Hikone castle and Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Today was a two-part day, starting with another cheeky Shinkansen to get us to Hikone.  We visited the castle there in quite a lot of rain.  It was quite attractive and had nice gardens, as does so much of Japan.

We enjoyed some Ramen for lunch in a local restaurant and then got a JR train to Arashyiama to visit the gorgeous Bamboo Groves there.  We had a nice walk around the area before getting a train back to central Kyoto to return to our hotel for a rest.

In the evening we tried a local ex-pat bar called the Pig and Whistle.  It was pretty rubbish, with rubbish food, so we came back to the hotel area and had a beer in a local loud Izakaya to make up for it.