2016年 12月 16日 (金)
Today, we hit up Kyoto’s hottest "K" attractions - Kiyomizu-dera, Kinkaku-ji and Kurama. KK-
First up: Kiyomizu-dera, a temple up in the hills of Eastern Kyoto. Reaching the place required a steep walk to the top. And as per usual, I packed just about everything into my backpack, so you can imagine the wonders it did for my shoulders and back. After the morning exercise, we reached the forefront where a large gate and shrine were stationed. Moving onto the main hall required a small ¥400 admission.
As a slight mist of rain started to fall, the temple grounds looked like a mystical fantasy. Despite that, I was quite underwhelmed by the attraction. From the pictures, I thought it’d be bigger and grander than what I was seeing. It’s an impressive structure, sure, but I just wasn’t feeling it. Yet, the area encompassing the temple was surprisingly big, with forked paths routing down and around the hills.
From there, we proceeded to Kinkakuji, a temple of SOLID GOLD wrapped in gold foil. We dismissed Ginkakuji, the non silver variant, because it pales in comparison to its golden sibling. Unlike Kiyomizudera, the ¥400 admission was required from the get go, with all its viewable landmarks behind the pay wall.
From start to finish, it’s a linear path with, frankly, not much to view. The temple sat atop a bank of water, with that picturesque view some distance away. Moving around this bank gets you closer to the temple to admire its foiled golden glory.
Moving past the star attraction brings you to a garden area complete with another small temple. As interesting as it all was, there really wasn’t much to it and I breezed through quite quickly.
Here on in, it was the first of the (many) series of unfortunate Luan-doings 😞. Finished with Kinkakuji, we headed over to the sole train station that would take us to Kurama, a lush rural spot just outside the city.
It was a mess. I was a mess. Due to my indecisiveness and blind trust in Google Maps, it was a ruthless cycle of hopping on and off this or that bus, waiting for buses we weren’t going to catch and walking the extra unnecessary mile… (*￣∀￣)
After that long debacle, we finally made it to the small station that was Demachi-yanagi. Interestingly, it seemed to me that the trains were automated (no conductor/controller) and the carriage had a unique seating arrangement. The large windows offered scenic views throughout the journey. It was beautiful seeing the back of my eyelids 😴.
an oddly configured carriage
Upon stepping off, I noticed a veil of rain shimmering down - or so I thought. As it turned out, it was actually snow! It was only a light sprinkle and lasted seconds at best but it casted a gorgeous layer of exquisiteness on the already beautiful scenery (none of which I captured).
Time was closing in on 16:00 and you know we hadn’t eaten 🙊. Needing to satiate our hunger, we wandered the desolate streets and empty stores to find the meal to have. I walked into this udon shop where our conversation mistakenly led me to believe they were open. They weren't. Not fretting though, as we found a cosy little restaurant: 和み家 心天狗.
As if having the warmth of a tatami room to ourselves wasn't relaxing enough, the staff were very kind to make us all the more comfortable.
The menu wasn’t painstakingly big but there was still a wide range of choice. The food was prepared quickly and devoured even quicker. The aforementioned food was delicious, filling and easy on the wallet. After finishing our meal, we chilled – undisturbed – whilst forever sipping on tea. A fantastic time.
Having rested, we journeyed off for the long hike into the neighbouring town of Kibune. Or more aptly, planned to journey off. It completely slipped my mind that closing times existed... sooo... no hike, no ropeway, and no neighbouring town. All those hoops, all that travelling… all the way out here… for some lunch. 💁 Welcome to Luantics
Glumly heading back to Kyoto, we lifted our spirits with an evening of shopping.
I wasn't particularly desperate for dinner thanks to the late lunch, but Carolyn was feeling a bit peckish. Leading us to mumokuteki café&foods, a vegan restaurant that doubled as a goods store on the floor below. The seating space was no bigger than my backyard and thus was quite packed. Relegating us to the waiting area that exposed us to their backyard - the freezing alleyway entrance. Not for long though, as we were fast-tracked to the top, thanks to the no shows 🙌.
The menu was limited to whatever the sets were or whatever was on the signboard. They weren't exactly speedy with their orders and by the time they did come out, I ended up being in the mood for a bite anyway. Surprisingly, the sets were well populated with food and tasted quite good. Especially the tofu cheesecake, that tasted really good. All in all, a pleasing place with decent prices, tasty food.
Back at the bnb, we spent the night packing as it marked the end of the Kyoto leg. It's been a fantastic start to the trip, easily making it my favourite city. As much as I love the hectic hustle and bustle of Tokyo, I love the scenery and peacefulness of Kyoto more. Kinda reminds me of Adelaide in that sense, but a thousand times better. Thanks for reading and join me next time as we venture into the neighbouring city of Osaka.
Sad that Kyoto is over? Visit Carolyn's post to continue the fun. Or perhaps you're a fan of moving pictures. Watch Vivian's fantastic video for a masterpiece view of Kyoto and other cities so...spoilers.