Arrived at Kyoto and explored Nara Park

We arrived at Kyoto around 7am from Tokyo via the overnight bus. Read previous stories HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE

But first, let me tell you what happened while waiting for our bus at Shinjuku Expressway Bus Terminal. I checked their website to purchase our tickets online here – http://shinjuku-busterminal.co.jp/en/operation_busservice/ but upon checking there were only 1 available seat for 2 buses to Kyoto and the only one that has available seats was going to Osaka and it’s the most expensive which is ¥8000 each. Naisip ko kung wala ng ibang options wala akong choice kundi ito bilhin kahit doble presyo sa ibang bus makarating lang ng Kansai region dahil dito kami mag e-exit pa Manila.

But then I decided to go to the terminal and check kung merong available seats kung don ako bibili sa counter mismo. Guess what, meron nga! Tapos ¥4000 lang per head. E di naka-save ako ng kalahati.

On the day of our trip, we met our neighbor at the terminal kasi kakarating lang nila sa Japan. They arrived 30 minutes before our departure time. Ewan ko anong nangyari, pero di ko narinig na tinatawag na pala ang passengers para sa bus namin, yung area din kasi na ini expect kong dadaanan ng bus nakikita kong walang nag aantay so di ko talaga napansin. Too late na nung nag decide kami magtanong at naiwan na pala kami hahaha.

Nataranta ako kasi iniisip ko what if wala ng next bus? Saan kami matutulog. I asked the ticket counter and they said that I need to purchase new tickets. Dahil sa katangahan namin, wala akong choice but to say yes, as long as meron pang masasakyan. But thank God, ¥3000 lang pinadagdag sakin sa new tickets namin tapos yung generous kung kapitbahay na feeling nila kasalanan nila bat kami naiwan, binalik nya samin yung ¥3000 na na charge (ang galing lang kasi akala ko magpapapalit lang sya sakin ng barya kaya di ko naman alam na di na nya kukunin yung ¥3000 kasi di din naman ako papayag kasi nakakahiya).

Ito pa, originally going to Osaka ang tickets namin, pero nag decide ako na ang ipurchase na ay going to Kyoto since dito naman talaga kami dapat papunta. Thankful talaga ako at may available buses sila for walk ins. Big lesson yung on time lagi ang transportations sa Japan so better to be on the area at least 30 minutes before departure.

We arrived in Kyoto around 7am. We had our breakfast first at the nearby Burger King then we headed to our hotel to change clothes and leave our baggage.

There’s a nice place near our hotel so we took advantage to take some family/OOTD shots.

Then we headed to Nara Park to meet some deers. We rode the Limited Express (mas mahal sa regular pass na di namin alam na meron pala). Pero okay lang, kumportable naman kami sa upuan kasi maluwag at walang nakatayo.

When we arrived at Nara Park, we bought deer food for ¥200 per pack of 10 biscuits. Dapat di mo ipakita sa mga deer lahat yung biscuits kasi hahabulin ka. Better not to spend it all in the area near the train station since there are still a lot of deers at the end of the park. I think they are introverts so they don’t want to go to the area where tourists are mostly situated hehe.

We also bought matcha ice cream, hokaido and strawberry ice cream available on the park. The price ranges from ¥400-¥500 as far as I can remember. We explored the area since it’s peaceful and relaxing.

I like that Japan’s public toilet are clean also. I haven’t use any public toilet that are disgusting here.

When we returned back to Kyoto, we just rode a regular train pass, it will take you longer but it’s cheaper than the limited express pass.

Since it’s still early when we arrived at our hotel, we decided to explore Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka where the famous pagoda is located. We were not able to visit Churieto pagoda at Kawaguchiko so I am glad that this pagoda in Kyoto is not hard to walk to.

It was dark already when we arrived even though it’s just 5PM. Some of the tourists were already going back home and some stores were starting to close down.

We tried this mochi with strawberry on it. It’s taste okay, nothing special.

We also saw a line up at a bbq store where they sell Kobe beef and some other meat. Since it’s still early, we thought not to eat our dinner yet which we regretted since when we went back to our hotel there were no open restaurants at the area already.

Grabe!!!! ang aga nila magsara. We couldn’t find a nearby convenience store too. Ang layo na ng nilakad namin pero wala. Nagtiis na lang si Ren sa vendo machine and it’s a good thing that we still have some sandwiches we bought from Tokyo. But I am glad to see a Geisha while walking. Ang saya ko kasi gusto ko talaga makakita kahit isa lang.