Kyoto! — Foleys In Japan

The last full week of October, Yokohama International School had fall break. Elsa was able to get a few days off of work, so we decided to take some time to explore the nearby cities of Kyoto and Nagoya.

Kyoto is about 280 miles away from Yokohama, which would result in a 5+ hour drive if you chose to endure Japanese low speed limits and terrible traffic. You could fly there in an hour, but that requires going to an airport and dealing with security and all that nonsense. Instead, we opted to try out the bullet train (Shinkansen) for the first time and it was amazing. The kids have asked to ride the shinkansen nearly every day since we've moved here, so at last their wishes came true.

The Shinkansen ticket is actually more expensive than flying, but the huge positive is that they are nearly always on time, easy to get to, and almost as fast as flying. Our train took two hours to get from Yokohama to Kyoto and that includes a short stop in Nagoya on the way.

It probably goes without saying, but this is the way to travel. Once you get on the train, you can store your luggage on racks above the seats (no TSA, no bomb sniffing dogs, etc), sit down, turn your brain off and relax. The train reaches incredible speeds, but the ride is very smooth. We decided to go all out and purchase "Green Car" tickets (equivalent to First Class on a plane). If you get hungry or thirsty there are snack carts that come around where you can purchase treats, chips, bentos, and even wine and beer at pretty reasonable prices.

We arrived in Kyoto, stored our luggage in convenient lockers at the station, and then headed straight to sightseeing in the Arashiyama area of Kyoto. It was nearing lunch time, so we stopped and grabbed some yummy food from a small little stand on one of the main roads. The kids loved their curry buns and Elsa and I enjoyed some various meats and fish on sticks. From there, it was on to the bamboo forest.

The bamboo forest is exactly what it sounds like; a forrest filled with bamboo. It was pretty cool and connected to a massive park area that led us out to a river in Kyoto.

After hiking around this amazing park for a quite a while, we were all a bit hungry again so decided to stop for some snacks and treats.

With a belly full of ice cream, it was time to tackle the monkey mountain (Iwatayama) - which is exactly what it sounds like - a mountain with monkeys (macaques to be specific) at the top. We didn't expect it, but this ended up being quite a hike. The climb to the top felt relentless. Every time we completed a stretch of hill another one was ready to take its place. As people were coming down it only emboldened our will to continue. If THEY can do it then so can we! When we reached the top, an army of monkeys and a large slide were waiting. Oh, and also a pretty rocking view of Kyoto.

The monkeys themselves seemed completely unphased that people were milling about with them. It was funny to watch the staff continuously chase them when they feared they had ventured too far back down the mountain. We wondered who watches these monkeys at night. Elsa is convinced that one day we will see in the news that they have successfuly taken over the city of Kyoto... Anyways - We took in the sights and began the much easier descent down the mountain. We had yet to go check-in to our AirBnb, so we grabbed a taxi and headed that way.

From pictures, we knew this was going to be a traditional Japanese home, but it was even cooler than we expected. I'm not sure any of us could make the adjustment to living in a house like this full time, but for two days in Kyoto, it was perfect and a very memorable experience. The kids loved that we all got to sleep in the same room on a traditional tatami mat floor with futons.

The next morning, we set out for the famous Fushimi Inari shrine. Again, we weren't quite ready for the climb. You've all seen the pictures of this, even if you don't realize it. There are an endless amount of orange gates that line this mountainous shrine. If I remember correctly, there are 16 or 17 stops on the way to the top. Each stop typically has a bathroom, a gift shop and a vending machine; all of the essentials minus a trendy cocktail bar with some hip live music.

When you reach halfway up the mountain, there is another epic view of Kyoto.

We decided that going up halfway was for sissys, so we all marched on and continued the path to the top. With each station, we saw fewer and fewer people. (And the people you did see had less and less mass.) After more than an hour of climbing, we reached the top. Much to our dismay, there really wasn't a great view of Kyoto at the peak. There is more shriney stuff and trees that block all ability to see down the mountain. But, to prove we made it, here’s two cute dudes at the top.

After a quick lunch, we decided to put an end to climbing mountains and just check out some parks and playgrounds in proper Kyoto. Tell ya what; Kyoto is pretty beautiful. Going on a week-day that doesn't correspond with a Japanese holiday or public school break is the way to go. Even then, places were crowded, but not near as bad as some friends have said it is on any given weekend.

Wrapping up our second day in Kyoto, we decided to visit one final shrine, Shimogamo, that had no hills involved. We went just a few minutes before they closed so it was empty and incredibly peaceful.