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Manhole cover in Kaizuka |
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View of Kaizuku from the hotel room |
Our booking included breakfast, Japanese only. The fairly economical Sunshine Inn was mainly occupied by students, and we met a few at breakfast, which consisted of fish, pickles and a small cup with a type of junket with cooked octopus at the bottom - a bit of an acquired taste. The view from the room we were to realise was typically Japanese, with the cityscape criss-crossed by power lines and dotted with small shrines and temples. In the distance we could see Kansai airport - didn't realise we were so close. After breakfast we caught to JR Train to Kyoto. Japan is incredibly well-served by trains as most settlement is on the narrow flat plains along the coast and there is a combination of local and long-distance trains, both government and commercial.
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Kyoto Railway Station |
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Where are we? - in Japan |
We arrived at the huge Kyoto railway station and there was no confusion about which country we were in as a feature of the station is a giant statue of Astroboy (
Tetsuwan Atomu) at the entrance.It was only a short walk (although it felt further dragging our bulky suitcases in the heat) to our accommodation, Miwaya Ryokan. A Ryokan is a traditional Japanese type of accommodation, where you sleep on tatami mats on the floor at night which are then rolled up during the day to provide a living space.
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Inside the Garlic restaurant |
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Unassuming entrance to
Miwaya Ryokan |
We spent the rest of the morning exploring central Kyoto, and ended up having lunch in Isetan, a huge Japanese department store with a number of small restaurants - Something similar to Market City in Sydney, but much nicer. We had a nice hot lunch in the Garlic restaurant, and surprisingly felt quite at home for being in a foreign country for less than 24 hours.
In the afternoon we took it easy, exploring a little more of Kyoto, before having a light meal and hitting the mat.
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