Kyoto Bamboo Groves

We had fun playing with a wide angle lens in the Bamboo Forest outside the temple grounds in Kyoto. The forest was smaller than I anticipated, and it was strange that cars could drive this road (which is heavily occupied by tourists). I would guess we spent about 30 minutes wandering the road before moving on.

Kyoto - Arashiyama

On second day in Kyoto we headed to the Arashiyama district. Our first stop was the Ryoan-ji temple and its famous rock garden. We arrived early and enjoyed a quiet visit. But, we made a decision to stay until 9 am when the temple stamp shop opened. 

Our second stop was the beautiful Kinka-kuji temple. I think we took a bus between the temples. By the time we arrived, we were with the crowds.

You can't go inside the temple, but the grounds are pretty.

At this point, we took a taxi to Arashiyama. It was more expensive, but much faster than transferring through public transportation.

We headed straight to the Iwayayama Monkey Park. It was quite a hike to the top.

But, it was worth it!

You get up close & personal with the monkeys. If you want to feed them, you go inside & offer the food through a screen.

We knew these pictures would be a hit with the kids.

It was a little hazy, but we had a neat view of the city.

After our visit, we enjoyed a nice lunch on the water. We contemplated renting bikes, but it was just so crowded that we decided just to walk.

Next up, Tenryuji temple.

I loved the gardens here.

After walking the temple grounds, we enjoyed the Bamboo Forest (pictures to follow). It was starting to rain, so we caught a bus to see one last temple.

This was off the beaten path and we had the place to ourselves. We loved the peace & quiet!

The statutes at Otagi Nenbutsuji were added in the 1980s, but we still enjoyed the grounds. After this visit, we took a bus back to town and then took the train back to our hotel for a rest before dinner.

Kyoto Day 1

Upon arrival in Kyoto, we walked to the Nishiki Market. I'm glad we did because it ended up being the only time we were in the market during our stay.

It reminded me a little of Chelsea Market in New York - except instead of restaurants, it had little food shops.

This is what we ate for lunch. It was a potato and onion filled pastry.

I also tried this - a quail egg within an octopus - Nick was too scared. It wasn't my favorite, but I'm glad I tried it.

After the market, we started walking through the town. I didn't do my research & was expecting a quaint town. But, Kyoto is huge - several million residents.

There are still parts that have an old time feel.

We discovered that Nick's GPS on his phone wasn't working and was taking us in all sorts of wrong directions. But, we finally stumbled on a shrine and we were able to get our bearings.

The Yasaka Shrine is large but I didn't really connect with this shrine. 

For some reason, I don't think this was how the Shrine grounds originally looked.

There are thousands of shrines and temples in Kyoto. The town was not impacted by the big earthquake that affected Tokyo.

We had a little time before our tea ceremony so we tried, without luck, to find a place to get a drink.

I was surprised to learn that traditional tea ceremonies are not practiced widely in Japan. 

Our lovely hostess walked us through the ceremony and then helped us do it as well. The hardest part was sitting our legs. We walked A LOT & those dogs were tired! I'm looking forward to some matcha tea as the days start getting colder. 

We walked home with the Gion area of town and stopped at a restaurant near Nishiki Market called Gyogo. 

We had the most amazing burnt ramen miso. We are still trying to find a recipe so we can try to duplicate it at home. It was a great first day!

Tsukiji Fish Market

Our last Tokyo adventure was the Tsukiji Fish Market. They let a select group of people into the famous Tuna Auction at 6:30 am. But, the group is so small, it is recommended that you arrive by 4 am to be assured a spot. We decided to sleep in instead.

We had sushi for breakfast. It tasted like sushi. There is some talk that all the tuna sold in this fish market is actually caught in the USA. I don't know if its true or not.

After breakfast we walked around the outer market stalls.

The market was amazing. 

I have no idea if these prices are good, but it looks like you could eat fresh fish every day. No wonder Japan is such a healthy country.

At a certain time, visitors are allowed into the internal wholesale market. 

It was a little crazy. These things are zipping around everywhere. You really have to be on your toes so that you don't get in someone's way.

It was pretty neat to walk around the market and see all the exotic foods.

After we had enough of the fish, we headed back to the hotel, grabbed our luggage & headed to Kyoto.