Kyoto is a historical city of Japan located at a distance of 450 km from Tokyo (capital of Japan). The city has many UNESCO World Heritage sites. I visited Kyoto in Nov 2016 when I was in Japan for a conference (ICFD 2016). The conference was held at Sendai International Center from 10 Oct 2016 - 12 Oct 2016. I traveled to Kyoto from Sendai after the conference.
Travel requirements: The most essential requirements to travel abroad are Passport and VISA. My Japanese VISA was issued through a travel agent located inside the IIT Kanpur campus and he charged INR 2500. Where the actual visa fee is INR 490 for Indian nationals if submitted directly. Before traveling to Japan, I purchased a 7 days Japan Rail Pass at a cost of INR 19500 from New Delhi (H.I.S. Travel (India) Private limited) and received an exchange order for the Japan Rail Pass. The Japan Rail Pass can be obtained in Japan at the airport using the exchange order. The exchange order can only be purchased outside Japan. This pass can be used to avail all transport services by Japan Rail including Shinkansen (Bullet train). I planned and made a list of places to be visited and saved the offline google map of these locations. A GPS enabled smart phone with google map application is very helpful while traveling an unknown place. The saved offline map along with GPS helped me a lot while traveling without internet within Japan. I carried some amount of Japanese Yen, International debit card, credit card and a SBI Travel card. It is unnecessary to issue a travel card if you posses international debit card/credit card (VISA/Mastercard). The air ticket was booked in AirIndia at a cost of INR 43200 (including return ticket) through AirIndia online booking. Journey to Kyoto:
Journey started from IIT Kanpur. First, I traveled to Delhi on 7th Oct 2016 by Shrama Shakti Express which departed Kanpur Central at 11:45 PM and arrived New Delhi railway station at 6:45 AM on 8th Oct 2016. I went to the Indira Gandhi International Airport at 6 PM by Delhi metro to catch the flight. My luggage was checked in at the AirIndia counter and received the boarding pass. After the immigration and security check, I went to the boarding gate and boarded the flight (AI 306). The flight took off at 9:15 PM and flew to Tokyo. The flight landed at Narita international airport at 8:45 AM (Tokyo time). My VISA got stamped at the immigration check and walked to the Japan Rail Pass counter. I presented my Exchange order of Japan Rail Pass and passport at the counter and received my Japan Rail Pass (JRP). I booked a ticket in Narita Express using the JRP and travel to Tokyo. Then I traveled to Sendai in Shinkansen and stayed there from 9 Oct to 12 Oct to attend the conference. This was my first experience in bullet train.
Exploring Kyoto:
First, a bicycle was hired at a exchange of 500 JPY from a near bicycle rental shop. Bicycle is the best option to explore Kyoto. All the tourist places are with in a few kilometer from city center which can easily be reached by bicycle. I rode the bicycle and moved to the nearest and first tourist destination, Nijo Castle. It is at a distance of 3.5 km from the hotel. After reaching Nijo Castle, I parked my bicycle at the parking area and paid 200 JPY as parking charge and received a bicycle parking receipt. The receipt can be used to park at most of the tourist destinations in Kyoto for that day. Nijo Castle is an UNESCO World Heritage site built in 1603. The admission fee for the monument is 600 JPY. The castle is very big and beautiful. It is made of wood and well preserved by JACAM. The wooden entrance gate of the castle is decorated with gold which gives an elegant look to the structure. The castle is fortified by a wall and a wide moat full of water. Ninomaru palace inside the castle is the most attractive part. It is required to remove shoe at the entrance before entering the palace. Inside of the palace is decorated with elaborate wood carving and wall paintings. Photography is not allowed inside the castle. After spending approximately 1 hour inside the monument, I moved to the next destination.
I rode my bicycle and follow the google map to Kinkaku-ji temple. It is at a distance of 4.5 km from Nijo castle. It took approximately 20 minutes to arrive at Kinkaku-ji temple. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site. The temple is known as Golden Pavilion temple. I arrived at this place at 4:15 PM and purchased the entry ticket at a price of 400 JPY to enter the temple. The temple is very beautiful and magnificent. The structure is completely coated with gold. Reflection of the temple on the lake enhances the beauty of the place. The place was heavily crowded by tourists. I spent approximately 45 minutes and captured lots of photographs. There is also a souvenir shop inside the premises where I bought few handcraft items and moved to the exit point.
I returned from the Kinkaku-ji temple and roamed in the city for one and half hours. After having a burger at a McDonald, I went to a UNESCO World Heritage site, Kiyomizu-dera at 7:30 PM and it was already closed. It opens in night only in some specific months when the temple is illuminated with vibrant color lights. After capturing few photographs of the entrance, I returned to the hotel. Again I moved to the place at 5:45 AM in the next morning. The entry gate opened at 6:00 AM. I collected the entry pass at an entry fee of 400 JPY and entered the gate. The monument lies on a mountain and is very big. It is a Budhist temple and was built in 780 AD. The whole structure is completely made of wood. At the base of the main hall, there is Otowa waterfall which is divided into three streams. Drinking water from the streams is said to have different benefits of longevity, success at school and fortunate love life. Behind the main hall, there is a Jishu Shrine which is dedicated to the deity of love and match making. Two stones are found 18 meters apart in front of the shrine. Finding way from one stone to other with closed eyes brings success in finding love. After spending approximately 3 hours, I returned from the Kiyomizu-dera at 9 AM. There are lots of souvenir shops on both sides of the road near the temple. I bought few hand crafts from a shop and rode back to the hotel.
I returned the bicycle which was rent for 24 hours. I packed my luggage and checked out from the hotel at 10:30 AM. Then I traveled to Tokyo by Shinkansen which left Kyoto at 11:56 AM and arrived at Tokyo at 2:33 PM. I moved to Narita International Airport from Tokyo by Narita Express and arrived at the Airport at 4:30 PM. I stayed at 9 hours capsule hotel located at the airport. I spent the evening time in the airport waiting area and shopped few items from the airport. After the dinner in the airport, I went to the capsule hotel to sleep. Next day morning, I flew to Delhi from Narita airport at 11:15 AM and arrived at Delhi at 5:00 PM, then returned to IIT Kanpur by train.
I have only visited 3 places due to lack of time. Lots of other important places were missed which required at least 3 days to explore these places. The travel experience was very nice and explored a different culture and tradition.
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13 Oct 2016
About me
Tapan Kumar Pradhan Post Doc, IIT kharagpur PhD, IIT Kanpur http://tapankp.weebly.com Currency Conversion:
1 US dollar = 69 INR 1 INR = 1.63 JPY 1 US dollar = 112 JPY Japanese Visa:
Single or multiple entry: INR 490 Transit visa: INR 40 More information: http://www.in.emb-japan.go.jp/short_term%20visas.html |