Visited November 2016
After three days of shuffling through the neon and concrete skyscraper-exoskeleton of Tokyo, Kyoto felt practically ancient and positively suburban. Appearing lived in and nestled between forested mountaintops, Kyoto’s design would prove to be less Matrix and more Miyazaki. The city was famously spared wholesale destruction during World War II and is home to countless temples, shrines, and palaces (with some dating to over a thousand years old). Combined with its central location and importance to Japanese history and culture, Kyoto is a popular destination for tourists, nationally and internationally.
Our first day in Kyoto began with an early departure from Tokyo Station on our first Shinkansen bullet train. I’ve mentioned it before, but on this trip we were using the Japan Rail Pass, a special tourist ticket for accessing the Japan Rail transportation infrastructure. After zipping around Tokyo on clean but hectic city lines, our first bullet train taught us how comfortable travel could be. As the famous city slid away, we floated through a series of hills and tunnels, emerging in the Japanese countryside.
The trip from Tokyo to Kyoto is 320 miles and takes 2 hours and 40 minutes via bullet train. As we were traveling on a beautifully clear day, we were greeted with a spectacular view of Mount Fuji on the train’s eastern side.
A few hours later, our train descended from the mountains into the large valley in which Kyoto sits. Knowing we had the criminal task of cramming this revered destination into a day and a half, we stashed our bags and immediately took a rail line to the north-western corner of the city, a neighborhood called Arashiyama.
We disembarked from our third train and walked through sidewalk-less city streets. The paths narrowed and the buildings shortened until they weren’t there at all and we found ourselves in a forest—a bamboo forest.
The Arashiyama Bamboo Grove consists of a stalky, bamboo forest webbed with pathways. The destination is famously depicted on travel blogs with mysterious, serene photos of empty pathways babbling through the misty branches; in real life, the crush of tourists felt more like roaring rapids.
That’s not to say we didn’t find the grove delightful. On the contrary, standing in cool light filtered through the giant stalks was magical. There was even some notion of feeling lost in the place. We followed a series of turns until we found a shrine in the middle of the forest. The activity of a bustling school-group couldn’t distract from the sense that we discovered some place. On the contrary, the shrine felt alive and purposeful.
We continued onto offshoots of the main paths, finding less dense but less crowded corners of the grove. The place was perfect for photos and filled us with a wealth of memories.
Eventually, we made our way to a series of train tracks that bisected the trees. We crossed over to the other side but, sensing more of the same, returned to the southern half of the grove.
We continued through the bamboo until we found the edge of the forest. Beside the grove sat Arashiyama Park, a hilltop clearing. We regrouped and rested for a bit before traversing an old staircase that wound down to the Katsura River.
Down by the river’s edge, we followed the calm tributary into town. We walked beside it, staring at the tourist and fishing vessels on the calm water’s surface. The view was stunning, but I couldn’t quite enjoy it because I was beginning to develop a headache and light nausea. It was at this moment that it hit me—we had been up and traveling for over 6 hours and only had a few of 7-11 onigiri rice balls (courtesy of Chuck) to fuel our tanks. And that was hours ago! I needed food and I needed it fast.
We crossed the river, down-stream from a small dam. We started using our precious, limited phone data to search for food and stumbled upon a small cafe nestled among the suburban rooftops. When we went inside, we found the lounge quite dormant, as if closed. But before we could give up and retreat, a kind lady emerged and ushered us into a booth. The place was solely staffed by her and a cook in the back. Their specialty was soba noodles, made of buckwheat and served cold. We tried it with tempura vegetables. All together, it was a meal we likely wouldn’t have chose if not starving and yet found everything to be rather enjoyable.
It was the fuel we needed to get through the next activity of our day—Monkey Park!
Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama is a hilltop garden that happens to be home to about 120 Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys. Part garden, part nature preserve, part zoo, and part strenuous hike, the destination is undefinably strange and alluring all at once.
Cindy and Chris were uncontainable in their excitement. Chuck and I had our reservations with being so close to wild monkeys, further bolstered by a review of the park’s rules.
After reading the rules, we began to march up the hill. Starting with a large batch of steps, the path then curved and winded uphill with few natural rest stops for us to take a breather. Where there was a place to rest, we found little trivia activities that further made us weary of mingling with the monkeys.
After about 20-25 minutes of climbing, we emerged on a cleared plateau. There was a ‘rest house’ on one side beside a landscaped garden and on the other side, the vista opened up to all of Kyoto. And all around us were monkeys!
The monkeys were actually rather chill and unconcerned with us. They scurried around the plateau floor looking for nibbles to eat, finding perches to rest upon, and occasionally running and playing. They didn’t come up to any of us but walked by rather closely, allowing us to get some photos with them nearby. Others hung from vertical slats against the ‘rest house’ awaiting ‘monkey feed’ from the humans inside. It was a unique way of interacting with a semi-wild species. And a great way to take photos!
We knew that the monkeys would be worth the wobbly-kneed hike but had not considered that the view alone would be worth the price of admission. At the eastern edge of the clearing was a panoramic view of Kyoto. It was a beautiful day and we could easily see 8-9 miles clear across the valley. It was a stunning backdrop to an otherwise surreal tourist stop.
After about 30 minutes on top of the hill, it was time to return to ground level. The trek and stairs were much more manageable going downhill and we were afforded an excellent, sun-soaked view of the fall leaves changing color. Like Japan’s famous spring cherry blossoms, vibrant fall colors is another of the country’s arboreal majesties.
Once back at the bottom, we figured it would be a good time to start winding down. We had been traveling for nearly 12 hours, had a light diet, and just climbed a mountain—it was time to rest! We still had about a mile to traverse to find the train station and another seven stops back to central Kyoto.
We visited Kyoto on a weekend and it was actually quite difficult to find an accessible and affordable lodging solution. We ended up taking the gamble on a newly opened ‘apartment hotel’. Nestled in a residential neighborhood adjacent to the train station, with a little side-street entrance, limited desk hours, and a cramped layout, I was admittedly a bit worried with the choice. But once inside our rooms, we were awash with quaint comfort and valuable amenities. The room—literally a studio apartment—gave us our most authentic taste of living in Japan.
It also had a washer machine! Considering we were spending a week and a half in the country, this allowed us to keep our bags light and our clothing clean. I seriously won’t do a 9+ day trip again without taking a break to wash clothes (it was that helpful!). Check out the video tour of the apartment, courtesy of Chuck, below!
Anyway, after settling at our hotel, we found a McDonalds for some raw (and by raw, I mean processed) caloric intake. I had some katsu-cutlet with cheese in the center. It was very strange and very Japanese. Then, it was back to the hotel as we called it a night.
Our first day in Kyoto was amazing. And truthfully, we only explored the western neighborhood of Arashiyama; hardly a taste of the whole city. We would get a whole new flavor of the place on our next day in town—coming up next.
Until then, for a fun video recap of our first day in Kyoto, check out the video below!:
And for more photos of our first day in Kyoto, check out the gallery below!:
