We (Me, Sanjiv and my wife Neelam) travelled to Kyoto by Bullet train (Shinkansen in Japanese) from Tokyo Central Station on 15th November, 2017. We had arrive in Tokyo from Mumbai a week before and we covered Tokyo city, Takao mountain and Kamakura Enoshima area.
The best time to visit Kyoto is third and fourth week of November each year and normally 23rd November is a day of Kyoto festival. If you want to be in Kyoto during that week then you must book hotels 6 months in advance.
We visited many places in Kyoto and Nara and it was a galore of colours and plethora of happiness and very pleasant climate, sometimes the temperature goes in single digit centigrade and strong wind may make your nose run and ears numb. and red too We moved in a public transport.
The places are terribly crowded and in Kyoto language is a big barrier. In Tokyo many knew English not so in Kyoto and Nara. In hotels the staff can manage to speak in English but in the street, the common Japanese find it very difficult to speak but they smile a lot and always prompt in helping you. In Nara, the hotel staff could speak very good English. So there was no problem in the hotel at least.
Nara is a place near to Kyoto just an hour or so by train (two lines Japan Railway and also Kintetsu railway). Most of the tourist just cover Nara in a day as a day trip by staying at Kyoto. We did not do so. We stayed in Nara for 2 nights so we could see many things at leisurely pace.
Please note that Japan is a cash economy and not a credit card economy so carry good amount of cash. Card is accepted in hotels to pay hotel room rent and for breakfast (it is very expensive and always offered separately.).
We went to see a shrine outside Nara (over an hour by bus) and we were shocked to find out that the entrance fee is Yen 5,000 per head (about USD 95 for two which was the most expensive by any standard as an entrance fee to a shrine) that too only cash is accepted It was a rude shock for us especially because we did not have Yen 10,000 in cash and we also needed some cash to eat our lunch etc. So we could not enter inside but the surrounding was so beautiful we solaced ourselves with that.
Unfortunately, my prepaid debit card was not allowing me to withdraw cash from ATM as it was showing “incorrect PIN”. Nobody will help you in that scenario. We were aghast as we found ourselves penniless in a foreign country. Railways, buses, small eateries, shrine entrances all demand cash only. Moreover language is a barrier in many cases. They understand you well but cannot reply you in English, so easy reply is “No”. Luckily we found one ATM where my wife’s credit card was accepted and we could withdraw enough cash. But till then for over a day we were in a panic situation. In Nara, we found an American backpacker requesting the bus driver to accept fare in US Dollars as there was no money exchange counter near anywhere an hour by road outside Nara. He also must not have imagined such a situation.
On the way back to our home sweet home in Mumbai, India, we travelled to Osaka airport by airport bus which is very convenient, from Nara. Since our flight was early morning flight, we preferred to stay in a hotel near Osaka airport and most of the hotels in airport vicinity provide free shuttle to airport which is very convenient when one is with luggage at very early hours.
