I woke up early Wednesday morning and took the 8:10am Hikari Shinkansen train from Shinagawa station in Tokyo to Kyoto on the Tokaido line. This particular train and line goes up to 270 kmh (167.77 mph). In short, it's very fast. It's the second fastest train in Japan, and actually goes up to 300 kmh on a different line.
I purchased a bento box at the station, settled into my seat and enjoyed the view.
I arrived in Kyoto after 2h40m and hopped on a bus to drop off my bags in the Saiin neighborhood where I'm staying.
After checking into my place I hopped on two more buses to get to Otagi Nenbutsu-ji, an off the path area with hundreds of Buddhas with various facial expressions. One of the coolest places I've been to.
I narrowly missed the bus back down the mountain which only comes once per hour, so I walked down to the bamboo forest.
It was sweltering hot so I stopped for some cold udon noodles and tempura.
Next up was a hike to the Arashiyama Monkey Park to see the Japanese macaque (also known as Snow Monkeys)
There were some great views of Kyoto from up here as well.
A typhoon was passing east of Kyoto and brought with it a powerful thunderstorm, so I headed back home before it hit. In the evening I ventured a few blocks in the pouring rain to grab a bowl of ramen with a friend I made from Canada. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of what was the most delicious ramen I've had here so far. But I'm sure I'll go back there before leave.
