Day 6: Kyoto

This morning we leave our ryokan in Tonosawa to catch the train back to Odawara; a light drizzle this morning but nothing to dampen the spirits.

Such a shame that we'd missed the cherry blossom here too.

We tarry a while in Odawara to visit the castle there; my stoicism in the face of what is now a respectable rain storm is put to the test, and Rachel takes pity on me to go and buy an umbrella (the chap in the gift shop offers his for us to borrow).

Like most ancient buildings in Japan, the original wooden structure is long gone, but the castle has been sympathetically recreated.

Samurai Sam

Imogen and Samuel took the opportunity to get kitted out in traditional Japanese dress; Imogen would probably have preferred to don Samurai costume too, but looked very much the part in her attire.

We return to Odawara station to grab some lunch from a splendid patisserie at the JR station, and then board the Shinkansen to take us on to Kyoto.

Going native

We thought we'd find our hotel easily, it being located in Kyoto railway station, but the station is massive, including many shopping complexes arranged on multiple levels. After getting some help (not least from the children, whose first suggestion turned out to be right after all) we finally find it, but even then the hotel is so large walking down the corridors to find reception takes several more minutes.

Finally we check in, cheered to discover that our bags have arrived safe and sound and are waiting for us - hoorah for the takuhaibin.

We have a splendid view of the bustling Kyoto station from our hotel room.






We've become perhaps a little blase about the sophistication of Japanese toilet technology, but our hotel room in Kyoto had further delights in store for us:

Supper tonight at the tempura restaurant that's part of the hotel; beautiful tempura, light and crisp batter, all very elegantly presented.