A morning of travel that involved a taxi to the local station in Yudanka, then two local trains eventually arriving in Nagano, before picking up an express train to Nagoya, and finally changing to a Shinkansen (bullet train) ending in Kyoto.

The whole journey door to door was 5hrs and like everything in Japan, every train was on time to the nearest minute!

The pinnacle of our latest journey had to be getting the bullet train to Kyoto. It’s such an awe inspiring sight seeing the streamlined train arriving into the station.

Time to board the ‘bullet’ and enjoy the 300kph flight to the old capital of Kyoto.

At last we arrived and it was now time to get the subway in Kyoto to Gojo where we are staying for the next 3 nights.

We are staying at the Asai Kyoto Shijo, a Japanese chain we’ve had the pleasure to stay in when last in Bangkok. Although the rooms are a little bijou, they’ve got everything you need and all is elegantly arranged & presented.

After a quick unpack and change we headed down to the hotel bar for a beer, before going to explore Kyoto and an initial visit to the Imperial Palace.

We had a stroll around the expansive Kyoto Imperial Park and visited the Imperial Palace, the former home of the emperors of Japan.

The palace is of traditional Japanese architecture, and features beautiful gardens, gates and ceremonial halls, however visitors are not allowed inside.

After our visit to the palace, we headed towards the Kamogawa River, and our meeting point for a night’s walking tour around the Geisha district, close to our hotel in Gion.

We’d been told the best places to see geisha in Kyoto are Hanami–koji-dori in Gion (the section between Shijo-dori and Kennin-ji Temple) and at the Shijo-dori end of Pontocho.

Supposedly the best time to see them is around dusk (early evening), especially on weekends and holidays.

Having met up with our guide we started the night geisha walking tour at 6pm.

We spent the majority of the walk in Gion, home to significant historical landmarks including Yasaka Shrine, one of Kyoto’s most popular shrines, and Kennin-ji Temple, a serene Zen temple with beautiful gardens.

We visited both which offered a glimpse into Japan’s rich history and cultural heritage.

Our tour guide did his best to explain what makes a geisha.

Geisha are highly skilled entertainers who appear at high-end dinners, private parties and special events to add a special touch to the proceedings. They are NOT prostitutes, despite portrayals in certain books and movies.

Knowledgeable insiders estimate that there are about 100 geiko and 100 maiko in Kyoto. 

We were told that it’s easy to tell the difference between a maiko and a geiko: maiko wear colourful kimono with long sleeves and appear with their own hair worn up with a variety of extravagant hairpins (known as kanzashi), while geiko wear plainer kimono with shorter sleeves and appear wearing relatively unadorned wigs. Both maiko and geiko entertain guests and they often appear together at various functions.

Alongside the history of geisha, we took in the various Japanese restaurants sitting in historical buildings in and around Gion.

We then moved on to Yasaka shrine, one of Japan’s most historic and famous Shinto shrines. Originally founded in the 650AD, it is known for its vibrant vermilion buildings and distinctive gate, called the Romon Gate.

After 2hrs walking around the city, we were all starting to feel a little hungry, so we left the tour early and made our way to the Pontocho district.

It’s one of Kyoto’s most atmospheric dining areas. A narrow alley running from Shijo-dori to Sanjo-dori. The alley is packed with restaurants on both sides offering a wide range of dining options from inexpensive yakitori to traditional and modern cuisine. Despite being in Japan we opted for Chinese, in part down to the fact all the restaurants were full and hard to get a reservation!

At the end of the evening, we went for a wander down the alley and made a pledge that we would be eating sushi or Kobe beef the next evening!

Tomorrow we plan to visit the Golden temple, the bamboo forest on the outskirts of the city, before visiting Nijo Castle and the famous Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in the evening, with a Japanese inspired meal for dinner.