Kyoto

We headed back to the hotel, and decided to walk down the street to find something for dinner. We ended up at a little Yakisoba restaurant.

There were only about 12 spots in the restaurant, and it was run by an elderly couple. It was pretty good.

Our hotel was the nicest we stayed in during our trip, but was pretty reasonably priced. That was probably because our rooms were pretty far from the elevator, and didn't have a view.

The next day, we rode the subway and the train to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, on the western outskirts of Kyoto. I had seen on a list of 100 places you should see in the world, but it wasn't real impressive either. Plus it required a lot of walking, and the heat and humidity was pretty bad.

From the end of the Bamboo Forest trail, we hailed a taxi and asked to go to the Golden Temple, Kinkaku-ji. It didn't look too far on the map, but the taxi ride took a fairly long time around lots of narrow twisting roads, and cost about $15. It was nicer than the Silver Temple, but the trails through the gardens were pretty crowded. It is not a place to visit on a Saturday in July.