[Japan Travel]: Kyoto - Day 1 (Arashiyama)
Hullo~
It's been a while, but let's finally continue with my spring trip.
After leaving Onomichi and Fukuyama, I finally arrived in Kyoto where I met my friends from Germany and where I spent most of my spring vacation.
I've been to Kyoto before, so I've seen the main attractions already. But Kyoto has to offer so much that I guess even after going there for the 100th, there'll still be things you haven't seen/discovered yet!
Kyoto Day 1 (April 5th, 2010):
Our day started quite late (for my standards). My friends were all in "vacation mode" and didn't want to get up that early.
I had to persuade them several times (x__X)
Also, they wanted to take so many breaks the whole time, it was just so different from my usual pace ^-^;; .....
At first we decided to walk around Kyoto Station for a little bit as it was the first time for my friends in Kyoto.
Then, we walked to the Nishi and Higashi Honganji Temples. Only the "Nishi" one is considered as World Heritage Site, though!
That's the Higashi one, only a 5 min. walk away from Kyoto Station.
There were many people, especially a lot of students with their teachers.
We also stopped by at some other temples on our way like this one. Less people and still interesting enough :D
Random shot while walking through the tiny side streets of Kyoto.
Then, we arrived at Nishi Honganji ... and as you can see it was crowded!! And construction works again x____x;;
There were so many school classes and they got like .. present bags and stuff. I really wonder what was going on there!!?? Well, it was the start of a new school year and all, but ..?!?
After that we decided to go to Arashiyama as the weather was quite nice. And I was all up for it, because so many people have been recommending Arashiyama to me (especially in spring) ❤
One of the first things I saw upon arriving there: this beautiful cherry blossom tree next to a Lawson conbini XD
Arashiyama is probably most famous for Togetsukyō Bridge and the Tenryuji Temple.
In case you're wondering where I took these photos, it was already inside the famous Tenryuji Temple, but there were so many flowers and stuff that before taking photos of any temple facilities I flirted with the flowers XD
Although you can't tell from most of the photos, it was actually pretty crowded that day (like every other day in Kyoto as well x__X ... XD)
Beautiful colors!! I fell in love with this temple facility just because there were so many things to discover and so many plants and stuff! (*_*)v
Even right next to the parking lot! Beautiful, huh?!
One of these days I have to buy my own Tanuki! (*____*)v
So colorful everywhere!!!! I think I took more photos of plants than anything else that day! XD
Kobe ruleZ!!! XD
We entered the Japanese garden there (attention: extra entrance fee!) and it was like PARADISE!! I kid you not!!!
But please see for yourself (*__*)v
Awesome! I guess the only other season that would have been just as stunning is autumn :D
Bet you can find something pink ANYWHERE in spring! XD
Random stalker shot XD
Bamboo forest!! Great! And so high!!
I swear that this part of the garden was sooooo beautiful, that I didn't know where to turn my head to and I got dizzy. It was just too beautiful in each and every corner! ;o;
Plus the sun was finally crawling out and offered a blue sky as a bonus! :D
There's so much beauty in this photo! The trees!!!! <3333333333333333333
And that's what it would look like in autumn (*__*)v WOAH!!!! I need to go there in autumn (although it will be very crowded again XD)
I still have not a SINGLE autumn photo of Japan *sigh* :/
Just a random shot on our way to the famous Togetsukyō Bridge.
Arashiyama is really beautiful and so are even the normal houses!
Getting closer to the bridge.
There were millions of rickshaws there! But as it would cost 5000-7000yen (50-70$) we decided not to take them XD
Almost there!! :D
And there we are!! ^-^
Huhuhu~ I didn't even notice the woman in her wedding (???) dress until later XDDDDDD
The view you get when you stand ON the bridge (*______*)v
And the opposite side.
That's Arashiyama Park we can see here (*_*)v Looks so nice and relaxing (*_*)
There's a Monkey Park on the other side of the bridge. Not as big as the one in Beppu, but still quite nice. But first, we had to climb up a hill XD ....
And of course there were a lot of cute signs again XD
And some awesome and really high trees as well!
Engrish at its best!!!! :D :D :D
When we had almost reached the top, we saw our first monkeys! (*_*)
Finally at the top we had an AWESOME and breathtaking view (*_*)v
And some more monkeys!!! XD
(°______O'') ... uhm ... k XD
Unrequited love? While this monkey boy is playing with himself XD he's staring at the other monkey, but she (?) doesn't seem to be interested at all and looks away XDDDDDDD Ahem.
This lil' guy was cute, too! :D
But he's the cutest ever!!! (*__*)
As it was slowly getting dark we left the monkey park again, but of course not without taking more photos of the funny signs that were everywhere! XD
Then we went a bit shopping in the various souvenir shops around the bridge. After buying something, I asked if I could take a photo of these cups. They were soooo cute and I wanted to buy them, but they're too expensive ;o; (around 5000yen)
Souvenir shops and restaurants in Arashiyama.
Now it was really getting dark.
Illuminated sakura at night in Arashiyama Park.
Back in Kyoto it was finally DINNER TIME!! (*___*)v
Most of us got a udon set with different side dishes :D Just one of my friends wanted to know if I could ask if she could get the noodles without the "fish thingie" (= kamaboko) and tofu and EVERYTHING!!! So just udon and soup -___-
You can imagine how strange the waiter looked at us when I asked him about it XDDD Of course it was possible, but seriously who eats udon like that? XD At least my friend seemed to enjoy her soup without anything XDDDDD
How about desert??? Just kidding!
But seriously, how many people are needed to eat all that???? O____O; ......
On the train back to our hotel I found TOMA (*________*)v Of course I had to take a photo immediately
, unfortunately the quality is not the best. No matter what I did, the light was always reflecting in his face (^-^'')> .....
When I took that photo last month I would have never imagined that I'd be back in Kansai pretty soon to MEET HIM!!!!!!! XDDDDDD
Cameras used:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 and Pentax K-x
The Pentax photos seem to be wider as their height is shorter.
And that was my first (not very busy) day in Kyoto.
Please stay tuned for day 2 when we went to the Philosopher's Path (with millions of cherry blossom trees
) and Ginkakuji, Kyomizudera (<- at night when it was illuminated!!)
Thanks for reading and thanks for your comments! They're appreciated!
It's been a while, but let's finally continue with my spring trip.
After leaving Onomichi and Fukuyama, I finally arrived in Kyoto where I met my friends from Germany and where I spent most of my spring vacation.
I've been to Kyoto before, so I've seen the main attractions already. But Kyoto has to offer so much that I guess even after going there for the 100th, there'll still be things you haven't seen/discovered yet!
Kyoto Day 1 (April 5th, 2010):
Our day started quite late (for my standards). My friends were all in "vacation mode" and didn't want to get up that early.
I had to persuade them several times (x__X)
Also, they wanted to take so many breaks the whole time, it was just so different from my usual pace ^-^;; .....
At first we decided to walk around Kyoto Station for a little bit as it was the first time for my friends in Kyoto.
Then, we walked to the Nishi and Higashi Honganji Temples. Only the "Nishi" one is considered as World Heritage Site, though!
That's the Higashi one, only a 5 min. walk away from Kyoto Station.
There were many people, especially a lot of students with their teachers.
We also stopped by at some other temples on our way like this one. Less people and still interesting enough :D
Random shot while walking through the tiny side streets of Kyoto.
Then, we arrived at Nishi Honganji ... and as you can see it was crowded!! And construction works again x____x;;
There were so many school classes and they got like .. present bags and stuff. I really wonder what was going on there!!?? Well, it was the start of a new school year and all, but ..?!?
After that we decided to go to Arashiyama as the weather was quite nice. And I was all up for it, because so many people have been recommending Arashiyama to me (especially in spring) ❤
One of the first things I saw upon arriving there: this beautiful cherry blossom tree next to a Lawson conbini XD
Arashiyama is probably most famous for Togetsukyō Bridge and the Tenryuji Temple.
In case you're wondering where I took these photos, it was already inside the famous Tenryuji Temple, but there were so many flowers and stuff that before taking photos of any temple facilities I flirted with the flowers XD
Although you can't tell from most of the photos, it was actually pretty crowded that day (like every other day in Kyoto as well x__X ... XD)
Beautiful colors!! I fell in love with this temple facility just because there were so many things to discover and so many plants and stuff! (*_*)v
Even right next to the parking lot! Beautiful, huh?!
One of these days I have to buy my own Tanuki! (*____*)v
So colorful everywhere!!!! I think I took more photos of plants than anything else that day! XD
Kobe ruleZ!!! XD
We entered the Japanese garden there (attention: extra entrance fee!) and it was like PARADISE!! I kid you not!!!
But please see for yourself (*__*)v
Awesome! I guess the only other season that would have been just as stunning is autumn :D
Bet you can find something pink ANYWHERE in spring! XD
Random stalker shot XD
Bamboo forest!! Great! And so high!!
I swear that this part of the garden was sooooo beautiful, that I didn't know where to turn my head to and I got dizzy. It was just too beautiful in each and every corner! ;o;
Plus the sun was finally crawling out and offered a blue sky as a bonus! :D
There's so much beauty in this photo! The trees!!!! <3333333333333333333
And that's what it would look like in autumn (*__*)v WOAH!!!! I need to go there in autumn (although it will be very crowded again XD)
I still have not a SINGLE autumn photo of Japan *sigh* :/
Just a random shot on our way to the famous Togetsukyō Bridge.
Arashiyama is really beautiful and so are even the normal houses!
Getting closer to the bridge.
There were millions of rickshaws there! But as it would cost 5000-7000yen (50-70$) we decided not to take them XD
Almost there!! :D
And there we are!! ^-^
Huhuhu~ I didn't even notice the woman in her wedding (???) dress until later XDDDDDD
The view you get when you stand ON the bridge (*______*)v
And the opposite side.
That's Arashiyama Park we can see here (*_*)v Looks so nice and relaxing (*_*)
There's a Monkey Park on the other side of the bridge. Not as big as the one in Beppu, but still quite nice. But first, we had to climb up a hill XD ....
And of course there were a lot of cute signs again XD
And some awesome and really high trees as well!
Engrish at its best!!!! :D :D :D
When we had almost reached the top, we saw our first monkeys! (*_*)
Finally at the top we had an AWESOME and breathtaking view (*_*)v
And some more monkeys!!! XD
(°______O'') ... uhm ... k XD
Unrequited love? While this monkey boy is playing with himself XD he's staring at the other monkey, but she (?) doesn't seem to be interested at all and looks away XDDDDDDD Ahem.
This lil' guy was cute, too! :D
But he's the cutest ever!!! (*__*)
As it was slowly getting dark we left the monkey park again, but of course not without taking more photos of the funny signs that were everywhere! XD
Then we went a bit shopping in the various souvenir shops around the bridge. After buying something, I asked if I could take a photo of these cups. They were soooo cute and I wanted to buy them, but they're too expensive ;o; (around 5000yen)
Souvenir shops and restaurants in Arashiyama.
Now it was really getting dark.
Illuminated sakura at night in Arashiyama Park.
Back in Kyoto it was finally DINNER TIME!! (*___*)v
Most of us got a udon set with different side dishes :D Just one of my friends wanted to know if I could ask if she could get the noodles without the "fish thingie" (= kamaboko) and tofu and EVERYTHING!!! So just udon and soup -___-
You can imagine how strange the waiter looked at us when I asked him about it XDDD Of course it was possible, but seriously who eats udon like that? XD At least my friend seemed to enjoy her soup without anything XDDDDD
How about desert??? Just kidding!
But seriously, how many people are needed to eat all that???? O____O; ......
On the train back to our hotel I found TOMA (*________*)v Of course I had to take a photo immediately
, unfortunately the quality is not the best. No matter what I did, the light was always reflecting in his face (^-^'')> .....
When I took that photo last month I would have never imagined that I'd be back in Kansai pretty soon to MEET HIM!!!!!!! XDDDDDD
Cameras used:
Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5 and Pentax K-x
The Pentax photos seem to be wider as their height is shorter.
And that was my first (not very busy) day in Kyoto.
Please stay tuned for day 2 when we went to the Philosopher's Path (with millions of cherry blossom trees
) and Ginkakuji, Kyomizudera (<- at night when it was illuminated!!)
Thanks for reading and thanks for your comments! They're appreciated!