Japan), but never had chance to go. Usually students (high school student in my area) take a school trip to Kyoto, but I couldn't join the trip because I was in the U.S. as an exchange student at that time.
Last September before my coming to Indiana for getting married, my parents took my sister and me to a last family trip. They asked me where I wanted to go, then I told them either Hokkaido (the northernmost island of Japan) or Kyoto. Kyoto is very far from my home and very expensive to visit: it takes about 5 hours by bullet trains from my city to Kyoto. My parents thought about the trip to Kyoto and said 'yes'. My dream came true.
We spent 3 days/ 2 nights in Kyoto. First day, we went to a small town near Kyoto to take an old rail cart. The rail cart was small, but the view from it was beautiful. It goes though the mountain and sometimes by the river. I really enjoyed the landscape. Then we stayed at a hot spring near Lake Biwa.
Next day, we took a tour bus in Kyoto. We visited many temples including Kinkakuji temple and Ginkakuji temple. In Japanese, "kin" means "gold", and "gin" means silver. As you may think Kinkakuji temple is covered with gold papers, but Ginkakuji temple isn't covered with silver. I thought it was very interesting. I was very impressed to see so many temples in one area. I don't remember how many temples we visited in a whole trip. Many temples had very beautiful gardens, too.
During the tour, we also visited Saga, a very famous and popular place for tourists. Most of the buildings there were very traditional Japanese styles. I wanted to see Maiko, a female professional entertainer and wears Japanese traditional dress and make-up (different from Geisha), but unfortunately, I couldn't see any of them. My parents told me we have to go to another place to meet them. Since we didn't have enough time, we couldn't go.
Then we got on a subway to come back to Kyoto station. As I remember there were more than 2 kinds of subways. It was a little hard to find which subway we should get on. I heard they rebuild Kyoto station a few years ago, so it was very nice and clean. It actually reminded me of an airport. I bet if you visit Kyoto station, you would feel same way. In the same building of the station, there is a department store and a large hotel. My family and I stayed at the hotel for a night. As same as the station, the hotel was very modern and clean. It was a little expensive but offered great service. You can get most of the stuff you need for hotel staying. At the night, we ate at the a little expensive Japanese traditional restraunt in the hotel. It was very delicious.
On our last day, we didn't have enough time to do anything, so we bought gifts for other people at the department store. Then we took trains to home.
My first trip to Kyoto was very interesting. I visited many temples. I found that it's not very easy to go to places. Most of famous places aren't really close to each other, so if you are going Kyoto, I suggest you to take a tour bus. I'm sure you can find English speaking tour bus over there, since many international tourists visit there every day. Many temples require you to walk a lot with a lot of stairs, so be prepared. During summer time, it can be very hot in Kyoto. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes and clothes. On more thing, staying at nice traditional Japanese style hotels can be very expensive.
Unlike Tokyo, Kyoto has very beautiful Japanese traditions. It's very quiet at most of the places. It's best if you visit Kyoto in the fall (maybe Oct-Nov). You'll see beautifully turned red leaves. I hope you enjoy Kyoto.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
yangzi
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Member: Yoko Griswold
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Reviews written: 30
Trusted by: 2 members
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