We spent the last two days in Kyoto and this is our short travel diary 😊.
Our Adventure
We started our adventure early on Tuesday morning at Arashiyama where we walked to the famous Bamboo Forest.
After a lap or two, and taking hundreds of photos, we exited the Bamboo Forest and had a few snacks along the street. There were some pulled rickshaws but it was ¥8750 a ride so we opted out of it.
Then we went to see the Kimono Forest (LINK).
Afterwards, we crossed Togetsu-Kyo Bridge for a moment by the Katsura River. We climbed to the top of the mountains and fed some Japanese Macaques at the Iwatayama Monkey Park (LINK) 🐵. It was ¥550 for entry.
For lunch, we dined at a set-menu restaurant along the outskirts of Arashiyama. This was the only restaurant that fitted a group of 7 people with a variety of items on their menu (one of our members is a vegetarian).
I ordered a classic hot soba and tempura set. The soba noodles were soft and chewy, and the broth was a savoury umami flavour. They added grounded yams on top which I found helped cleansed my palate in-between bites. The tempura prawns were juicy and the batter was a light crispy coating.
I ordered a classic hot soba and tempura set. The soba noodles were soft and chewy, and the broth was a savoury umami flavour. They added grounded yams on top which I found helped cleansed my palate in-between bites. The tempura prawns were juicy and the batter was a light crispy coating.
It was about 3PM when we headed to Fushimi Inari Shrine for a quick exploration. We didn’t stay long as everyone was starting to feel tired from all the walking earlier so we headed to Gion around 5PM.
My family are picky eaters. Half the group were vegetarian or could not tolerate fresh seafood, and the other half only wanted to eat meat. For dinner, I found a vegetarian restaurant and a JBBQ restaurant 3 streets away from each other near our Airbnb and the group divided based on interests. No photos were taken 😒
Yesterday we started a little later than expected and headed out for the Golden Pavilion (LINK). Originally I had planned to visit the Silver Pavilion too but we didn’t have enough time so we went shopping instead.
We had Sukiya for lunch, which is a large gyodon franchise located throughout Japan. They’re famous among locals for their cheap and fast rice sets. One set includes meat and rice + ontama + miso soup for about ¥500.
Last night we had dinner at Sushi no Musashi for ¥100 per plate. I ate about 20 plates on my own 😂. So cheap!
I love Kyoto because it is one of the most scenic cities in Japan. The only downside is the overcrowded tourist spots and the lack of activities, compared to Tokyo and Osaka. We used to rent a bicycle and ride around the city in search of all the dozens of temples but alas, this time around it was only a short trip to see the iconic spots.
Thanks for scrolling through. Jaa-ne!
Thanks for scrolling through. Jaa-ne!
