Kyoto Day 20 8/10/2914

We left our lovely hotel at 9am to get the local bus to Shinfuji where we planned to take the Shinkansen (bullet train) to Kyoto.  The bus took us round the other lakes that make up the Fuji Five Lakes and took just over 2 hrs to reach ShinFuji station which is just south of Mt Fuji near the coast.  A slow but very enjoyable journey, good to see the rural sights and be entertained by the bus driver.  The Shinkansen was just fast!  We bought Japan Rail passes which are available to non residents before leaving and make train travel easy and relatively cheap.  After a quick change of line we arrived in Kyoto within 2 hrs - not bad considering it's a distance of 210miles and we stopped at a number of stations along the way.  We got the metro north to nearby the ryokan we'd booked into for the night and after a bit of a challenge finding it checked in.  A ryokan is a tradional Japanese inn with tatami-mat rooms and futons instead of beds.  You leave your shoes in the foyer and potter around in slippers and are provided with a yukata (lightweight Japanese robe) to wear for trips to the toilet or when you're off for a shower/bath.  The owners were unbelievably helpful with lots of suggestions on how to get around the city and where to go for dinner.  We headed off to downtown Kyoto on the bus which is very easy to use.  We realised that on earlier bus trips we'd been getting on using the exit door and off using the entrance door!  Infact you pay when you get off and the price is based on the number shown on a display panel near the driver.  We walked down a very picturesque and busy side street full of restaurants and after some debate on which one to go to went to a lively izakaya, a Japanese equivalent of a pub eatery.  Great food and atmosphere and reasonably priced for Japan at just over £40 for 4 dishes and 3 beers (guess who had 2!).  Back to the ryokan for hopefully a good nights sleep on our futons!