Japan 2012 - Lost in Kyoto

After the visit to Ryoanji Temple I was looking for a train station to get back to Kyoto City. I decided to follow a group of students, but after a while they disappeared into the countless small alleys ! 

In the city, the signages are usually very helpful and you can normally find your way around easily. In the suburbs, however, the signs are all in Japanese. I wondered around, terribly lost - but it was wonderful to be immersed in a local housing neighbourhood, to see where local Kyoto people actually lived.

Eventually, I came across a small station and thankfully there were some English signages there. It turned out to be a local tram station. There are several local tram lines running in the suburbs of Kyoto, but they don't connect directly to the city. The tram cars are old and quaint - but perfectly maintained.

I finally ended in a small commercial centre outside of Kyoto, and took the subway back to the city. It was a great little adventure.