Make sure you don't miss Mount Fuji either in a blink or go to the bathroom and you'll miss it moment as the infamous Bullet Train takes you past all the iconic Japanese landmarks on your way to another one. As Kyoto is more than just a jumbled version of the capital city of Tokyo, it's also another perfect mix of so old and so new. So Kyoto shows you the traditional and the future of a country steeped in legend but still stepping towards its legacy.
So whether you're going it 'Alone In Kyoto' like the beautiful French dance duo Air's instrumental track which will make for the perfect, atmospheric soundtrack for this trip, or if you are partnering with the one you love for a journey that will be as beloved as the one you have already taken, Kyoto has it all pillar to post.
The beautiful city is painted in poetry and immersed in your every inspiration. Once you step off the train and into this new world you will be surrounded by some classic culture and possibly the kindest strangers you'll never meet. The bullet's chamber of a train station almost acts like a moat seperating two parts of Kyoto, old and new. And with no place like this home in the world, let alone Japan you're about to witness one of a kind places all throughout this town. It's much more than just your lovable, local Family Mart's and Lawson's on each corner you take your JR pass.
This city has shops and boutiques for days upon miles of blocks and side streets. It may not be Harajuku but the market here is so long and be warned densely crowded that you'll end up walking (if you can call the slow saunter that) like something that resembles a penguin after fish. The only walk you'll take longer than that countless corridor is up more stairs than Penrose outside the downtown hub.
Because even though the white and red Tokyo rivalling, Kyoto Tower gives you a grand view of all this city beholds, if you want a real lay of this land then it's time to climb a mountain. And for all the stunning shrines that surround every part of Japan none is quite like the pillar pilgramage you will take to the one stand out Shinto shrine. The fantastic Fushimi Inari-taisha is tradition personifed. A real wonder of the world and your eyes which take your breath away, if you're walked to the point of exhaustion lungs haven't done so already. The head shrine of the God Inari sits at the base of the mountain of the same name. But as beautiful as that shrine truly is your trail is far from over. As those iconic orange torji take you to many smaller shrines all over the mountain that all told take up to two hours to walk, but will end up being something out of one day that your memories will remember for the rest of your life.
Tradition takes every corner here like your camera. From shrines like the Kiyomizu-dera and the Kinkaku-ji to the influential Imperial Palace to the bamboo and monkey world of the amazing Arashiyama whose bamboo grove walk is only rivalled by the torji trails of the Inari. But in all this beauty the Nijo Castle is something else entirely as you take off your shoes and walk the gravel silent grounds of something so moving the words you should keep to yourself just don't do this historic monument of ancient Kyoto justice. But your silence in the stirring presence of a service will be the respect this dark wooden place of times gone golden deserves.
But whether you're in the mood for a Philosphers Walk perfect from the hallowed cherry blossom of Japan, to the Autumn season. Or if you just came to this anime world for the magic of the Manga Museum from 'Akira' to 'Your Name', you need to save room and time in one of this country's big-three cities top two points of interest. The testament to this town in itself, the To-ji Buddist temple is boundless beauty like the cobbled canvassed roads, streets and walkways that lead you there in vintage shop (and we aren't talking about old tees, dungarees and throwback jerseys) unison and buildings of that same vein, screen door tradition.
By now you'll have probably found a decent place for dinner as this cities exploration eats at the soles of your sneakers. And every street has something amazing to eat. So much so that the food coma you'll go through after will demand the same bed rest that the days itinerary will have done to the rest of your body from your knees down. So the night calls for ample time to let yourself relax and rest and recuperate in one of the many individual, hallmark hotels this town has to offer for you to lay your hat. And to that end could we make a personal recommendation however of the SHE Kyoto hotel? In a country whose Murakami 'Norwegian Wood' love for The Beatles is to the letter, by the book this warm and welcoming place wherever your from tells you "SHE loves you". And when it comes to this perfect mix of traditional and modern aesthetic you'll love her too.
They even give you a smartphone loaded with travel info and walking maps to to see you for the rest of your trip where there's more to explore. So don't sleep in and make sure you're all charged up because between places to pin like the Shimogamo Shrine and the Koda-ji there's so much to see temple to shrine in a buddhist city that has to be seen to be believed. And we'll leave the rest of that up to you because like Kyoto itself and it's place in Japan, the beauty of this city and country isn't what you are advised to see, but what you actually discover yourself. And when it comes to this wonderful and soulful place you really may just find yourself right here. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
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