Ohhhhh boy, this one is going to be sooooo looooong! Allot around 10 minutes of your life to be wasted on a bunch of Kyoto photos hahaha!
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| Sorry I guess? HAHAHAHUHUHU |
If you have read my previous travel blog HERE (EMPHASIS on the IF hahaha), you would have an idea that our first day in Kyoto was a snoozefest, a day spent doing nothing - mainly to appease Ken's awful gout. Since we only have 2 days in this lovely city, our 2nd day in Kyoto had become so jampacked, that we tried to cover as many places as possible!
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| Derpy faces sans coffee in our system |
Our first agenda was to visit the Arashiyama Bamboo forest. Going to Arashiyama coming from our hostel in Kyoto Tsukiusagi we took a 15-minute train, then we board a tram that took us around 5-7 minutes. Good thing though we have purchased an unlimited train card, much similar to the 72-hour unlimited train pass we had in Tokyo, so it saved us a couple of yens, which we eventually spent on...
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| Ken can no longer hide the fact that he is hungry, hence that grumpy face. |
The Miffy Sakura Cafe is a stone's throw away from Arashiyama train station, so it's pretty easy to spot it. The cafe sells a variety of bread and pastries, drinks, and ice cream! If I remember correctly, we got a savory bread with beef in it, a custard bread, and a latte (I didn't buy my own latte because I was scared it might cause destruction to my bowel activity- ok sorry TMI HAHAHA). Aside from food items, they also sell a lot of Miffy merch in the inner part of the store. Just a head's up, the merch is adorable but can be quite pricey, so if you're a fan of this chub chub bunny, better ready your 💴💴💴.
I was tempted to try out the ice cream, but it was soooooo cold that day I don't think I could go a la Elsa and proclaim to the world that the cold never bothered me anyway!
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| E di ikaw na, Elsa! |
Before getting to the entrance to the bamboo forest, you'll pass by a couple mini temples and street shops. One of the most notable things we passed by was a lone Sakura tree, which comes to think of it must have been inside a private property HAHAHA! Given that from the train station to the bamboo forest entrance can be quite far from each other, I strongly suggest for ladies to wear comfy shoes! That's why I have to give such commendations to the lady below:
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| Bigyan ng jacket! Paybtawsin! |
The first time I saw the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest was from a scene from Memoirs of A Geisha:
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| This scene!🎎 |
I remember when I was at the bamboo forest I was puzzled as to why the pathways seem to be small, like how the hell did Zhang Ziyi's car fit in it? Apparently, the bamboo forest has multiple pathways, which I then realized that there are several entry/exit ways going to and going out of the bamboo forest, so most likely we weren't able to walk at the less narrow pathway like in Memoirs of a Geisha.
I thought I'll be seeing the bamboo forest sans the number of tourists, but hells nah! There are quite a lot of tourists, including us of course, during that time. I also remember when we visited Kyoto there was news that the tourist count that time was lower than the usual due to Coronavirus, and that statement surprised us since there were still a lot of tourists.
But enough of the talk of tourists, what I was hoping to see at that time were pandas; like imagine if pandas were living in the bamboo forest, they'll have the ultimate time of their lives haha!
Oh and lastly there is no entrance fee going to the bamboo forest, but atop it was a botanical garden which you can visit for around ¥500. Obviously, we did not go there, because we are cheap 🤷.
Indeed, going to a road, or in our case, a path, less traveled will lead you to remarkable views! After going through the bamboo forest we end up at this small place with chairs and a small field, which is a blessing for Ken's gouty foot. After our quick rest full of conversations, "Wow, we really are in Kyoto now!", and "Can we just stay and live here?", we decided to continue our trip, but not necessarily going back with the same path as to how we went to on our way there.
Near the 'rest area,' there was a cobbled path going down. Since we are curious idiots, we decided to check where it will lead us. As we cautiously walk down, we realize that the stone-y path soon turned into a make-shift 'quite-dangerous' dirt stairs with a wonderful view of:
A sparkling blue river! We then figured we got there in a not-so-conventional way, since in order to go to that place you have to walk to the other side of the train station- which is quite far, to be honest.
Moral of the story: YOLO hahaha! But to be honest, it was scary going down, so be careful!
Anyway, here are some derpy photos of Ken:
By the time we reached the train station, we were so hungry already! By the way, just a disclaimer, most restaurants near Arashiyama train station are quite expensive, so it was such a blessing that we found a small restaurant with good food, at a reasonable price. I am not going to pretend that I 'forgot' the restaurant's name, because it was written in Japanese and I don't know how to read nor speak that language, so please don't ask me hahahuhuhu. I think we paid around ¥ 1,600 for our meals, which is reasonable since it made us full until 7 pm hahaha!
After a tram and train ride, et voila we are off to Fushimi Inari Shrine
Much like Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, there is no entrance fee going to Fushimi Inari Taisha which is great because you then have more ¥¥¥¥ for some custard cake!
BUT unlike Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, there are A LOT of tourists when we visited Fushimi Inari that it's almost impossible to take a good photo of the famous orange torii gates sans human beings.
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| We just got semi-lucky here. |
Just a quick FYI, Fushimi Inari Shrine is huuuuuge! There are a lot of Torii gates that have different sizes, from the shorter one as seen in Memoirs of a Geisha I got all my Japan references from that movie, yes ...
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| This is my not-so-subtle way of telling you to watch the movie, NOW! |
... To taller ones. Given the size, and the sudden rise of elevation of the shrine, there are parts with not as many people as the first Torii gate you'll see. If you really want to have a quality photo minus any unintentional photobomb, I suggest that you go further into the shrine and you're bound to see a Torii gate with 2-3 people only, because by that time you reach it the majority of other tourists are already tired to go there hahaha! #TravelAdvice101 hahaha!
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| Muntikan nang di imaging blurred haha! |
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| Blurred talaga. Ay naku, Ken! |
For some reason, I and Ken seemed to have developed a penchant for opting for path's less traveled, because lo and behold, we did not go back the same way we did when we entered the shrine HAHAHA! I must say it paid off, because we get to see this tiny bridge, and took blurry photos of me hahaha!
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| Yummy! |
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| Haru! |
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| Didn't know Ken has merch in Japan hahaha! |
One thing to note about Pontocho's establishments is the fact that almost ALL OF THEM serve expensive food. I kid you not, I think we have walked around 300 meters in search of the most affordable place to eat! HAHAHA! Luckily, we saw this...
GYOKATSU KYOTO KATSUGYU!
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| Sorry for taking a pic while you were munching on your 3rd cup of rice, Ken hahaha! |
To be honest, this meal is pricier than our usual ¥ 1,000 set meals in Japan, but it's worth the price and the long line! Their katsu is really good, that Ken had 4 cups of rice, YES 4 CUPS! HAHAHA! Also, we ended up making some friends! Hola, Yuto!
I must say despite going back to our hostel totally exhausted, that day was one hell of an adventure 💓
Next stop, Osaka!
Love Always,
Nicole ❤
