Konnichiwa Kyoto

The train ride to Kyoto went smoothly but by the time we were settled into our hotel it was already early evening. We cleaned up for a bit, then headed out to see some of the city and grab an early dinner.

Temples are nestled among modern streets throughout Kyoto. Here, we stopped at the Bukko-ji Temple on our way to dinner.

We never found the restaurant where we were originally planning to eat dinner because we stumbled upon a great looking sushi place with a line out the door (always a good sign when locals are queued up to eat!). We grabbed a drink across the street while waiting for the crowd to die down a little, then feasted on delicious sushi and sake.

After dinner we headed home to bed early - there's a ton to see here and we want to be well rested for our final days in Japan!

We woke up early on Monday and headed over to the Fushimi Inari Shrine, one of Sarah's favorite places we visited in November. It was just as crowded as we'd remembered...but we also knew that once we got further away from the main shrine, the crowds thinned out dramatically. Fortunately, we were right! The slow hike up to the top and back took about three (very sweaty) hours but we all loved seeing the thousands of orange arches with only a few other tourists passing by.

A statue of a dog guards the entrance to the shrine.

Sarah and my mom loved the multicolored cranes.

Me and mom at Fushimi Inari.

One of the main shrine buildings. We had to wait about 10 minutes for this shot to clear...

...but there were no tourists to worry about among the arches.

As the sun came out the light reflected off of the shiny orange paint, making the arches look even more impressive.

Some mini arches were left by other visitors as an offering.

We were all so hot from the hike that afterward we headed back to our hotel to shower and take a short rest. Once we were feeling like normal humans again, we walked over to Ichiran to introduce my mom to one of our favorite Japanese foods: ramen. She was a little hesitant to order a bowl of hot soup on a day like today, but the A/C was blasting and she managed to enjoy the whole thing without breaking a sweat. I think we have a convert!

Re-energized from the ramen fill, we got on the subway and went to explore a new temple in a new part of town. We stopped on the way for green tea ice cream - always a great way to cool off on a hot day in Japan! We arrived at the Kiyomizu-dera Temple with only a little time to explore, but all of us were wowed by the giant pagoda near the middle of the complex.

Quite an impressive structure.

Another corner of the temple complex.

Extremely detailed tile work on the pagoda, which Sarah loved.

Next stop for us in Kyoto: a cooking class. Sarah and I also did this - albeit with a different company - when we were here before. We enjoyed it so much that we though my mom would also have fun with it. Turns out she had more fun than anyone! We're especially glad because I think we can expect to see some of these dishes at home in New Jersey when we're back...

The beginning stages of dashi, a staple of Japanese cooking.

Showing off my knife skills.

Enjoying our dinner after a couple hours of prep / cooking.

After dinner we headed to Pontocho Alley to do some people watching and relax with a drink outside. Like we remembered last time, the alley was lit up with beautifully decorated lanterns, creating an amazing atmosphere to walk through.

En route to Pontocho Alley.

One of the many colorful corners of Pontocho Alley.

Our first stop on Tuesday was a site that Sarah and I missed the last time we were here, but it is world renowned for its beauty: the Golden Pavilion. The compound was very crowded with other tourists but the sight of a temple completely covered in gold leaf was incredible. Definitely worth a brief stop in Kyoto!

The Golden Pavilion.

To escape the tourists, we walked a few blocks south to check out the Hirano Shrine. Though not as spectacular as the Golden Pavilion, this shrine was a nice change of pace for us: we were the only ones exploring the grounds, giving it a more calming feel than the chaos at the Golden Pavilion.

Exploring the gardens of the Hirano Shrine.

The Hirano Shrine.

By this point in the day we were all getting hungry, so we headed to Kyoto Station to try the tonkatsu at Katsukura. As expected, the food was amazing...but we all needed a little siesta to digest it!

After re-grouping at the hotel, we walked a few blocks - through the pouring rain! - to see a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. I tried to emulate our very methodical host as best as I could but she clearly has many years of practice!

Making my own cup of whipped green tea.

Don't think any of us are experts but it was a fun way to wrap up our time in Kyoto.

Fortunately the rain stopped while we were making our tea so we headed up to CRafTMan for some drinks, then over to Sugar Hill for dinner. Both were great local spots - a perfect end to Kyoto. Tomorrow we take the train back to Tokyo, where Sarah and I have one more day to see the city and mom heads back to the US.

Kyoto Days 2 & 3: Tons of Temples

Waking up a little sore (turns out rental bikes don't have the most cushioned seats), Alex and I left the bikes behind for a self-guided walking tour of Kyoto on Monday. First stop: Nishiki Market. Similar to Tsukiji Market in Tokyo - minus the massive fish market and warehouse - we walked past a number of shops selling everything from hot food, local produce, Japanese delicacies, fresh seafood and artisan crafts.

Strolling through the market, which we had actually unknowingly walked into the previous night (one block from our dinner restaurant) but it was dark and nothing was open!

After sampling a few items - yes to okra chips, no to unidentifiable pickled vegetables - we were ready for a proper meal and started walking to a gyoza spot for lunch. Unfortunately, as has been the case a few times for us in Japan, the place was closed so we found a fast ramen chain instead. Warmed up after some hot soup, we continued the walk east toward the Yasaka Shrine.

We've spotted many lions - and other animals - greeting fellow visitors to the temples in Japan.

Standing in front of the dance hall at Yasaka Shrine.

Trying to get a shot of the shrine without so many tourists!

After checking out the Yasaka Shrine and surrounding area, we continued east to Eikan-do Zenrin-ji where the fall colors - and tourists - were in full effect. Zenrin-ji was definitely one of the most beautiful spots on our tour through Kyoto. In addition to the incredibly colored trees, the shrines and surrounding areas were very intricately designed and well landscaped. While there were pushy people everywhere, we were able to walk through the temple (barefoot) and witnessed some of the prayer services taking place.

Serene pond and garden within the temple walls.

View of the temple after we walked through it.

Incredible shot Alex took of the nearby bridge.

We loved these little guys on our way out!

This small pagoda overlooks the entire site – pretty spectacular!

One last shot of the bridge.

A little tired from a full day of walking, we headed back to our hotel to rest for a couple of hours before our scheduled evening event: a Japanese cooking class! I knew I wanted to try either a sushi-making course of kappo class while in Japan and once I read about Cooking Sun, I knew we should try it out. Our instructor, Akiho, was super friendly, very informative and spoke excellent English - we really felt like we got a great firsthand look into Japanese cuisine! And our homemade dinner was delicious too! Cooking Sun has only been around since April and already they are ranked #3 of all activities in Kyoto on Tripadvisor – definitely check it out if you are ever in Japan.

Carefully dropping the vegetable tempura into the boiling hot oil.

Alex expertly chopping the spinach while our instructor, Akiho, prepares the dashi.

Alex and I ready to eat our homemade Japanese dinner.

Wednesday morning we woke up early, left our bags at our hotel and headed south for a brief hike up Mount Inari, known for its bright orange arches and Fushimi Inari shrine.

Alex in front of the Fushimi Inari entrance.

I love the beautiful paper cranes we have seen at some of the temple entrances.

The bottom of the mountain was pretty crowded so we hoped that the throngs of people would thin out as we ascended (and others grew tired of the hiking). We were right – it was much easier to take pictures once we got closer to the top!

The arches are each donated by individuals or businesses (at ~US$4,000 – US$10,000 a pop) and they were everywhere along the various mountain paths; definitely one of the more unique temple sites we have visited.

Almost the entire path was covered with these orange arches.

Our view up and down the mountain for 90% of the time.

Finally found a fellow tourist for this shot.

Inside one of the shrines. This particular site had two foxes guarding almost all of the temple entrances.

Once we reached about two-thirds of the way to the top, we were treated to panoramic views of Kyoto (and a brief rest!).

No monkeys this time, but at least the sky cleared up!

The view coming back down the mountain.

I loved the Buddha statue near the end of our hike.

The whole hike took about two hours so we were easily able to head back to our hotel, grab lunch and get on the train to Nara by noon. We had a great time in Kyoto and are gearing up for our final five days in Japan!

Kyoto Day 1: Arashiyama

Sarah and I took the train from Takayama to Kyoto yesterday. We arrived mid-afternoon and took the grey weather as a cue to do our laundry and catch up on emails. We wrapped up our lazy day with another meal of delicious conveyer-belt sushi.

Though it still comes across as a bit of a gimmick to us, the sushi is actually really good!

We woke up early today to make sure we were able to reserve a rental bike - apparently they go quickly - so we could explore the city. Fortunately, we didn’t have any problems because it’s not quiite peak tourist season here. Equipped with our bikes for the day and a detailed map of the city, we set off for Arashiyama, which was an hour bike ride from downtown Kyoto but a nice place to walk around.

The ride was easy – mostly flat and along a bike path – though the scenery on the way left a little to be desired (mostly industrial riverbed mixed with run-down gardens), so we stopped at a few shrines along the way to mix things up.

At Matsuo Taisha Shrine there were a bunch of families there for an event – clearly one where their daughters were dressed up as mini-geishas.

We also saw a drum performance near one of the shrines; though it seemed a little impromptu to us, the drummers were very well rehearsed!

Once we arrived in Arashiyama, we were greeted with fantastic views of the fall foliage that we’d been expecting! (And a SWARM of tourists we were not expecting!)

Walking around Tenryuji Temple.

Beautiful display of autumn colors.

After grabbing a bite to eat we headed to the “Path of Bamboo” – basically a bamboo forest that you can walk through. It was an interesting but not our favorite sight in the area.

We saw these happy guys on the walk over to the “Path of Bamboo.”

Strolling through the bamboo.

Our next stop in Arashiyama was Monkey Park, which is basically exactly what it sounds like: a park filled with Japanese macaque monkeys. For city health-code (and probably many other reasons), the monkeys reside at the top of a very tall hill. It was a pretty strenuous walk to get up but once we were at the top we had excellent views of the city!

Overlooking Kyoto from Monkey Park.

A monkey family picking fleas off each other.

Sarah snapped this picture of a baby monkey!

Once we were done monkeying around (couldn’t resist) we rode our bikes back to town and got cleaned up for dinner. We were both ready for a change of pace cuisine-wise so we opted for Spanish tapas at Tato. The meats and cheeses were delicious and we left happy that we sought out something different tonight.

After dinner we walked over to Pontocho Alley, a scenic, narrow alley with many bars and restaurants. We grabbed a drink at Hello Dolly but weren’t that impressed so we opted to just stroll down the street for a bit before heading home. If you’re ever in Kyoto we definitely recommend a stop here!

Sarah paused to rest her legs for a minute – we’d already biked 15 miles at this point!

Pontocho Alley (though this picture doesn’t really do it justice).

Tomorrow we have another full day of exploring Kyoto – time to see more of the temples and shrines that the city is known for!