Autumn foliage

Sooo Mos Burger… Well I ended up not going for the Rice Burger, but instead a double cheeseburger… it was okay, smaller than Mc Donalds, but just tasted like a normal burger. So probably won’t be rushing back anytime soon. Also I have been informed, thank you Kylie, that we we do already have Mos Burger in Australia, in QLD to be exact.

Our Hostel - Khaosan Kyoto

Ok so my first night sleep in a ten bed dorm was… disturbed. Because we had only a few hours of sleep the night before, we were in bed early. But our dorm buddies were not, but hey we’re only paying $26 per night and the rest of the Hostel is wonderful, clean, great location and lovely big common area… Second night in our ten bed dorm was worse… we had two people snoring as well, which was fun.

Wednesday we decided it be great to travel around on bicycles, I had already warned Shota that I wasn’t going down narrow roads full of pedestrians and cyclists… but somehow it happened. The ride started off nicely, I felt like a natural on the bike, riding along with other cyclists…. On the footpath, because that is where cyclists ride in Japan J seriously! But then somehow we ended up riding down a narrow lane, with pedestrians, other cyclists, buses and on coming traffic. It was chaos… so I cracked it, had a tanti and was ready to leave my bike on the side of the road and walk home L But my lovely calm boyfriend, asked for help and we found ourselves back on a busy road, riding safely along the footpath…

Two hours later, we arrived at our destination.

Shota's bike and the Bamboo Grove

The Bamboo Grove in Arashiyama. The Bamboo is so tall, it towers over you and seems to go forever… we didn’t even reach the end.

Mid way to the top of the hill, there is a temple called Tenryu-Ji which is one of many World Heritage sites in Kyoto. It has a beautiful garden surrounding it.

Thats what happens when you show off....

We decided that we were exhausted from our strenuous bike ride, so headed back to the Hostel. We rested for a bit then headed out for Dinner.

Downtown Kyoto at night....

When I lived in London, in 2009, I lived with a charming French girl, called Chloe. Chloe ended up moving back to Paris, I went and stayed with her there for a long weekend, whilst in Paris, I met her lovely friend Melodie….

Well Melodie and her boyfriend Alex are currently living in Kyoto, so we met up with them last night for a drink and Dinner.

It was a wonderful evening and fantastic to see Melodie again and get to meet her boyfriend. Both speak fluent English, which was lucky, because Shota and I speak zero French… so the conversation for the evening went smoothly J

Melodie and Alex are locals in Kyoto, they both have great jobs, although I am concerned about the amount of hours they both seem to put in, very “Japanese of them” lol, but they took us for a drink first at a very funky laneway bar “Very Berry” which is a Hawaiian themed… very funky with a great atmosphere.

Later they took us down another laneway, (Kyoto actually reminds me a lot of Melbourne) and into a Ramen Noodle Restaurant.   It was a rather swish Ramen Noodle restaurant, a lot fancier than the other two we have been in, for a start we got to go upstairs where we were seated at a table, rather than the bench, with lots of other people, in front of the chefs.

I can’t remember the name for the dish we had….  But it was Ramen Noodles, with a burnt flavour, the soup the noodles were in was black! But my goodness it tasted amazing!! Sorry Morgans Mum Lyn, I was going  to try to lay off the food talk, but I can’t!!! The noodles were the best! I wanted to go back again tonight. . but mean Shota said no L I just hope they cook them like this in Tokyo!

Oh and I nearly forgot… the best thing about this restaurant was, that we had to wear a bib!! Yep! We were handed disposable bibs to wear… and of course we wore them J

Looking sexy in our Bibs!

Thursday Shota and I thought we’d try out a bus pass for the day. It was a great idea and we were able to see four attractions in one day! The passes were 500 yen each and we easily got our money's worth.

First stop was the magnificent Kiyomizu Temple, the main hall of the temple has a huge verandah that is supported by hundreds of pillars and juts out over the hillside.

Most temples have the incense burning that you’re supposed to let wash over you… I did so, but a school boy was watching me at the same time… I am not sure, but I believe he is laughing at me…

Second sight was the Fushimi- Inari Taisha, this is one of Japans most popular Shrines. The most amazing sight there are the orange gates, they form a pathway that is 4km’s long and runs up the mountain. It looked sensational and for a free shrine it was well worth the visit!

Third stop was Kamogawa-Jinja, it was also free to enter, Shota was very keen to see this Shrine. It turned out to not be that spectacular, it was more for the Japanese people wanting to pray.

Shota and the impressive sand cone shaped piles.....

 However there was a television crew filming at the sight… and guess what they were filming? Geisha’s!! Two Geisha’s performed a dance and another lady dressed in the Kimono played music for them to dance to. It was sooo cool to see!! Loved it J And it meant the trip out there wasn’t a waste of time.

The fourth and final stop for the day was definitely the best.  Rokuon- Ji Temple… or the Golden Temple. It was incredible. As we were there in the late afternoon, the sun was reflecting off the gold wonderfully, so it made for some great photos.

The aim is to get the coin in the bowl...

Next was the final trip home… we barely fit back on the bus, yet every stop more and more people were let on… yet no one got off. Just had to take a few quick pics!