05
Kyoto
4 days
Instead of an expensive bullet train we decide to take the local train to Kyoto. It takes two hours longer and it's not ideal with our amount of luggage on a busy local commuter train. But it is also because of that amount of luggage (read: shopping) that we need to save some money. Oops.
There is a lot of history in and around Kyoto. If it weren't for the infinite amount of temples and gardens worth visiting, this is an ideal city to unwind. We skipped Fushimi Inari and the bamboo forest to go to Katsura imperial villa and the Tofuku-ji Temple. A small exhibition of Robert Doisneau is held at Kahitsukan – Kyoto Museum of Contemporary Art but we are really there for the garden feature at the top floor.
Autumn colours are taking over the city. Maruyama park is full of girls in kimonos with photographers in their wake. Balancing on bridges with rice paper umbrellas they rented for the occasion. A highlight for me was the antique market that is held only twice per year. According to a seller, it is the best in the country. Well, we had given up travelling light weeks ago...