Enjoy a small trip by Randen at Kyoto

The tourist season has come to Kyoto. The red and yellow leaves (Autumn tint) is beautiful from now on.

City Bus All-day Pass (Kyoto city Bus) is useful for sightseeing of Kyoto city. The fare is 500yen (Unlimited use on the same day. Can be used within the allocated zone of the city. When traveling outside of the allocated zone, it is necessary to pay the extra amount). Because there are many bus lines within the Kyoto city, you can go to anywhere by buses, but sometimes you have to change buses.

However I like trains better than buses. And the travel by trains is easier than by buses, because there is an enormous traffic jam in the tourist season. So if you go sightseeing in western area of Kyoto city, I think Randen is convenient.

What is Randen?
Randen is the only tram that remains in Kyoto city now, and is the Keifuku railways that run by only one car. Randen connects the center of Kyoto city and Arashiyama area. Randen also has Randen One-day Pass (Unlimited use on the same day), and the fare is 500yen. City Bus All-day Pass (Kyoto city Bus) and Randen One-day Pass are same fare! And the voucher to which admission fees of a part of temple are discounted is attached to it. The operation of Randen is every 10 minutes, and there are many sightseeing points along the Randen, so this pass is useful for sightseeing. A use of the pass is easy. You show the pass to a driver, when you get off the train. That’s all.

My small trip
The day was a day of the fine autumn day like sweating. I enjoyed small trip by Randen One-day Pass though it was early for a moment for the maple leaf viewing. It took ten minutes from my house to Shijo-Omiya Station on foot. I got on train for Arashiyama.

The train runs while from the first station to the third one on the road. I was at the platform which is slender standing on the road, when cars run through both sides of there I was scared. The tram had many routes in Kyoto city in old times, but it can be seen only here now.
It took 20 minutes from Shijo-Omiya station to Arashiyama station. Arashiyama is one of the best view points in Kyoto. There were so many students of school excursion and tourists that day.

I saw few red and yellow leaves at one temple within Tenryu-ji Temple. Hogon-in Temple within Tenryu-ji Temple can see it at night-time from November 10 until December 3,2006. The scene which the red and yellow leaves is lighted up must be fantastic.

Many Jinrikisyas watch for the tourists around Togetsu-kyo (Togetsu bridge). Some rickshaw mans were catching passengers. I heard that some rickshaw mans are university students and permanent part-timers, and there are two rickshaw women. The jinrikisya can get on up to two people. It is 2,000 yen (for one person) per 1 km, and 3,000 yen (for two people). The rickshaw man guides Arashiyama though he loses his breath.

I got on train at Arashiyama station, and changed trains for Kitano-hakubaicho (Kitano Line) at Katabira-no-tsuji station. Randen has two lines, Arashiyama Line and Kitano Line, and two lines are connected at this station.

I got off at Mimuro station. When I left from the station, I was able to see Ninna-ji Temple before my eyes. Nio statues welcomed me.

I went into the precincts then I found the five-storied pagoda. The stand was selling cute lucky charms. Its name is Kaiun Fuku-musume Mamori (the charm of the happiness girl for lucky).

Kinukake-no-michi (The street of Kinukake) lead from Ninna-ji Temple to Ryoan-ji Temple which is well-known for rock garden, and it takes 15 minutes. Although there are many trees and bamboo grove on the side of the road, I do not recommend that you walk along this street, because there is a great deal of traffic density and the air is infected with exhaust gas. I think that it is better that you should return to Omuro station and get on Randen, though it is only one station until Ryoanji-michi Station. This is a privilege of One-day Pass. From Ryoanji-michi Station to Ryoan-ji Temple is 7 minutes on foot. Because there is no English directory, please confirm the way in the map. But it is easy.

There are still a lot of viewpoints that were not able to be visited this time. No matter how many times it gets on Randen using Randen One-day Pass, the fare is 500 yen. I think that this pass is cheap and convenient because you use the train four times when going sightseeing in three places a day. A temple, a shrine, and a historical name of a place are used for the station name. So it is difficult to read many station names (kanji characters) that Randen has even the Japanese. I think that it is also enjoyable to examine the origin of the name of the station.

How about the sightseeing of Kyoto using Randen One-day Pass?

[Time]

Arashiyama Line:

about 20minutes from Shijo-Omiya station to Arashiyama station
about 14 minutes from Shijo-Omiya station to Karabiranotsuji station

Kitano Line:

about 11 minutes from Katabiranotsuji station to Kitanohakubaicho station

[The sightseeing points along the Randen]

Arashiyama Line:

Shijo-Omiya station>>>Mibu-dera Temple
Uzumasa station>>>Koryu-ji Temple, Kyoto Studio Park Toei Uzumasa Eigamura
Kurumazaki station>>>Kurumazak-ijinjya Shrine
Rokuoin station>>>Rokuo-in Temple (it has shukubo for women）
Saga-ekimae station>>>The sagano sight-seeing tram
Arashiyama station>>>Togetsu-kyo (Togetsu bridge), Tenryu-ji Temple (Hogon-in Temple within Tenryu-ji Temple can see it at night-time from November 10 until December 3,2006), Seiryo-ji Temple, Jojyakko-ji Temple, Nison-in Temple, Gio-ji Temple, Daikaku-ji Temple, Arashiyama monkey park, The hot springs for foot at platform of Arashiyama station, etc.