About three days ago I arrived to Kyoto. The train was fast, so I only managed to briefly check Lonely Planet suggestions for places to visit (and to stay in case my couchsurfing arrangements would not work). It was sunny and rather warm after cold and rainy Tokyo... a pleasant change. I left my luggage at the locker and headed in search for some food, following couple of maps I got from the tourist information desk. I found my lunch place across the temple that happened to be the biggest wooden structure in the world. I crossed the street, deeped my hands in the sacred water running from the mouth of a dragon and this way started my exploration of an old city that once used to be the capital of Japan.
Kyoto is easier to navigate in, the bus system is well developed and takes you everywhere; besides there is metro. But one of the best ways of going around the city is probably a bike, it costs as much as a daily bus pass, but allows you to get to places faster (if you know the way - I personally never do). Kyoto is full of temples and they are nicely sold to you in Lonely Planet or in the Tourist office. So you go, but after second or third (if you are slow) you realize that it is not all that there is in Kyoto and beautiful but limited and overcrowded paths inside could be skiped without much damage to your experience. You`d probably still want to see some just to form your opinion and leave the rest to the tourist crowds.
Walking is fun too if you avoid big roads; old houses in this very japanese stile you`ve seen in the movies and thought it was part of history rather than everyday life (I live in one currently and enjoy waking up with sun rays playing on the rice paper of the sliding walls) next to the new ones, small specialized shops, covered markets, food stalls, river side full with people on Sunday morning, parks with picnicking people and shrines that you walk through on the way somewhere. It feels rather slow and very peaceful regardless of tons of tuirists coming from all the directions and not only with foreign passports. It feels wise, like and old buddhist monk; it feels very traditional with geisha and maiko still mastering their skill as they did hundreds of years ago. And it feels like a place to share with someone...
Kyoto is easier to navigate in, the bus system is well developed and takes you everywhere; besides there is metro. But one of the best ways of going around the city is probably a bike, it costs as much as a daily bus pass, but allows you to get to places faster (if you know the way - I personally never do). Kyoto is full of temples and they are nicely sold to you in Lonely Planet or in the Tourist office. So you go, but after second or third (if you are slow) you realize that it is not all that there is in Kyoto and beautiful but limited and overcrowded paths inside could be skiped without much damage to your experience. You`d probably still want to see some just to form your opinion and leave the rest to the tourist crowds.
Walking is fun too if you avoid big roads; old houses in this very japanese stile you`ve seen in the movies and thought it was part of history rather than everyday life (I live in one currently and enjoy waking up with sun rays playing on the rice paper of the sliding walls) next to the new ones, small specialized shops, covered markets, food stalls, river side full with people on Sunday morning, parks with picnicking people and shrines that you walk through on the way somewhere. It feels rather slow and very peaceful regardless of tons of tuirists coming from all the directions and not only with foreign passports. It feels wise, like and old buddhist monk; it feels very traditional with geisha and maiko still mastering their skill as they did hundreds of years ago. And it feels like a place to share with someone...
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