Day 8 - Back to Tokyo

Having enjoyed the onsen twice at the Ryokan I thought you may be interested to know what one wears in transit to said onsen....

You cannot see the shoes (zori - thong sandals)  although I didn't wear socks with them which might have been the wrong thing traditionally but more than ok with me

So today was the last day Kyoto and last day for delicious breakfast-ness

The Ryokan prepared a western style breakfast for Caity which looked pretty good and was well received

Then it was the final pack and goodbye to the Ryoken. It very enjoyable.....

 and back to the train station via this - which I never purchased from but deserved a photo

Arriving in good time we purchased some drinks and snacks for the trip back to Tokyo....and some more kit kats

Most excitingly there was photo opportunities for Mt Fuji who looked beautiful.....

Then we arrived back at the hotel and checked in and dropped off the bags to head back to the bird cafe which was a train line and a subway away and hopefully open.

At the bird cafe Caity got to play with a couple birds and then we had bird cakes and Catity bought some bird souvenirs

 
Then we went to look in shops at Shinjuku and as we were exhausted we basically went back to the hotel and got some close handy dinner back at the gyoza/ramen house we visited last time.

Tomorrow is final packing, last minute shopping then back to the airport train and check in for the flight home - phew!

Day 7 - Day trip to Nara

Another fabulous Japaneses breakfast to start the day and the view from the restaurant

Then it was down to the train station for the train to Nara which is about an hour from Kyoto

roadie

ticket desu

Caity is excited about seeing the deer

 There were not as many people in Nara as there were in Kyoto which was nice.

First stop was the supermarket to get some things for lunch and to see what they had in Kit Kats....

 Then it was off to see my favourite pagoda - the Three story Pagoda...

not the pagoda

this is the pagoda

A spot of lunch

when in Rome

 
And then it was deer time....

feed me please

Yes, they do bite

cute!

worst deer selfie ever

would you hurry up already

om nom nom

The deer are everywhere and happily eat the deer biscuits for sale all over the place.  They are 'wild' and bow to receive food which is kind of cute. They can get a bit keen and pushy and are probably are as much about Nara as the temples are.

Then it was to the Tokajii Temple

the main gate

this temple is massive

Caity for scale

This enormous Buddah lives in the temple

with some friends

This sign was everywhere in Kyoto

 

 

There were some more lovely autumn vistas

And one more deer for good luck

That's enough biscuits for one day

Then it was back on the train for Kyoto

Kyoto Tower

And for dinner tonight was Yakisoba noodles and ominokiyaki again..... 

Then back to the Ryokan for computer time, another soak and preparation for the trip back to Tokyo tomorrow....

 

Day 6 - Big day out in Kyoto

Started the day with the traditional Japanese Breakfast which was included in the stay

There was also warm tofu, rice, green tea and miso soup.  It was super delicious

Then we got going for our big day out with the walk to Kiyomizu-dera which is about 1/2 an hour from the Ryokan, uphill. The main temple is currently undergoing some major work but that didn't distract from the beautiful autumn colours.

 

We figured that it was so busy (buses everywhere) due to those autumn colours and despite visiting Kyoto several times (I think this is the 4th), I have never seen it so busy, even during cherry blossom season. 

We then spent some time looking in all the tourist shops which required some extra stamina providing assistance....

to get past all the people

I don't recall so many people dressed in Kimonos either but it appears the rent-for-a-day thing is bit of a thing at the moment and it made for plenty of colour

We followed my usual walk which is about a 7 km walk.

Some things along the way

We stopped for lunch to eat a totally delicious Okinomiyaki at a restaurant near the Yasaka Shrine and also importantly to rehydrate

Then it was onwards through the throngs towards Ginkaku-ji (Silver Pavilion)

Whereupon we encountered more tourists and practised the art of taking photos without anyone in it - where possible...

By this time it was getting on 4.30, the light was failing and we had sore legs so we thought it best to head back to the Ryokan, after a cream (vanilla) puff - Caity had a matcha (green tea) flavoured one

We caught the bus back which was a bit of squishy fun and guess work re where it would drop us off but we got there all ok.

After some chillax time it was beef bowl for dinner for me and pork katsu for Caity

 

I then went off to try the Ryokans guest public bath which is about as 'onsen' as I am going to get on this trip.  I nuded up and did all the right things and had a polite conversation with the ladies who arrived after myself until I nearly cooked. Unlike your bath at home, these baths do not cool down so sitting for even a short time in a giant bento box up to your neck means one gets a little hot!  

Then it was to bed...to recover before seeing more temples and deer at Nara tomorrow.