We departed Tokyo on a JR Shinkansen (bullet train) @ 7:36am on another overcast morning.
To our surprise and happiness, after the disappointment in Hakone, we were able to clearly see Mt. Fuji, as we sped past in the train.
We were greeted at Kyoto Station with our first sunny / warm weather, another pleasant surprise.
After about a 15 minute hike from the station, we dropped off our packs at our new accomidations, K`s House Kyoto, and were quickly out again exploring.
Mistakenly thinking we were closer to the Nijo-jo Castle than we actually were, we began treking the city. After some realignment, we hopped on the Kyoto subway system.
Nijo-jo Castle was beautiful. Unfortunately I wasn`t allowed to take any interior shots, because of the fragility o the interior artwork. Sarah was intrigued by the chirpping floor, which was built to sound like Nghtingales in order to notify of intrusions to the castle.
After the castle we grabbed the JR train, to the northwest end of the city with the intent to visit the Kinkajui, Ryoanji and Ninnaji Shrines. The distance from the train station and early closings of the Shrines limited us to visiting only the Ryoanji Shrine and Zen Garden (the most famous in Japan), which is designated as a World Cultural Site. To spell it out clearly, we paid 1000 Yen to view 15 rocks.
We then headed back into the city in hopes of seeing some Geisha, as we walked the narrow streets of the Gion district. We just saw a bunch of tourists.
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