Hikone

Hikone was a lovely surprise. I had booked it rather than Kyoto as a stop between Nakasendo and our next walk at Sakurai.
The Comfort Hotel was about half the price, including breakfast which was very nice smorgasbord. Coffee was also available in the reception area and the bikes were provided free.
We headed across to the river along bike paths near the railway line and rode along a path on the levee under lovely Sakura. There were men fishing in the river and kids heading to school. We went along the lake for a while but it was hazy and not a lot of view, as well as traffic, so we headed back.
It was a really nice ride.
Back at the hotel, breakfast was still on so we got coffee and cake before checking out and leaving our luggage with reception.
We then walked back to the castle and enjoyed the tour and also wandering around the Japanese garden and the base of the castle.
On our way back we bought some mommos for lunch, collected our bags and boarded a local train for Kyoto. These trains have the advantage of larger windows and more interesting people than the shinkansen which did not stop at Hikone.
Kyoto station seemed a bit daunting after our previous destinations but we found our train to Nara and met a couple of girls from Utrecht - one of African descent and the other Moroccan.
At Nara we changed trains for Sakurai with school kids getting on and off along the line. We got off at Miwa and found our way to Ryokan Taishoro not far from the station along a quiet narrow street.
Here we had two spacious rooms separate from others and looking our on an internal garden.
Our host advised us to go up the hill past the Omiwa Shrine to see the patch of Sakurai and it was a lovely experience in the late afternoon light.
We had opted for no meals and went out to find dinner. We went the wrong way and found a small place where a man was cooking chicken sticks. We negotiated a meal and took it back to our room.
Once again we enjoyed hot tubs.