Japan - Part Two

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Now… for the thrilling conclusion of our trip to Japan…

Day 5 – Bullet Train to Kyoto

It’s this year’s summer blockbuster… starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jackie Chan, Ken Watanabe & Donnie Yen… it’s.. Bullet Train to Kyoto! Okay, not so much… but this day starts with us going to the Sumo Wrestling Museum near our hotel… only to find out that despite their website’s full operation & list of things to do… the museum & surrounding area is closed for construction due to the forthcoming 2020 Olympics. Sum’bich…

Oh well, meant an earlier Shinkansen (bullet train) ride to Kyoto… and some sushi for breakfast while we wait…

The train ride… was AWESOME!!! It was just under three hours with a few stops along the way… but there was definitely a point in the middle where it was over an hour of going 150+ MPH and it was so f**king comfortable & quite! Truly an amazing experience to see the Japanese countryside going along out the window, right along the ocean, and also going through hill after hill after hill in tunnels. HIGHEST of recommendations if you get the chance!!!

We pulled into the Kyoto Station around 2 PM, so we checked into the nearby Matsubaya Ryokan, which is a tradition Japanese dwelling where they have the straw mat floors, basically a futon on the ground to sleep, a sweet tea ceremony table & chairs, again about 100 square feet… but also a bathroom similar to APA. Here are a few pictures for size relationships though…

The service there was exceptional… and that night had a wonderful night in our kimonos drinking beer… but that’s not what you want to hear about… before the night falls, we had sights to see…

Namely the Golden Temple!!! We took an hour-long bus ride out to the Golden Temple… and got there just as the sun was setting during the Golden Hour… PERFECT!!! Here are some pictures…

  

After the temple, we stopped by a nice Bento meal please (called something Japanese NOW!) for dinner, then back to the ryokan for a relaxing evening together. I highly recommend trying a ryokan… it’s not the kind of thing that you’re used to… but it’s incredibly calming once you give in.

Day 6 – Kyoto & back to Tokyo

The next morning, we checked out a temple that was a few blocks from the ryokan…

Then we dumped our backpacks in a locker at the Train Station so that we didn’t have to carry them… and went to Nijo Castle, which was an incredible castle from 1610 (I believe) that was home to the Shogun!!! It was awesome… as you can see here…

Then we took the train to what has been voted by TripAdvisor as the #1 Tourist Attraction in Japan for several years now (and they have it up EVERYWHERE there), the Red Temple a.k.a. Fashimi Inari Taisha!!! The pictures will refresh your memory as to what it is… but essentially it’s a Buddhist temple with paths of cool red gates that lead their way up to the peak of Mount Inari. Here are the pictures…

After the temple, we hoped on the Shinkansen (BULLET TRAIN) back to Tokyo… and as luck would have it… we were able to catch a glimpse of Mount Fuji… through the window… across the train car… in the distance… STILL AWESOME!!!

We basically spent the last night going to bed early due to an early start for our flights back home… but yeah, Japan was amazing!!! I know that I’ve said it dozens of times the past two posts… but it’s incredible. The people were great, the food was great, the sights were marvelous, the total package.

Thank you Izzy for forcing me into going… okay, not really… but you were definitely the driving force in going to the Land of the Rising Sun & it was even better than I had imagined. Thank you very much! So yeah… keep tabs on us by listening to our little podcast, Everything I Learned From Movies at EILFM.podbean.com and again, our Patreon page is patreon.com/eilfmovies and we appreciate anything that you can do to help us keep this thing posted. So until next time, have a great day everybody!!!