Kyoto

After traveling by bullet train from Tokyo we arrived in Kyoto and took a somewhat unpleasant cab ride to our hotel. We pulled up to The Three Sisters Inn in Kyoto which is a traditional Japanese kind of B&B. The place was deserted except for another gentlemen and the management informed us that 98% of their reservations had cancelled. Yikes.

Kyoto was by far a more enjoyable experience for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big city type of guy and one would think Tokyo would be right up my alley but Kyoto gave me something that Tokyo never did...a Japanese experience. Compared to Tokyo, one would think we had arrived in another country when arriving in Kyoto. The people were happy to engage us, the history was far more impressive and the area allowed us to walk around and take more of it in. Although technology is associated heavily with Japan, sometimes I feel that from one big city to the next, there isn’t a whole lot of difference.To be completely honest, Tokyo reminded me a lot of Taipei although it is at least 10x the size.

While in Kyoto, we took in many of the sites including the Golden Pavilion, the Philosopher’s walk, and of course the Imperial Palace. The palace was amazing and I highly recommend any trip to Japan be inclusive of this attraction. With over a thousand years of history and painstaking maintenance the original Imperial Palace of Japan was immaculate. For all the pride Americans have regarding our nations status in the world, it is humbling to acknowledge that this palace housed arguably the most powerful man in the world at one time or another.

Kyoto was an excellent companion to our trip to Tokyo because it was more or less its complete opposite. All in all, Kyoto was by far the more enjoyable part of the trip for me probably because I had a chance to appreciate it which was largely a function of how our trip was planned.

But all good things must come to an end. Sayonara Nippon.