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261 Shinmonzen dori, Umemotocho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, 605-0064, Japan
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Sino-Japanese Peace Monument
View of Upper Villa
Shimogamo Shrine
The Sandusandengo Temple
Ive never been to Japan or Kyoto so I am trying to figure out what would be best for me at this point. Hopefully someone here can help.
1) Ryokan Kohro their website is www.kohro.com. From their website, it looks great. But im not sure what rooms those are pictures of. The price is cheaper than option2.
Option 2) A house near Shinyo-do temple. Here is a quote from the Home's owner
"The house dates from the late Edo period (1603-1867). It was originally the
house of the samurai in charge of Shinnyo-do Temple (an amazing area to
explore, just out the door). This samurai was a cousin of the emperor of
the time. One of the rooms guests sleep in was fitted especially to be able
to receive the emperor. The garden features a turtle stone, which is quite
rare in normal residential gardens.
The home is nestled in one of Kyoto1s oldest and quietest areas located
practically in the middle of town, on a green forested hill that features
exquisite residential, forested and shrine/temple walking (just out the
door). There is only two rooms for guests. The facilities (bath & toilet) are those
of a family house."
IMO
OPTION 1 IS :cheaper, has private bathrooms, and closer to Kyoto station
but
Option 2 : seems more traditional, in a great neighborhood, and near sights I want to see. I lose some privacy with the bathroom, but it only has 2 guest rooms anyways. And option 2 is 1800yen more
Any opinions folks?
I already tried.
They were the 1st place i checked.
But they were booked and so is their sister inn, the Budget INN.
:(
The house seems to have more character but there may be more restrictions there such as a curfew.
The ryokan is a concrete building built in 1982 although presumably remodelled in 2001. My guess is that it has seen better days. Certainly the rooms in the pictures are their better rooms and I wouldn't count on the cheaper rooms looking like that.
This person seems to have liked it, however: http://hometown.aol.com/schuylerantane/week1.html
Does the house have a web site?
Thanks for your help.
There is no curfew for the house, here is a recent email they sent me.
Dear Shawn,
* No curfew, if you think you are going to be late, I1ll give you a key.
* The rail pass is good for JR lines, not subway. There is reallyu close
subway to the house, the closest is a bus terminal that will take your rail
pass, I think. But info on the way from the station after you1ve confirmed.
* The family is my wife and I.
* Arriving around noon will be OK.
Waiting to hear from you.
Best regards.
They also have no website since it is a family house, but they did have a few pictures.
The pics of the Ryokan Kohro look awesome on the website. The cool thing is that its also 1800 yen cheaper and still has private baths. It is also closer to Kyoto station. But the house has more personality and is near some cool sights.
I dunno, Im trying to make my decision by tonight.
It sounds like both places would be good options.
The advantage to the home though is that you would get more personal interaction and get to see what life is like in a Japanese home. Plus they are more likely to go above the call of duty to help you with your travel arrangements, answer your questions, point you to good shops for your needs, etc.
But Kohro seems to have a good reputation and it's cheaper.
Personally, I would probably go with the home. Mainly because I've already been to many ryokan/hotels like Kohro and the home sounds more interesting to me. But for you, I don't know what the best decision is.
Good luck.
We stayed in a Ryokan called Kogetsusou in Kyoto.
http://www.ryokan.or.jp/kinki/eng/kyoto01.htm and it's the last one at bottom of the page.
We paid 10,000 yen per person per night (2 yrs ago and in Dec., low season) but obviously they raised price. The dinner and breakfast were great and the famous Kyoto Tofu was very delicious! They have a nice garden too. Private bathroom. In quiet neighborhood. A walk in the morning was very refreshing.
Maybe you want to check this one out. But I think the samurai house is a good choice too.
Have a nice trip in Kyoto!
-Virtogo
I was lucky to go to dinner with a Maiko - young apprentice Geisha. A kind and well-placed Japanese friend organized it. What did I learn? Kimiko studies English in her spare time, learns the shamizen and all the other fine arts required, loves shopping and Japanese pop music. She was a good conversationalist and kept everyone included at all times. After she left, we were all lost for words for a while.
There are some well-known "foreigner" pubs in Kyoto, none of which I am too keen on. A little too much testosterone, bad service and bad music. This is a small cozy (although on Saturday nights VERY smoky!) pub. Hako-san and his wife are the friendliest owners who never forget a name or a favorite song. Yes, if you like rock classics, chances are it will be available to be played at your request. The beer is cheap at just around 500Yen for a large bottle. The food especially the salads and cheese-sticks (deepfried cheese!) are delicious considering the tiny cooking space out back. Another good thing is that as the night wears on and seating space becomes limited, you will be sharing tables with strangers who usually go on to become friends. casual casual
The restaurant on the second floor of the Gion Hotel provides something unusual - reasonable prices near a famous sightseeing spot (actually several)! The restaurant, called Shiki (Four Seasons, but that's only written in kanji, Chinese characters) features four set lunches - two western style, one Japanese style, and one "nichi kawari" or special of the day. The special of the day is only 1260 yen (about US$11.50) and the others are about 1500 yen each. The food is good, not quite great, but at these prices one can hardly complain. Plus, each set lunch includes salad bar, coffee or tea, juice, and soup (though I didn't try the last - too full). I had the nichi kawari, which that day was roast pork AND grilled fish in sauce americain, with stewed carrots and tempura asparagus and bamboo shoots, plus choice of rice or bread. My companions tried Nipon Bashi, which consists of grilled steak in yakiniku sauce with various vegetable side dishes served Japanese style, Seafood lunch (fried shrimp, fish, and vegetables with rice or bread), and the Bento or Japanese box lunch containing tempura, omelete, stewed vegetables, pickles, and rice. The nichi kawari on that day was very good, and the Bento is also quite nice, especially for those wishing to keep up the whole Gion experience.
unesco place.
Ryoanji is a temple belonging to the Myoshinji school of the Rinzai branch of the Zen sect, famous for its "karesansui" or rock garden. 30 m wide and 10 m deep, the garden contains 15 rocks arranged on the surface of white pebbles in such a manner that visitors can see only 14 of them at once, from whichever angle the garden is viewed.
The Temple was founded in 1450 under the patronage of Hosokawa Katsumoto, a top-ranking war load, who was offered the premises by the Tokudaiji family.
Entering the temple you first see the beautiful Kyoyochi ("Mirror shaped") Pond. This pond was created by the Tokudaiji family in the 12th century. The pond is home to many waterbirds, and until relatively recently to many Mandarin ducks - so much so that the pond was generally known amongst Japanese as the pond of mandarin ducks.
The pond has 2 small islands. The slightly large one has a small bridge leading across to a shrine to Benten - the sole female deity among the 7 Shinto gods of good luck. Leave the pond for now and climb up the stairs through the Chinese style gateway (Kara-mon) and you will reach a building called the monk's quarters. This is the largest building and one of the few that wasn't reconstructed.. It is attached to the Hojo by a wide wooden corridor. The Hojo is the Abbot's quarters.
We almost wanted to give this temple a miss as the weather was looking a little threatening and we were suffering a bit of temple/shrines-fatigue for the day. Fortunately, we did not. Otherwise, we would have missed a wonderful sight.
The most challenging part for me was walking up a short but up slope walkway before reaching the temple... haha... so my advice is... eat healthy and exercise regularly!
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