Farewell Kyoto

And so the long journey home starts - first with a very fast and efficient Shinkansen ride back to Tokyo. 

We leave our Kyoto hotel in plenty of time - using the local buses once again - so we can explore Kyoto station. Although we’ve been through there a number of times, we’ve always been in a rush to get somewhere! 

As we walk from the bus stop to the station, we can’t help but notice the huge queues for the buses to the major tourist attractions - so much so that people are employed to hold up boards showing where the end of each queue is.  It’s easy to understand just how frustrating this must be for any locals needing to use the services - and I do realise there’s a definite irony in pointing this out when we’re actually part of the problem! 

The second largest in Japan, the building is vast housing a department store, shopping and food malls and a vast amount of airy space. We keep thinking of the nightmare of Euston station; even after revamps, it remains such a depressing space. 
We go up several escalators to get to the roof garden, take the walkway to the other side, and admire the sheer vision of the building. Modern Japanese architecture is just as impressive as the traditional. 

Then it’s time to get the train - but not before G has purchased his bento box for the journey! Japanese stations offer vast selections of foodstuffs; sweet confections beautifully packaged to take - we presume - as gifts, and savoury boxes offering an exciting (or frightening) collection of morsels. The one he chooses seems to be huge, but he manages to demolish it well before we reach Tokyo. 

Tokyo means a return to The Okura where we started our journey two weeks ago - and it’s like coming home with staff welcoming us back. Our main luggage is waiting for us in our room, together with a package from our ryokan in Shibu Onsen. I’d left a pair of earrings there and they’d posted them on to the Tokyo hotel for me. 

It’s a few drinks and nibbles in the executive lounge then a meal in the restaurant before starting the job of repacking our cases - something we soon abandon in favour of sleep!