Scaredy Cat Travels

Kyoto

Fun Fact – At this time next week, we’ll be in Tokyo!

Transportation: feet, some trains, maybe throw in a bus 

Hotel: Dhawa Yura Kyoto 

Plans: I am not sure but I think on our first day in Kyoto I’ll make the kids get up early to visit the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove. It seems that bamboo groves are similar to Disney World – it pays to get up early and visit before the crowds arrive.

The Arashiyama area is a little removed from the rest of Kyoto but I am beginning to wonder if some of the guides view distance from a “not American” perspective. For instance, when reading about the distance the bamboo grove was from other parts of Kyoto, I was a little concerned about getting there. But it turns out it’s about 30 minutes by train or bus. From a Dallas perspective, that’s going from Sunnyvale to downtown on a good day.

Since we’ve travelled all that way, we plan to stick around and explore the surrounding area. Because it’s Kyoto, there are no less than five recommended temples in the area but I think we’ll save temple tours for another day. They look beautiful, but I can imagine it is possible to overload.

After the grove, we’ll grab something to eat from one of the cute cafes then take the Sagano Romantic Train (not the same as the Romancecar Train from Tokyo to Hakone). The Romantic Train travels a 25-minute scenic route through the Hozugawa River Gorge. Afterwards we originally wanted to take the Hozugawa River Cruise back down the river to Arashiyama, but it is currently closed due to an accident that occurred in March. One of the riverboat guides made a mistake causing the boat to hit a rock and capsize. Two cruise employees were killed in the accident. It looks like they won’t resume operations until the end of June while they investigate.

Once we figure out a way back to Arashiyama, we’ll wander the scenic streets and try some snacks. Some of the foods on the “to do” list:

Macha – the iconic green tea that is associated with Japan in general but the area near Kyoto is a key growing region. Macha desserts and specialties always look so appealing to me, but I have not liked it the couple of times I’ve tried it. I’ll make another attempt in Kyoto and hope for the best.

Dango – a dessert similar to mochi but made of rice flour instead of steamed rice and is served on a skewer of three to five balls. Hanami dango, with its pink, white and green balls are popular in Kyoto. This version is said to symbolize spring – pink representing the cherry blossoms, white symbolizing the retreating snow and green symbolizing newly sprouting leaves. There is another, less colorful version covered with a sweet & savory glaze made from soy sauce and brown sugar. Again, I don’t love mochi but I’m going to try these too. It took me 20 years to like brie and the repeated efforts were well worth it.

Takoyaki – Takoyaki are savory balls of fried batter filled with octopus and drizzled with takoyaki sauce (a little like Worcestershire) and mayonnaise. My strict uglitarian diet usually prohibits me from eating octopus but I’m wavering. The method for making the little balls looks very similar to ebelskiver, the Danish round pancakes filled with jam which I have made several times at home. Now I have a potential second use for that pan!

I am not sure why I chose to list all the things I don’t like or don’t eat.

From there we’ll check out the Togetsukyo Bridge before heading up the mountain to Iwatayama Monkey Park. In the park over 100 snow monkeys roam freely. They are attracted to the area because they are fed by the visiting tourists. Even if you don’t care about seeing the monkeys, the views looking back over Kyoto are stunning.

Last, if we have any energy left, we’ll take some form of transportation yet to be determined to Kinkakuji Temple. So I lied above. We may do one. Kinkakuji is also known as the Golden Pavilion because the top two floors are covered in gold leaf. It is surrounded by beautiful gardens as is everything in this part of Japan.

Fun Fact – Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over 1000 years until the capital was moved to Edo in 1868. Edo was then renamed Tokyo which means “east capital”. And this answers my question from another Fun Fact in another post.

Fun Fact – Jackson told me today that they have a list of places in Tokyo they want to see because they’re featured in the video game Persona 5. TODAY!

The $$$ – In general, once you spend a ton on the flight to Japan, most things seem to be affordable. The bamboo grove is free. Kinkakuji is about $3.50. The Romantic Train is about $5. The street foods I mentioned run between $2-$5 each. The strong US dollar helps too. If I can avoid getting caught up in Kyoto themed gift shops, we should be okay but that’s a big if.

Scaredy Cat rating: Depends on what we actually do but just one or two paws here. The monkeys are a little iffy.