My partner and I had the most amazing Japan Trip this Oct/Nov. And I am feeling especially nostalgic on those cold February days and decided to share one of our absolute highlights of the trip. Our first day in Kyoto (accidentally) off the beaten path. The Kyoto-stretch was the one part of our journey I initially worried the most about as I’ve read about the crowds and was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to warm up to the city. Our first day proved me so wrong, and I still think about the serendipity of that amazing day a lot and thought I would share!
We started off with a slow morning coffee as we reserved a slot in Saihoji Moss temple at 11am. We reserved our tickets only about 10 days in advance (via their website). Beforehand I heard mostly positive reviews (except for the price 25€/pP) and decided to book as I was so worried about the crowds and their reservation system guarantees a visit without crowding. We got there by bus and the area was already super different from “downtown Kyoto”. We waited in line and were granted access with about 50 other people. This part was kind of sad though, as there were a few people who dindn’t know about the temple’s reservation system and were sent home. The first part of the experience is copying a sutra to “calm” yourself and get ready for the gardens. I looooved the experience and loved that the sound of the collective pen strokes on the paper. Once you were finished you could enter the garden. It definitely isn’t huge, but it was super lovely. The sun at noon was so beautiful and I think I took about 200 pictures all of beautiful sunray patterns on the lush green moss. Some people seemed to not appreciate the atmosphere as much and practically sprinted along the path. We spent an hour there and absolutely treasured every moment.
Next we visited Arashiyama Monkey Park Iwatayama. And as much as I loved the park itself. The journey there was one of my absolute highlights that day. We decided to make the best of the sunny day and walked from the moss temple to the monkey park, starting with amazing coffee at the “Bamboo Coffee Kyoto” right next to the temple. It had a lovely outdoorsy vibe and very good drinks. The 40 mins walk from there to the park were so special! Until we were super close to the moneky park and the downtown area we didn’t see a single person on the lovely streets. Instead we saw cute houses, serene landscapes, empty playgrounds, some less famous temples and could witness the non-touristy part of Kyoto (for the exacte route just check out google maps form Saihoji to the Monkey Park).
After the monkey park which was super fun we wanted to hit Arashiyama Bamboo Forest as I really wanted one of those famous pictures, but…..we could barely walk on the side walk as it was so busy in the area and decided that coming from Koya-San the day before we were not ready for that many people.
Instead we hit the bus and drove to a temple I stumbled upon on Google the day before: Otagi Nenbutsuji Temple. It is a temple on the outskirts of Arashiyama with 1200 unique and whimsical statues and the bus stops right outfront the premises. In the whole temple area it was only about 10 people exploring the amazing moss covered statues. I took so many pictures. There are statues of families, statues with cats, statues crying and laughing. It was an amazing place to explore. If you are up for a little bus drive I can 10/10 recommend.
As the bus only very seldomly drives all the way up to the temple and back to the city we decided to walk back down rather than wait for 30 minutes. It turned out we stumbled upon “Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street” a lovely street that transports you right back in time. The old houses were either still lived in or converted into lovely coffee shops where you can enjoy your matcha in peace.
After about 10minutes of walking we saw an entrance to another Temple “Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple” and decided to check it out for 500yen. It was super lovely and except for one other couple we were the only one’s there (it was already stating to get dark by that time). We wandered around the beautiful area and I almost cried tears of joy as I saw they have a BAMBOO GROVE! My partner and I took some lovely pictures and non of them had to be staged around hundreds of tourists as there was not a single person close by.
We walked the rest of the path back to the city seeing other lovely temples, cute cafes and odd museums (for example a folk doll museum) but were to tired and happy to check them out further. Maybe next time…
Conclusion: get lost in Kyoto, it’s the best!!!
by MightyAwl
