Yokoso Kyoto!

It was time to get on the train and head to Kyoto for a break from hectic Tokyo. The Shinkansen is definitely the way to travel — it’s quiet, comfortable and fast. Very fast.

We said goodbye to [Yumiko’s cozy apartment](/yumikos-apartment/).

And hoofed our way through Harajuku, dragging our luggage.

Shinkansen drivers are the equivalent to any airline pilot; and they dress accordingly.

Funny story about the tickets we got the day before: somehow we accidentally threw them in the bin while waiting for the Shinkansen, and just realized it minutes before we had to board the train. Fortunately, and once again, thanks to the JR Passes, we got brand new ones for free!

A Shinkansen N700 — Hikari 471 — would take us to Kyoto in just 165 minutes, traveling more than 513 km.

We got two bento boxes for lunch — one of them, unknowingly, for kids.

The bullet train is so silent and such a smooth ride that it makes the perfect opportunity to edit some photos.

The landscape slowly started to change as we left the big Tokyo outskirts.

We got to Kyoto middle in the afternoon, dragged our luggage around town, slurped on some delicious ramen, and headed to find the hotel capsule we were staying in for the night.