Japan 2016. Day 4: 186 mph to Kyoto

Today was a great day! We woke up early and took a bullet train to Kyoto, which was once the ancient capital of Japan for over 1,000 years. The train ride was amazing, and we even had our first-ever bento box which felt very Japanese. 

Once we arrived in Kyoto, we dropped off our luggage at the hotel and headed to the Nishi Hongwanji temple. The temple was an amazing sight! The walls around the temple were so immense and intricate, we couldn’t wait to get inside. There were two giant halls, the founder’s hall was built in 1760 and has been closed for 10 years for restoration and it is now looking incredible. It is joined to the smaller hall by a large bridge that squeaks when you walk on it. This is called a nightingale bridge and warned of intruders i.e. ninjas 😂 After enjoying time around the halls and taking in the vast amount of gold we spent more time in the courtyard. We saw our first thatched roof on a temple. We got to watch the evening prayer which felt very special.

After visiting the temple, we decided to go shopping for some gifts at a Japanese department store. Things were quite expensive there, but we still managed to find some great gifts for ourselves! We also had a delicious meal of cold noodles with a dipping sauce. Eating the noodles with chopsticks was easy, but getting them out of the small cup when they fell from the chopsticks was a bit tricky.  Japanese table etiquette might have gone out of the window slightly, but hey I am a foreigner and fingers are chopsticks where I come from😂😂 The curried noodles were easier to eat.

Next, we came across a Pachinko parlor. It was quite noisy inside and we needed earplugs! It was so addictive, we loved it and hope that these come to England soon. 

We ended our day back at our beautiful hotel in the NAKED SPA......yes that’s right NAKED, the shy quiet, and reserved Japanese like to let it ALL hang loose.