Let's Go To Kyoto

While living in Japan I went to Kyoto twice.  I loved Kyoto.  When you imagine Japan, THIS is the place you think of. The architecture of the buildings are quintessentially Japanese. The above picture is that of the Tori gates at Fushimi Inari Shrine.  Fushimi Inari is my favorite place in Kyoto because it is so cool.  There are literally thousands of Tori gates lining the mountain path.  You can read more about it here.

Kyoto is the old capital of Japan before the capital became Tokyo.  Luckily, Kyoto was taken off the list of places to be bombed and escaped the damage of an atomic bomb.  For this reason you can see many old and wonderful landmarks here today.  You can read more about Kyoto here.

Since I am new to blogging, and a bit short on time lazy, I will highlight just a few of my favorite things I discovered during my time in Kyoto.  You can find great information about the area, and all areas of Japan actually, from the website Japan-Guide.com.  They have really good information and I used that website to plan both of my trips to Kyoto. I was able to maximize my trip by following their itineraries of places to see.


The Golden Temple

This is the Golden Temple.  Surprisingly, this was not one of my favorites.  It looks beautiful, but it did not feel as magical as some of the other places I went.  This place is definitely worth a stop if you are near the area, but it feels so much like a tourist stop that it just loses some of its luster. You do not get to go into the temple, but rather you walk around the grounds and get close enough to see the detail in the gold, but it never really feels like you are experiencing it.  Now, I understand this. I wouldn't want thousands of people trampling through that old temple anyways.  That said, it is kind of out of the way and I feel as though I wasted some of my limited time trying to see it.  I can experience this just the same by looking at the pictures online.  However, if you do want to go, you can read about it here.  They also have some more pictures of the area.  I am not a photographer by any means, so this is about as good as it gets for my blog. 

The Bamboo Forest

Biking through the Bamboo Forest was great fun.  I highly suggest renting a bike at the rental place once you get off the train.  I really love the Arashiyama area of Kyoto.  This is a short train ride from the main area of Kyoto (hotel and central train station area).  You want to go early in the day for two reasons. 1- it will not be super crowded.  Later in the day there are just too many people walking through that forest, and 2--you will not be able to get a bike if you wait till later.  The first time I went to Kyoto we didn't reach the area until about 1pm.  There was 1 bike left. That would not work for the four of us.  The second time around I was smarter.  We left in the morning and got there around 9am-ish.  The three of us all got a bike for about 1,000yen each.  It was so worth it!! It is entirely too hot and uncomfortable to walk the entire trip through the forest, so riding the bike was pleasant and made the trip quicker. You want to go through the entire forest because there are temples lining the entire way.  So many things to see during that little trip through the forest.  You can read more about the area and the things to see here. Since we had the bike the second time around, we were able to make it all the way to the top of the ridge and see the Stone Buddhas.  This was a great find by my friend Karyn, and I am so glad she saw these on Pinterest of all places.  We planned our entire Arashiyama day around these Buddhas.  

There were hundreds all carved into the stone by a different artist. Each one is unique, and it is amazing to see them all. This is just a tiny little section of these Buddhas.

Look at that detail!!

Fushimi Castle

One of my favorite things about the trip to Kyoto is how easy it is to stumble upon something cool.  My friend and I took an early train trip to Fushimi Inari Shrine, and along the walk back we saw a sign for "Fushimi Caslte."  The way the city is situated, and how easy the train system is, it is easy to just explore and "find" things.  We decided to take an adventure and "find" the Fushimi Castle.  When we got there it was amazing.  It was deserted, yet beautiful. We both said the grounds felt somewhat spiritual.  It turns out that this is a replica of the original castle, and it was built to be an amusement-type park.  It was closed in 2003 though and is no longer open to the public.  We were able to get close enough to see the outside and walk around the grounds, but there was no entry into the building. After we left the location I was obsessed with finding out more about this castle.  It turns out there was a mass suicide of Samurai there, and the blood soaked floor is now the ceiling in many other temples throughout Kyoto. How cool is that?? In some of the temples you can see the bloody footprints on the ceiling. If you google Fushimi Castle you can find several different bits of information on this castle and the temples with the old blood soaked floors of the original castle. 

One side up-close

I guess that is all for my Kyoto post.  I wish I would have been a blogger when I actually took the trip, because then I could have preserved some more practical information such as where to stay, how the trains work, etc etc.  Instead you just get some highlights of the trip.  If you have questions though, please comment and I will do my best to get you the info you need.  We did so much more than these things in Kyoto, and I hate that I only have time am too lazy to write more.