Sanzen-in Temple grounds©2007Wow I haven't posted in a while, been kinda swamped. I have more info on Tokyo, but figure I'd mix it up a bit with Kyoto and Ohara.
Ohara is a small farming town in the mountains outside of Kyoto proper. It's really lovely you don't have to stay there at all you can take a city bus from Kyoto Station
and you will be there in 40 minutes. The bus will make stops along a regular bus route with many stops, so if for some reason you have a car or moped, it'll probably take you 20 minutes. If you have the cash I would highly recommend staying in a Ryokan in Ohara for one night, it's lovely. We stayed in Seryo, pricey, but worth every penny. In the price is included dinner, which you can choose from Kaiseki or Sukiyaki, all very delicious (oy-shi). Each of these dishes takes a better part of a day to prepare them and then about 2 hours to eat them, really amazing. Also the use of outdoor onsen baths which are just relaxing and beautiful. If you stay ask for the western/japanese combo room, it's the loveliest. You also have your own mini deck, that leads out to the garden.
Seryo Ryokan pics:
What's in Ohara? Well there are gorgeous temples all walking distance from Seryo and you are surrounded by the woods. Sanzen-in Temple is the main attraction in Ohara it covers a lot of ground and it's in the middle of the woods, the temple grounds are simply a marvel to behold. Another really worth visiting and the YP500, is Hosen-in temple it's all of a 3 minute walk from Sanzen-in. It's not a large temple but it's lovely especially when you are allowed to go sit on the elevated garden deck and they bring you matcha and cinnamon mochi, it's so serene.
Sanzen-in Temple grounds©2007
Hosen-in Temple
Hosen-in Temple
Getting there: it's actually pretty easy. From Kyoto Station take bus number 17 or 18, they will leave you right at the Ohara bus stop. It's about 40 mins, only because it's a city bus and makes every local stop, but it's a really nice bus trip. Costs about Y580 each way. If you stay in a ryokan they may offer pick-up service from the Ohara bus station, Seryo does.
6 comments:
We stayed at Seryo in Ohara too in May 2008. We also stayed in a lovely japanese/western room. Great to see someone else enjoyed themselves as much as we did :)
Hello. Do you know anything about Gyozanen Ryokan. I can't decide between Gyozanen and Seryo. Hope you can help.
Kim
I can't tell you anything about Gyozanen except that it's right by Seryo so it's near everything you want to see in Ohara. It looks very pleasant and seems to have a lot of similarities as Seryo. I loved Seryo and I would recommend if you choose this ryokan to stay in the mixed western/japanese room which is what I have pictures of posted. The traditional japanese are truly traditional and the westerns are just drab, so don't bother with the western rooms,. They will awesome if you are a westerner you want a westerner room so be specific and be very specific of what kind of meal you would like I recommend the Kaseki meal, truly traditional and Kyoto's know for it. Hope that helps.
Oh! I just found someone who stayed there, here the link http://pictures-thoughts-comments.blogspot.com/2008/08/ohara-onsen-ryokan.html
Thanks for the blog. We are staying at Seryo later in December!
Hey Johan. Have an awesome time. It's so wonderful there.
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