Kyoto, director’s cut
Kyoto is my favorite out of the five Japanese cities we visited. Happily, we decided to extend our original plan of spending just four days there, as that really would not have been enough to do the city justice.
For information about visiting Kyoto, see our condensed itinerary post for Kyoto that goes over the city’s main tourist spots. Then, read on for a more personal take on this awesome city.
Monkey park
First, the monkey park — and every good monkey park starts with a hike and a seesaw
Once you enter the main grounds of the park, the monkeys (macaques) are all around you, just doing their thing
They were very cute, and very hungry. And you are not supposed to approach them except when you are in a little tiny human cage (aka house) at the top of a hill. There, you can feed them peanuts and carrots from within the little cage…
“ты дал? — дал.
и он взял? — взял.
очен быстро взял.
Может еще дать, oн возьмет? — Возьмеет!”
And they would climb up those fences — dare I say it — like monkeys
Dedicated groomers, red face, red butt — what’s not to love?
Definitely not something I expected to see in Japan, it was one of the highlights of the trip. But why must it be so cold?
The Golden Temple (Kinkaku-ji)
In the land of historic temples, this Zen Buddhist temple is definitely the shiniest
If you are lucky enough to visit Kyoto in the fall, almost as beautiful as the temple itself are the grounds, specifically the red maples
Foliage
At this time of year (November), the foliage in Japan really is its own attraction. Although the gold temple some of the most stunning red maple scenery, Kyoto had tons of beautiful foliage that we don’t see very much in the Bay Area it was on display in many spots of Kyoto, including the monkey park,
and just on everyday streets!
The streets of the historic Higashiyama Ward
Of course, we also had to visit the Higashiyama Ward, one of the preserved areas of old Kyoto, full of touristy shops and some unusual artistic displays
As befits a kitschy tourist attraction, there were lots of ways to spend a buck. Like, for example, decorating colorful hacky sacks and tying them up in a temple. But they sure do make for great pictures
Become a ninja
Finally, the ninja course is definitely not required, but for the practiced instagrammer -- it can make for nice photos.
Turns out, yours truly is a natural ninja. After my fourth bullseye, the guide said, “maybe you should work here instead of me”
There was also a brief museum component. It showcased some nice samurai outfits, as well as the very weak attempts at humor on the part of the guide — why?
Kyoto food scene
One of the lovely aspects of Kyoto’s traditional roots is that it is full of small (if you get out of city center) restaurants run entirely by their owners and specializing in “just that one thing” that they have worked to perfect over the years. We had some beautiful experiences stumbling in to a small soba noodle shop in the evening, dining at an omakase tempura-only restaurant, squeezing into a local Ramen parlor, and feasting at a neighborhood sushi spot. More food notes coming up in a dedicated post!
We didn’t stay in the most central or trendiest part of Kyoto. But this also meant we had relaxed areas near us where we could use an app to rent a bike just like in Europe and ride it around these tiny streets and chill park spaces
Staying in this quieter part of Kyoto in the Kamigyo Ward (neighborhood), we quickly found two fun cafes nearby.
Lin Coffee is all about bicycles and heavenly thick toast. The proprietor doesn’t speak a lot of English, so our conversation was limited, but the decor is unmatched and we communicated enough to know he is a former professional cyclist
Staying six days nearby, we kept coming back to Manaia coffee. The owner spoke great English (surprisingly rare in Japan) and we talked quite a bit about life, travel and Japan. The great coffee and snacks also kept drawing us back.
In short, we found Kyoto to be personable, beautiful, peaceful, with lots of interesting attractions, a great metro system and delicious food. Next, on to Tokyo!
