Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - KYOTO TRIP REPORT

After a few "kinks" in our plan, we finally got a hotel room last week in Kyoto and left Busan, Korea on a short Asiana flight of 1 hour and 5 minutes. Due to fog, our flight was delayed and we got in later than we expected. I mention hotels because we were originally scheduled for September, with no problems booking a hotel, but when we had to change to October it was awful, with very little available.. So I caution anyone who wants to travel to Kyoto in the fall to make reservations well in advance.
Day One: Landed at Kansai Airport and followed signs to the JR train lines. We had purchased our rail passes in Busan and had to go into an office to have them validated. We were pleasantly surprised, after hearing that very little English is spoken in Japan, to discover that not only did most people know a little English, but they were so nice and smiling and friendly. It was great. Of course, we are "seasoned" ex-pats, having lived in Korea for two and a half years, and used to not hearing our language!
The signs were very clear, and we made our way to the JR Line, bound for Kyoto Station. Only certain cars can be used by those not holding reservations, so find out which ones they are before you get on the train.
The trip took a bit under an hour, and we arrived at Kyoto Station, which is huge and very modern. It can be confusing too. We knew that there was a shuttle to the Westin Miyako, but decided to have some lunch in the station. The problem was, though we kept seeing signs for restaurants at the big department store, sorry I forgot the name, and proceeded to go up the escalator in the middle for several flights, we couldn't seem to find a restaurant, because we thought they were outside. However, if you go inside the dept. store at the 9th floor, there are several with offerings in the windows. But since we didn't do this, the only thing we could find was an italian cafe. It was on the 11th floor and called Ante Caffe. We were disappointed at having to eat italian, as we really wanted Japanese, but were tired so we went inside. Were we surprised! We had a delicious lunch of caesar salad, pizza margherita and wine, for a very low price, and the service was excellent and everything else looked very good, especially the desserts, which we didn't try, as we had discovered the Cafe DuMonde (a New Orleans landmark) upon arrival. So that was our next stop and we had chicory coffee and those delicious, airy beignets they are famous for.
Finally, we were ready to make our way to our hotel, but we couldn't find the hotel shuttle. We asked two policemen and they were so kind that they escorted us downstairs and walked us outside and around to the shuttle. The trip took about twenty minutes, stopping once at a shopping area.
By the time we arrived at the hotel, we were tired and couldn't wait to relax in our room. This trip was for our 30th anniversary and we had notified the hotel of this. We have been "Starwood" members for many years and have stayed at many of their hotels all over the world in the past. Of course we love the "heavenly" beds, but the hotels have all met our level of expectation. Although I had seen a few negative comments about the Westin Miyako in the past, we were not prepared for the room they showed us to. It was small and had nothing on the walls and looked like a cheap motel back home! At almost $300 a night we were very disappointed. So we marched back down and complained, trying not to seem like "ugly Americans". They said we could have another room for 5,000 yen extra per night and what could we do, but pay the extra. However, my husband, who is a Canadian, and very polite, did call the manager, who gave us breakfast coupons for our stay. The new room was decent, but I wouldn't say it was anything more than that and we bit the bullet and paid something like $350 per night, wondering whether we could have done better elsewhere, though everything else seemed to be booked!
We unpacked and by this time it was after 7 p.m. and we were too tired to go back out to search for restaurants. We went to the bar for a drink and tried to decide what we wanted to eat. The drinks were very expensive, ranging from about $12 USD to $18. The bar was empty, but I had a nice martini and my husband ordered a Crown Royal. We are spoiled in the US, as bartenders there never pour a small shot, but always top it off. However, this shot was very small, but we have the same thing here in Busan, so we are used to it! We decided to check out the restaurants in the hotel. They were very, very expensive, and also quite empty, but we chose to go into the Chinese restaurant and order a couple of entries. We ordered "walnut shrimp" and "dumplings with vermicelli". The shrimp dish was like a small appetizer size and the four shrimp on the plate were about 1/2 inch in size. As I said, we live in Korea and food here is very expensive also, but we order the same dish here and it is even more expensive, but you get very large fresh shrimp and we are very satisfied. Anyway, we were so disappointed, but thought we'd fill up on the dumpling dish. Wrong! When they finally brought it, I couldn't tell that these two big blobs were dumplings at all. They were covered in a dark sauce and there were maybe six little vermicelli underneath. So we paid the 7,500 yen bill and went to bed.

Day Two: Had the buffet breakfast in the hotel with our coupons. It wasn't spectacular, but it sufficed. The usual cereals, breads, runny eggs and dry pancakes. We were glad we didn't have to pay the $27 each we would have been charged, had we not had the coupons.
The day was lovely and we had made plans to go to a large "flea market" near Nijo Station. I cannot remember the name of it, but it is held on the 25th of each month. There is another one on the 21st somewhere else, and I'm sure it would not be hard to find out the names. We took the subway, which was five minutes from the hotel, met some lovely young ladies from the states who were backpacking around Japan and they told us how to get to our destination. We took a taxi to the flea market. The taxis are very large and they drive very carefully and are polite. Unfortunately, here in Korea it's like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride when you get in one, so this was a pleasant surprise. We walked around the market for a few hours and purchased some "antique" items, a trio of Japanese statues and an interesting scrimshaw knife with chopsticks set which the woman said was old. I would like to have it appraised when we move back to the states, but it was interesting. We are "young" sixty + and hope our friends vision is poor enough that they won't notice the erotica all over it! I also bought a sake set with the same. I bought it because of the lovely colors, but must say the insides of the cups are very amusing, to say the least!
We ate chicken yakitori from a lady grilling it right there in the market and some noodles. It was a cheap lunch and very tasty.
I bought a "used" obi (the sash of a geisha costume, for anyone who doesn't know)at the market, which I will cut off at one end and use for a table runner. It is silk and very beautiful. I also had to buy another "tote" bag to haul the treasures. My husband doesn't understand why I need so many totes, but I'm somewhat of a compulsive shopper. He was happy with our purchases though, and we left.
We didn't have a lot of time in Japan, only a few days, and my husband had said he didn't have any interest in going there originally, as he had seen temples, etc. in Korea.I had begged him to take me before we leave this side of the world, and he reluctantly agreed. I am happy to report that from the minute we got to Kyoto he admitted he was wrong and loved everything about Japan! So I know we'll go back someday.
Since we still didn't know too much about the train system, we took a taxi to our next stop: An afternoon in ARASHIYAMA. It was about twenty minutes away from Nijo area, and cost almost $20, so I would recommend if you go to check out the JR train. Since we only had a few hours in this lovely place, we walked around into the shops, and the temple there and walked across the old bridge. The mountains are covered in trees which were just starting to change color. There is a bamboo forest and a monkey park. We didn't attempt to go to the park, as we had heard the monkeys don't come out to be fed in the fall, as they have enough food. If you check out the JR Romantic Train, you can get off at a different place and take a two hour boat ride which goes to Arashiyama. We sat on a bench and watched people go by and saw two beautiful geishas get into a rickshaw and ride by. We had delicious ice cream from a stand. My husband saw what looked like strawberry and it wasn't and I have no idea what mine was, but it was all yummy.
I bought a beautiful, hand painted fan in a little shop in the hear of the town, and we reluctantly made our way (by train) back to our hotel. I recommend if you go to Arashiyama, that you allow a full day. It is so beautiful, and we both loved it!
Back at the hotel, we got ready for dinner and went to the bar, which was, once again, deserted. However, it was "happy hour" so the drinks were half price.
I want to say a thank you to "Hawaiian Traveler" if he reads this, for the wonderful restaurants he recommended to us.
We took a taxi to the Kobe beef restaurant, called MISONO, near the Gion area, I believe, please check out "Restaurants Kyoto" post for the info. We made reservations and ordered the 8,400 yen dinner each, and I must say, it was the most delicious, melt in your mouth, beef we have ever eaten! The only problem was, and it was our own faults, we pointed to the glass of red wine on the menu and asked for two and she opened the bottle but kept pouring until we realized we had bought a bottle. It was expensive, but the meal was memorable and the wine very nice.
We walked around a bit and upon arrival back at our hotel, we found an anniversary cake waiting in our room, a nice touch.
Day Three: This trip went too fast! The weather was "iffy", and so we took a Sunrise Tour 1/2 day, that was $50 + USD per person. Honestly, I think a person could make their way to these places on their own and save a lot of money. We first went to Nijo Castle, walked around inside and each room was the same as the next, pretty gold leafed screens, tatami mats and statues of the royalty. We then went to the Golden Palace, but you couldn't go inside. So we walked and looked at the palace from afar, which was very beautiful on a lake and then got back on the bus, which took us to the Imperial Palace. Once again, you couldn't go inside, so you walked and walked and only looked at plain walls from the outside. We were then shuttled to the Handicraft Center which was overpriced, but maybe for tourists who didn't have any time to shop it would have been o.k. We were very glad that we only took the 1/2 day tour, as it started pouring rain and we felt sorry for the "full day" people. We made our way back to Kyoto Station, went back up to the department store restaurants and had some delicious sushi. I cannot remember the name of the place but it was on the 9th floor. They spoke a little English and everything on the menu was also in English. We ate a lot, and the bill was very reasonable, under $50. The sushi just melted in our mouths.
Back to the hotel and a rest before evening.
Back to the empty bar for "happy hour" once again. The martinis were great.
Our concierge was very helpful and we talked all about Gion Corner and the Geishas. So we took a taxi and arrived their just before 6 p.m. The streets were so charming and their were many tourists standing around waiting for the geishas, so we knew we were in the right place. We met four lovely Australian tourists and were so deep in conversation that when someone had a "geisha sighting" it startled us, but my husband ran after them and got in front of the two girls and, I'm embarrassed to say, just like an annoying "paparazzi",proceeded to snap their picture, which they did not like. We then watched them get into a car and got a really good look at them. They were so beautiful, and anyone who has read "Memoirs of a Geisha" or seen the movie, knows it entails to become a geisha. We said goodbye to our new acquaintances and set out for our anniversary dinner at a french restaurant nearby, MANYOKEN. We had some trouble finding it, so if you decide to go there, get precise directions from the concierge. The restaurant is in a charming, old townhouse. It is small but overlooks a lovely garden. We love traditional french food, but this is more "nouvelle". Each course was so beautifully presented. Our son is a chef in Hawaii, so my husband took pictures of each course for him to enjoy. We drank Sancerre wine and had a wonderful meal. The escargot were our favorite and we couldn't get enough of the wonderful garlic butter. The desserts were almost too pretty to eat. It was just all so lovely. The rain had stopped earlier and we walked around some more and went back to our hotel.
The next morning we traveled back to Osaka for our flight back to Busan. All in all, it was a "quick" trip for us, but enough to make us both definitely want to see Japan again with much more time to spend.
I can honestly say, it is such a beautiful country and the people couldn't be nicer. But do bring full wallets when you go! One last thing about the Westin Miyako. It is a very old hotel and the pictures on their website are very deceiving with the charming tile roof and the view from the camera angle. When you pull up to the hotel, it looks like just another older hotel. In fairness, the staff was very nice and helpful, but I think if we return, we'd try the Granvia or the Hyatt (which someone said had hospital noise from nearby). This is my first trip report ever, so I hope if might be a little helpful to someone. Cheers!