Kansai part 2 - Kyoto | Mike Laverick

This blog post was meant to include Osaka, Nara, and Kyoto, but it ended up so big we had to split it! Fortunately that just means there’s plenty to see and read. Without further ado: Kyoto.

Saturday 7th: Osaka to Kyoto

We had a day of travel today but thankfully a lovely and short jump to Kyoto. We started with the Nishiki Markets for brekkie. It was really awesome to see the markets in full swing but they were very busy! We got some more takoyaki, because why not, some fresh melon to share, and finally we braved trying some eel. We were surprised at how meaty the eel was, and it didn’t have a fishy taste at all, surprisingly yum to be honest.

We took the subway from Osaka to Kyoto because it was so easy and only one train with a 5-minute walk to our hotel on the other end. We headed out to Kinkaku-ji or the golden temple. It was most definitely golden, but I didn’t love it. I prefer the more rustic looking buildings and it was super busy. The gardens though were beautiful, and we enjoyed walking through them and exploring the little side paths with less people.

Kyoto is famous for the shrines and temples so our next stop was Imamiya Shrine. This one had some beautiful gold decoration but the main building was wooden so it looked so much more authentic. It also had some beautiful vermillion buildings too and the bonus, it was free to visit so a double win. We stumbled upon Kitano Tenmangu shrine which had a crazy number of lanterns and some huge buildings along with some beautiful flowers around the area. It was 5 o clock now so they were closing up but I think this was my favourite shrine so far!

On our way back to the hotel we walked down Yokai Street which had random sculptures/monuments of the spirits which are part of the culture, some were great, others were creepy as, but it was nice to walk down a very non-touristy street. We headed back to the hotel and checked in properly before heading out for dinner. The area around our hotel was CRAZY busy at dinner time but we managed to find the most delicious completely female owned and run ramen shop. The service was incredible and the food even better.

Sunday 8th: Kyoto

Another day in Kyoto, this time we headed out to the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. The Bamboo was pretty cool, but the amount of people was pretty horrendous and for that reason we have one picture only in the forest. We did however find the Okochi Sanso Garden which was absolutely beautiful and so nice and quiet. It had a little tearoom where you could help yourself to different types of tea and drinks. We tried some matcha, sweet matcha, and another tea which had a roasted rice flavour. The matcha was delicious and so much nicer than any I have had before, the sweet matcha was also lovely if you enjoy a sweeter drink, and the roast rice was not so delicious, but Mike enjoyed it! The gardens themselves had some old buildings and some stunning flowers, well worth a visit and hiding from the crowds.

We walked into the main park to view the ‘romantic train’ doing its thing before walking down and along the river. The river was nice but again so so busy, but we enjoyed the stroll and watching the weir. Our next stop was the monkey area. They are wild macaque monkey and basically you just pay to go up and see them, but they stay around because there is also an area where you can feed them. We didn’t feed them but loved the walk up the mountain not just because we saw baby monkeys but also the views were pretty incredible too. It was lovely to watch the young monkeys playing fighting each other and the mothers carrying their babies was very sweet. A great trip even with a super steep walk in the 30C weather!

By this point in true us-style we were hungry. The area around the river was quite touristy(read expensive!) and boring food-wise so we strolled back in the direction of the station and came across BanBan. This tiny little restaurant specialised in Soba noodles. They recommend cold noodles but that sounded odd to me so we got one hot and one cold and to be honest they were both so good. Soba noodles was a lovely change from the egg/Udon noodles we had been having. The tempura veg fritters on the top was so crispy and fresh which just added to the deliciousness, and the sweet tofu fritter was delicious too.

We took the train back to Nijo station and headed to the castle/palace gardens. They were nice, but nothing on the Osaka and Himeji castles so we didn’t love them. That said, they did have an epic display of hydrangeas in one of the corners which had vibrant pinks, blues and purples so I imagine in cherry/peach blossom season it is more beautiful. We went back to the hotel for a shower before heading to a Michelin guide gyoza restaurant round the corner. They were the best gyoza we have ever had so we can see why they were on the guide. It was also fun sitting at the kitchen island style table and watching the chef cook.

We again wandered around and went into the Nintendo and Pokémon shops for a mooch. The Nintendo shop was fun because it had some great Mario world themed sculptures and places to get pictures. The Pokémon store was pretty similar and Mike loved it in there - buying a little plushie for a friend and a slowpoke keyring for when we finally get a set of keys back too. Our first souvenirs which aren’t magnets. 28000 steps later, our legs were done!

Monday 9th: Kyoto

Our final full day in Kyoto and another busy one planned. We headed to Higashiyama ward to explore the really old streets. On the way to our first temple we came across a matcha mochi shop where they were making the rice flour paste in front of you and that was really cool to watch them pounding it. We also tried one and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, and we wished we had got 2!

The walk was leading up to the Kiyomizudera Temple we loved exploring the outside, but the 900Yen entry seemed steep so we didn’t actually go in, especially because it was heaving and you had to queue for a ticket. So, we got some compulsory pictures before heading round and down to Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka. The view of the Yasaka pagoda was incredible one you left the well-known walking route, and we really enjoyed exploring the little local shops. We came across one offering free tasters and, in the end, purchased some wasabi-coated and yuzu pepper coated peanuts for train snacks tomorrow.

We came across a beautifully colourful shrine which has taken over as my new favourite and the best part was the Goshuin had the no see/speak/listen monkeys in the stamp! Our next stop was the Ryosen Kannon Temple. This huge area was so nice and quiet compared to some of the other temples and we loved exploring the area inside the Buddha and looking at our Zodiacs the best part being Mikes is the only angry one of the 12 and we all know he is so chilled he may as well be lying down!

Lunch was upon us, and we headed into 7/11 for a quick stop rather than queuing due to all the rain. Next, we headed to Yasaka Shrine. We loved the little husband and wife statues and exploring the architecture of this one and the rain had made it much quieter. We headed back towards the centre of Kyoto and walked down Pontocho Alley to check out this tourist hotspot. The road really was tiny, and we were glad it was quiet because there was no way you would be able to move in the evening!

We went for an early dinner to try some of Japan’s famous souffle pancakes, only we didn’t expect the 40-minute queue/wait time! But we managed to explore the Nishiki markets while they were in full swing and only made us enjoy the pancakes more. We shared a banana chocolate and a tea-based caramel set pancakes and they really smashed our expectations -would 100% recommend to anyone.

We popped back to the hotel to grab our coats before heading to Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine, the shrine with 12000 torii gates! The shrine itself is huge and goes all the way up the mountain with lots of different smaller ones to pray at and read about which was awesome. The torii gates are pretty hard to describe because there were just so many, glad we didn’t have to build them! We went up at dusk, all the way to the top and we have no regrets the main area was busy but after a 10-minute walk it was so beautiful and quiet we absolutely loved seeing the gates in both daylight and after the lanterns had come on. The ultimate win was seeing 2 wild piggies rooting around in the ground for food on our way down. We really finished our time in Kyoto on a high!