Saturday, March 14, 2026

Kawaguchiko to Kyoto

Woke up this morning to beautiful blue skies. Quick showers, breakfast and decided to walk part way around the lake for our last amazing views of Mt Fuji, we wish the weather had been like this the entire time we were here. We know some people come here and never get to see it, so we must be grateful for what we have seen.

Back to the hotel, finish up packing, check out and yesterday we had decided we would take the bus to the station as it is quite a steady uphill walk. We weren't entirely positive that the bus was coming on schedule so decided to just walk it. An absolutely beautiful morning and the walk wasn't that bad. We are about an hour early for our bus so we walk around for some more iconic pictures of Mt Fuji. We happen on a man trying to get people to go up to the 3rd floor to a cafe for views. We took him up on the offer and some fantastic views, passed on the coffee shop which is why I am sure we were invited up. Some great shots of the train station, then off to meet Heather at the bus stop for moving on.

Our first transport is by bus for nearly 1.5 hours to Mishima station. Here we purchase our tickets to take us to Kyoto and we have nearly 2 hours wait so we go to the restaurant right outside the station for lunch. A good lunch, salad, pork, kimchi, rice, miso soup all for around $10 cdn. After lunch off to the train station to get the next mode of transport, the Shinkansen train. This train will take us at over 250km per hour for less than 2 hours to our final destination. This train can go up to 500km/hr, France and China have faster trains.

Arrived in Kyoto and found our hotel. Once again we have a very tiny room, we thought it was going to be a little bigger based on the size the ad showed, but front desk told us this is the right size for what we paid for. At least in Tokyo we were able to slide suitcases under the bed, not here. Oh well we will just have to stay very organized.

We settled in then were off to try to get to Tofuku-ji temple before it closed, but we were too late. It looks beautiful, we will try to get back another day. Moved on to Fushimi Inari Shrine which has thousands of red torii gates that have been donated. When we arrived it was quite busy, by the time we left it was much quieter. I can just imagine how busy it is during the day when more people are out. Heather met us here after she had her hostel sorted, sounds like it was a bit of a mess. The good news is she now has wifi, a couple helped her add esim to her phone so now it will be so much easier to keep in touch.

A stop at 7/11 for some noodle soup, and we are back at our hotel for the night. Our hotel gives you one free drink a night, tonight we opted for Moscow mule. There is also live music in the lobby but we only stuck around until we had finished our drinks.

Off to bed and looking forward to more exploring tomorrow.


I think you can rent these otherwise they are cottages

Steep hill to the hotel and the rope tow aka gondola

Beautiful reflection this morning



Walk to the bus station




From the rooftop cafe



At the station where you get get hot food


From the bus, we drove around Mt Fuji


You ordered from a tablet

My beef, Wendy pork was more like thick bacom

Wendy used google translate to find the prices

It also showed in English

Last view of Kyoto from the Mishima train platform, the backside

Our fast train

The few 1 minute stops, also in English

One of many temples in this area near Tofuku-ji temple

Tofuku-ji temple but not open, too late

Cute street near Fushimi Inari Shrine

Amazing food display

Fushimi Inari Shrine





Also small family shrines mid way up the mountain


When we got down, it was dark, the shrines were beautiful

First time we seen these fabric strings





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