Day 59 – Takayama to Kyoto
Today we woke up and had breakfast at Relax Hostel Takayama Station. It’s awesome when the breakfast is included but not advertised. The food is left in the kitchen from 7am and is there until it runs out so its not guaranteed. After breakfast we caught the bus from Nobi Bus Station in Takayama starting at 9am.
The bus, like all highway buses we have experienced is comfortable with free Wi-Fi and power outlets. The bus stopped for a snack break and slowed down at a few of the mid-highway bus stops. The roads that the bus took, once again was stunning mountain ranges just like on the way to Takayama.
At 2.30pm we were at Kyoto Station. From here we walked towards our hostel, Santiago Hostel, which was only 30 minutes away but due to our bags felt so far. After grabbing a convenience store lunch (Family Mart), we walked back to Kyoto Station to the information centre. And just wow, the interior of the station was amazing!
Along with the typical maps and information we left the information centre and went past the Kyoto Tower to the massive Higashihonganji Temple. The temple had several halls, but when we got there everything was closing so we were unable to go inside.
We then went back to the hostel and were able to check in now. We were back to dealing with stairs, which we were now used to. The beds in the dorms were nice with plenty of space for storing our bags which was nice.
With a tip from the information centre we walked to the close by Kodaiji Zen Temple for a light up event that was running that week. It was definitely a different experience, with light shows projected onto the temples and the grounds lit up. It was cool to see, and the night time views of Kyoto was impressive also. The temple also has a very small museum, which we checked out too. No photos were allowed inside as with most museums in Japan.
We then walked past the Kamo River to the downtown district. The banks of the river seem like a very romantic area, which couples evenly spaced every couple of meters. In downtown, we couldn’t decide what to eat so we had maccas.
Looking forward to exploring Kyoto tomorrow, but once we went back to the hostel we had to do the laundry, which had us up until well past midnight. zzz