"Is it possible to overdose on too much beauty?" Kyoto is a place where one can test the limits, isn't it?

Aah, such a joy to read.

Thank you for such an enjoyable read, Russ. You have a wonderful way with words & I'll forever look at a crowd in the rain as "a river of umbrellas flooding ..."

Thanks for the kind words everyone! Traveling for work for a few days but hoping to finish the report this week.

What an interesting report. You were well prepared and obviously a good traveler. Doubt that we will at our age get to Japan but you have enlightened us anyway.

May 26 - Day 14 – Kyoto and after

Since we were leaving Kyoto at noon, I had not planned anything particular, so it felt a bit like a bonus day. We decided to use the morning to explore two of the temples closest to our hotel that we had somehow missed. Chion-in was being renovated, so the main building was covered, but there were lots of other buildings that were fun to explore, including the largest gateway in the country, and the building which houses the heaviest bell in Japan, which reportedly takes 17 monks to ring. The highlight for us was a small pavilion located on the hillside at the highest point in the complex. The walls were open on all four sides, affording views over the roofs of the temple buildings, as well as over eastern Kyoto. Because it had rained the night before, we were mesmerized by the steam rising from the thatched roofs as they were heated by the morning sun. Since we were the only people there, we sat on mats distributed across the floor and enjoyed the sound of a nearby waterfall, appreciating the quiet solitude.

We descended through a graveyard to the street below and continued next door to Shoren-in, which you can easily recognize from the enormous camphor tree out front, its moss covered roots slinking like green serpents at its base. This brought back some pleasant childhood memories. We had a camphor tree in our front yard growing up, and when we were asked in school to draw a tree, this is what immediately came to mind. The temple contained a series of rooms with beautifully painted screens, which looked out onto more attractively landscaped gardens. Like Chion-in, this seemed off the main tourist track and provided a calm and peaceful place to reflect.

We spent our final couple of hours walking the streets of Higashiyama, picking up a few last minute trinkets, and witnessing a traditional wedding in the open air pavilion of the Yasaka shrine. Back at the hotel Mume, we said goodbye to Hisako and her wonderful staff, thanking them for wonderful stay, and vowing to return someday.

Final Thoughts:

Thank you for following along as I relived our trip. Along with our photos, this was a great way for me to remember all of the highlights of the trip, and I hope that it is helpful to others as they plan their trips. As I mentioned in the beginning, we loved the sights, sounds and tastes of Japan, but it was the people that we encountered that really made this especially memorable for us. Although it’s not necessary to learn more than hello, thank you, and please in Japanese, I felt that our small additional effort paid us back 100 times with bows, smiles, and laughter.

A few days after returning home, and halfway through this trip report, I couldn’t get my mind off of the feeling that we had unfinished business with Japan. So we did something we’ve never done before…we booked a trip to the same country two years in a row! We arrive on April 1, in time for the cherry blossoms, excited to see some of the places we had to omit from our first trip, and anxious to say hello to some of the old friends we made along the way. Thanks again to all the Fodorites who helped in our planning stages. You will be seeing a separate posting with questions on a new itinerary very soon. We can’t wait to do it again!

Aah wonderful.
Photos you say? Any online?

Fabulous trip report. We're going for 3 1/2 weeks in mid-October and I've made this required reading for my husband.

As far as returning so soon we did the same thing once. Spend two weeks in September in Ireland. Fell in love with the country and most importantly the people. Went back the following May for another two weeks. No regrets.

Photos, please!

Ceezee, us too!
We went to Japan for our first visit in September/ October 2012 and returned in October/ November 2013. I'd have gone again this year but husband "suggested" three years in a row was excessive and I should give somewhere else a chance this year!

Thank you so much for reviving many wonderful memories and letting me see both familiar and new places through your eyes. I'm looking forward to the threads about your next journey!

Yes, I could see a third Japan trip in our future, but probably not for several years. In the meantime, I'll focus on trip #2. I'll try to see if I can get photos posted sometime in the near future. I'll post a link when I do.

Thank you Russ!
It's June and I still have TONNES of content I want to share on my blog from our autumn 2013 trip. Time passes by SO FAST!!!!

I have just read your report in one sitting while I am supposed to be researching something else! Thank you thank you for taking the time to write such a wonderfully detailed report.

Outstanding trip report, Russ. The Japanese are the kindest people I have met on my travels thus far. And that is awesome that you are returning next year to fill in open items. I have done that twice...once visiting Italy 3 years in a row from 2001-2003 and then visting Istanbul in 2011 and being so blown away that I went back in 2012 to spend 16 days in Turkey. I've never regretted either decision.

Looking forward to reading next year's trip report!

Thanks, Beef! We lived in Italy for 2.5 years from 1997 - 1999 and still went back 2 more times in the 2000's, and then we went to France twice after that. We love Europe, but we always end up so exhausted that it takes 2 to 3 years before we have the energy to go back. I think the fact that everything ran so smoothly on our Japan trip is playing a big roll in our decision to go back so soon.

P.S. We loved Turkey as well!

russ_in_la, I have five things to say to you!!!!!!

1) that was seriously the best trip report I've read in all my years on Fodors!
2) I am sleepy and have bags under my eyes because I kept waking up last night to read more (never going to forgive you for this!)
3) you have made me even more excited to go to Japan, which wasn't even my idea but the idea of my 12 year old.
4) I went to Italy 2 years in a row twice! And I even returned this summer twice -- once in June and then again at the end of August! I was supposed to be born there!
5) the rest of my comments will be posted under the thread I started which you commented on which began my sleepless night!

Your report was a gift to Fodors! I have links saved for days!

Take care.

Hi Lolazahra,

So happy that you found the trip report useful! (Sorry for the sleepless night.) Can't wait to read your trip report when you get back. Have fun!

Dear Russ - yours was one of the first trip reports I read when researching our trip to Japan. We are now in Kyoto, resting in our room at Hotel Mume, and I've re-read all your Kyoto notes. We are here with the same 400,000 schoolchildren but that doesn't detract one bit from the wonderfulness of Kyoto. I laughed when I read that you felt almost uncomfortable at the hospitality of the Mume staff-we feel that way too! We planned for the same 4 nights (3 days really) and only have one more to go so tough decisions for us as well. Just wanted to say thank you for writing such a detailed report. It was SO helpful - especially as it brought us to Hotel Mume!

Wow, this report has legs!!

AtlTravelr- welcome to the "Fans of Hotel Mume" club. Please say hello to Hisako from David in Minneapolis, (she may more quickly remember me as the gentleman who had the pain in his lower right shin) and who stayed with her and her team last month. Along with the Witt Istanbul, Hotel Mume is my favorite hotel in the world.

MinnBeef-unfortunately we left Mume before I saw your post so didn't give them your regards. I did tell them, however, that I had read about them here and that there were many "Fans of Mume" around. I have to say a BIG thank you to you, russ, and SO many others who wrote very detailed reports on Japan. For some reason I was very nervous about this adventure - the first Asian trip where we did all the planning ourselves. The big surprise here has been just how easy it is to travel in a country where we are illiterate (for the most part). Everyone, from hotel personnel to strangers on the street, have been so helpful, so friendly. The trains are a marvel, the cities unbelievably clean, the places we've seen are fascinating and the food - ahhhh, the food...