Picture Above: Fushimi Inari

For more pictures of this trip, please CLICK HERE.

I took a 10 days trip with a friend in the Kansai region of Japan in winter of 2004. During the journey, I met many nice Kyoto people, walked hundred miles, visited several temples, and tasted delicious Japanese food such as Katsu don and takoyaki. I have included here, the photos of this trip, some highlights and memories from this trip, plus recommended route, sights, and places to stay:

Here are some highlights from this trip:

• I bought and ate the most expensive apple ever in my life: costed about $2.30 (240 yen) .
• A very nice man in Kyoto drove us to a bus station when we were tired of walking and wanted to save some money.
• Trying out all kinds of delicious mochi inside Kinkakuji.
• We climbed all the way to the top in Fushimi Inari. I really love that place and had a great time hiking through all the shrines. However, we got lost on the way down (because we took the "short cut") and went to the other side of the mountian. Walked in the dark with a flashlight, we finally got saved by 2 middle high school girls. :P
• After hiking in Kurama and starving to death, an aggressive cat wouldn't leave us alone when we tried to open our lunch box. It followed us around and wanted to eat our food. Finally we were forced to leave the area and hide somewhere to eat lunch.
• Ate 6 meals in one day in Osaka: breakfast, lunch, dinner, beer house, takoyaki + bread, Yoshinoya
• In Osaka, we tried to convince two cute girls that worked in Hotel New Hankyu to come party with us, but one girl responded that she usually "go home" after work.
• We met a nice Japanese student tour guide (free!), Ai, who took us around Nara and introduced Todaiji to us.
• We tried Japanese Kimono at this place that offers free kimono try on every 2nd Tuesday of the month. We didn't know about this ahead of time. It was very lucky for us to be there during the right time and day. We had lots of fun trying out kimonos. It took longer than I thought to put one on! We also joined the little tea ceremony, where I learned about Japanese culture.
  

Recommended route, sights, and places to stay:

3-4 days In Kyoto
In Kyoto 京都, buy the one-day bus pass (500 yen) - availalbe at many locations such as hotels, hostels, and central bus station - which takes you to many historical temples in the inner city of Kyoto.

The temples and shrines that I visited include: Kinkakuji (about 500 yen), Ryoanji (500 yen), Tenryuji (about 500 yen), Seiryoji, Daikakuji, Ginkakuji (about 600 yen), Shimogamo Shrine (free), Kamigamo Shrine, Heian Shrine, Kayomizu (300 yen), Yasaka Shrine, Hall of 33 bay (600 yen), and a few other places. Among them, my favorites are Ginkakuji 銀閣寺 - for its beautiful Japanese garden; Kayomizu 清水寺 - up on the hills, where you see the temple itself and a nice view of the city; Hall of thirty-three bays 三十三間堂; Kamigamo Shrine 上賀茂神社, and Tenryuji 天龍寺.

I also highly recommend these spots in Kyotofu: Arashiyama 嵐山, Higashiyama 東山 (where Kayomizu is), Philosopher's Walk 哲學の道 (a very beautiful path and a peaceful walk) , Shijokawaramachi 四条河原町 (a busy street), Kurama 鞍馬 (you can do some hiking as you visit the temples), Kifune 貴船, and Fushimi Inari 伏見稲荷大社 (with thousands of shrines that lined up as you hike up the stairs.)

For a place to stay, I totally recommend the hostel we stayed at - K's House International. It was extremely clean, and was much cheaper than a hotel (about 2,900 yen per person for a private room with 2 twin beds). The staff there were friendly and helpful. A shared kitchen and louge was also available for all the guests in the hostle. There was no private bath so I did have to use the shared public toilet and bathroom, but it was very clean and comfortable. Online booking is available at http://www.hostelworld.com/

1-2 days In Osaka
Osaka 大阪 is the 2nd biggest city in Japan. It is a busy city with lots of stores for shopping during the day and plenty of places to hang out during the night. I can't say much about shopping since I am not into shopping in Japan, but here are some of the most popular spots to visit in Osaka:
kyobashi 京橋 & Hankyu Umeda eki 阪急梅田駅 in Umeda 梅田, and Shinsaibashi 心斎橋 & Dotonbori 道頓堀 in Namba 難波.

Osaka in general is more expensive than Kyoto. Since the train from Kyoto to Osaka is so frequent and takes only 30 minutes, staying at Kyoto the whole trip might be a good option to think about. We stayed at Osaka Umeda and Namba for the rest of the trip after Kyoto, for convinience (Koyasan, Kobe, and Himeji are closer to Osaka than Kyoto) but also because the hostel we stayed at Kyoto was booked for the weekend that we were there.

Umeda 梅田 and Namba 難波 are two popular places to stay in Osaka. I receommend Namba because it is generally a bit cheaper and more happening than Umeda, and there are crowdes of young people. As I did my research, I couldn't find any good hostles in Osaka (considering price, location, and cleaness) So, I looked for hotels. To get a good deal, first try bid from priceline. Try priceline in Hong Kong if the priceline in US does not offer hotel bids in Osaka. Otherwise, I really like the place we stayed at in Namba, called "Dotonbori Hotel." The room was small but clean, the locatoin was unbeatable (right on Dotonbori 道頓堀), and it offered free internet in the lobby. Try booking ahead over the phone/online at Rakuten Travel, or directly from the hotel at http://www.dotonbori-h.co.jp/english/index.html, otherwise the cost would be a lot more to book it in person.

1 day in Koyasan
Buy the Kansai Thru Pass which enables unlimited travelling by trains (except JR and limited express) within the chosen 2 or 3 days within the Kansai region. This would save you a lot of money if you are travelling between Osaka and Koyasan, Himeji, and other places within the network. スルッとKANSAI has all the details.

Allow at least 1 day to tour Koyasan 高野山 and travel time between Osaka to Koyasan. If time permits, try staying over a night at one of the temples in Koyasan. I heard it is a great experience! (though it could be expensive) To get there, we first took the Nankai line train from Osaka Namba to Koyasan, then took the cable car up the steep mountain of Koya. (Kansai Thru Pass covers both train and cable car, plus all the bus rides in Koyasan. Good deal huh!) I really enjoyed my visit to Koyasan. Koyasan has many tombs of famous people, including Oda Nobunaga 織田信長 and Toyotomi Hideyoshi 豊臣秀吉.

1-2 days in Nara and Sakuraii
Nara 奈良 is one of the oldest cities in Japan. If time allows, also include Sakuraii 櫻井 - Kashihara 橿原市 - Asuka 飛鳥 area, south of Nara. Everybody visits Todaiji 東大寺 while in Nara. Don't miss the experience to feed the deers in Nara park, on the way to Todaiji. I also like Kasuga Jinjya 春日神社 in Nara. It has thousands of latterns; however, they are only lit during special ceremonies, and on August 15 and January 1st.

Frankly speaking, I was not very impressed by most places the Japanese tour book introduceed in Sakuraii. Although I did like two places in Sakuraii-Kashihara area very much and would like to recommend them to my friends: Asukadera 飛鳥寺 in Sakuraii 櫻井 - Asuka 飛鳥 area, and Imai-cho 今井町 in Kashihara 橿原市. Asukadera is quite small, but it is the oldest temple in Japan. Imai-cho is also very ancient. While some people still live there, a few huge houses have been left empty for years. It was quite an experience to walk through all the small streets of Imai-cho.

1 day in Kobe and Himeji
Allow at least half of a day in Himeji 姬路 to visit the most beautiful castle in Japan: the Himeji Castle 姬路城. It was very fun and educational to tour the castle. Though visiting all the temples, shrines, and castles can become costly, it is definitely worth it to pay 600 yen to enter the Himeji Castle.

We did not spend much time in Kobe 神戶. During the day, we visited Ijinkan 異人館, which I do not recommend! At night, if you happen to be there during December, don't miss the Annual Kobe Luminarie. The purpose of this event is to remember the hanshin earthquake happened in Kobe in 1995. There is always a huge crowd linging up to see the show. To avoid some of the crowd, try to get there early or try to go during week nights.

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