Day 1 in Osaka was fun, but my friend and I didn’t come all the way to Japan just to visit a theme park and urban tourist spots. We wanted to pay a visit to the temples in Kyoto, too, and even though we struggled to find the places in our itinerary, we managed to tick some babies off our list. 😉
Day 2 began rough. We looked like aliens trying to buy train tickets via a machine. Thankfully, a station attendant helped us and even taught us how to “adjust” our tickets.
Fare adjustment is not a usual thing in Manila. In Japan, and well, in Hong Kong, there were times when my friend and I purchased the wrong tickets which means we could not exit the station. You’d have to go to a machine and get your ticket replacement, pay the additional fee and voila, you get your adjusted ticket.
Anyway, we had a pretty hard time finding our hostel so it was already around one in the afternoon when we got there. We decided to have lunch at a nearby local restaurant before we went on a trip to Kyoto.
Again, we found it difficult to get to Kyoto. We ended up riding the “local train” which, you will learn when you go to Japan, takes the longest travel time ever. Unlike the rail and the subway, the local train stops at numerous stations and so we got to Fushimi Inari around half past four. The shrine wasn’t too crowded, which was a good thing. However, we weren’t able to take decent photos because it was getting dark.
We walked along the thousand tori gates even when it was already super dark and quiet. It was peaceful – one for introvert travelers out there! 😉
Before we left, we each ate a stick of thick grilled beef which was heavy enough to serve as our dinner.
When we traveled back to Osaka, we stopped by the Abeno Harukas located in Tennoji, to exchange some pesos to yen. It was then that we realized how accommodating and helpful the Japanese people are. Believe it or not, money exchanges rarely remain open late in the evening, but there was one located in Abeno Harukas that was open til 9PM. We made it there about 2 minutes before it closed, but the tellers were very happy to assist us before they clocked out.
Then, we decided to stay for a bit before going home, and look at the view of the city from the giant that is Abeno Harukas. 😊
On our way back to the hostel, we saw a small kiosk where an old man sold yakitori and I tried one stick because the vendor looked pleasant and very kind. The Japanese are very warm and welcoming people. When you say Arigatou, they’ll reply ‘Arigatou ne’. 😊
That was Day 2. We didn’t get to explore much because we struggled with the train a couple of times but it was fun. It was exhausting, but really fun.
Below are the itinerary and list of expenses for Day 2:
Day 2:
-Transfer hostel from JHoppers Universal to Hotel Toyo
-Lunch at Local restaurant
-Fushimi Inari Shrine
-Abeno Harukas (Osaka)
Expenses:
-Train to Hotel Toyo ¥180 (estimate only) or Php 90
-2 Night Stay at Hotel Toyo plus Towel Rental ¥2500 or Php 1250
-Lunch ¥500 or Php 250
-Fare to Kyoto ¥910 or Php 455
-Barbecue ¥500 or Php 250
-Pasalubong bought in Kyoto ¥150 or Php 75
-Fare to Osaka ¥910 or Php 455
-Yakitori ¥120 or Php 60
Total – Php 2,885
Day 3 was much smoother than the previous one. We got the hang of the transportation system and decided we were better off with the subway and JR (Japan Rail).
Below was our itinerary for Day 3:
-Spend first half of the day looking for the famous abandoned Nara Dreamland
-Nara Deer Park
-Arashiyama Bamboo Grove (Kyoto)
-Togetsukyo Brige (Kyoto)
-Umeda
Our search for the ultimate introvert destination in Kansai Region began early in the morning. We took the JR line going to Nara, stopped at Starbucks for a quick breakfast and then began walking, not really sure where our feet would take us, but finally arrived at out destination at around 11 in the morning.
Check out my separate blog post on Nara Dreamland via this link –> https://travelsofawallflower.wordpress.com/2017/06/17/introvert-travels-pt-3/
We took the long walk back and then spent about two hours in Nara Deer Park where free-roaming deers are well taken cared of. There were even some walking around in the street, where there were enough warning signs for drivers to watch out for.
Deer food is available for sale at ¥150 per about five pieces. A single deer kept chasing me for all the snacks I had. 😅 Luckily, the deer didn’t have horns.
One of the best sights near the park was this Japanese artist sketching the beauty that is the Todaiji Temple.
We didn’t want to waste time so we bought some ready to eat goodies at 7 Eleven before we took the train to Kyoto.
Our first stop was the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. Obviously, tourists made it hard to take decent photos.
Togetsukyo Bridge was only about 10 or 15 minutes away by foot and we were able to find it quickly because, Yey! There were public WiFi spots near the souvenir shops.
The bridge wasn’t the only thing we came to Kyoto for. Before the trip, I saw a post on Instagram about an unassuming coffee shop called “Arabica Coffee” located near Togetsukyo Bridge. We each bought a cup of coffee and enjoyed it by the bridge.
Here’s the view of the coffee shop from outside.
We traveled back to Osaka and explored Umeda before going back to the hostel. We had two missions in Umeda – eat ramen at the famous Ichiran and buy pasalubong at Don Quixote.
Authentic Ramen experience and final part of Osaka-Kyoto-Nara blog to be continued…
Travels of a Wallflower 