Here it is! A massive photo dump and summary of our time in Kyoto. You already know the basics, so I’m just gonna dive right in!
Oh, actually, first, a warning: I make no promises about the chronology. In fact, I don’t think I’ll even try to tell you what specific things we did on what specific days. Most of the time, I didn’t even know what day it was. I’m not 100% sure today is Saturday. It’s just not how my brain works.
With that our of the way…
We rode the Shinkansen (the bullet train) to Kyoto from Tokyo. It was different than I was expecting; for one thing, the station was nuts crowded and very hot; for another, the trains are coming every 10 minutes or so, so it seems like most people don’t buy their tickets in advance, they just show up and get them.
The train itself is way more comfortable than a plane, and it’s nice to not go through security, but the ticket is as much or more than a plane ticket (depending on how far you’re going), so it’s ultimately pretty comparable of an option for long-distance travel within the country.
One of the first things we did in the area was go to Nara Park – a place full of wild deer that you can feed and interact with. They sell special deer crackers everywhere that are safe for the deer to eat, and the deer can sense immediately if you have any crackers on your person – they will follow you incessantly until the crackers are gone, and then they’ll move right along.
It was actually way more fun than I was expecting it to be.
There were also a lot of cool temples and shrines in the area; we had to climb a bunch of stairs, but we got a great view of the area!
We also visited a couple castles in our time in Kyoto – Nijō Castle and Hikone Castle. Both were cool, but I think Hikone was my favorite. But unfortunately that one was like two hours from where we were staying, and we hit some train delays, and so long story short we only got like an hour to run around the museum and the castle grounds.
Possibly my favorite thing we did, though, was the Fushimi Inari shrine – basically a whole mountain that’s been covered in fox shrines and torii. It’s kind of an intense hike if you want to see it all – like I said, it’s covering a mountain – but it’s totally worth it.
Last but definitely not least was the Arashiyama Monkey Park. Basically it’s a park (also on a mountain, but a small one) where they study monkeys, and for funding they let tourists come up and feed the monkeys through a screen. There’s monkeys everywhere, though, just wandering around, living their lives. It was fantastic, and being on top of a mountain meant it had great views, too!
There was a lot more we did that we didn’t (or couldn’t) get pictures of – conveyor belt sushi, bathing in a hot spring, a bunch of different book stores, more excellent ramen – but these were the highlights.
Today is our last day with Shaz and Cassie’s dad; we still don’t know what we’re gonna do. After that, though, we’re talking with Drew about if we want to stay in Tokyo or venture north. Stay tuned!