Travelling in Japan

Travel and Leisure

Well, for our first trip to the Orient together, I would call it a moderate success. We did and saw amazing things, but also endured challenges and frustration along the way. Not enough to ward off others from going, but sufficient that I would offer a number of cautions before sending friends or family to Japan.

The downsides

In a nutshell, it was too hot, crowded and difficult to work around the language issues for us. Additionally, we found the cuisine not to our liking, which I know is a specific issue to us. Let's review each of these.

Too hot even for this local

The heat: We had picked the first two weeks of October primarily because we had pivoted away from another trip that we were going to take to South America around the same time, so we had this gap in our travel schedule. And we managed to get good prices for air for this window, vs. any time later, where the price jumped up significantly. Daytime highs were always above 28º C, but mornings started out in the low 20s, with 85% humidity. We'd literally be sweating at 7 pm at night, even after the sun had gone down. This made for abbreviated days; by early afternoon, the oppressive heat had sapped our energy such that we'd head back to the air-conditioned haven of our Airbnb. You can/could travel in the spring to avoid the heat, when you'll get to see the cherry blossoms, but you'd get even more of the associated...

Of course it's busy at the Shibuya Scramble

Crowds: I knew it would be busy there, but still was not really prepared for just how crazy it was. We'd been to the big attractions in Paris, Rome and other major European cities... how bad could it really get? Bad. Aside from a couple of times where we got to the temple early or went a lesser known site, the masses of people around us was astounding. I had told her that since they drive on the left there, that they walk on that side as well; that turned out not to be true, and often there'd be signage to walk on the right side of the stairs instead of left! We did find a few oases of calm here and there, but for the most part, were surrounded by a sea of people.

Wait... is this a bear warning?

Language barrier: In Europe, most people in the service industry have some level of English proficiency; not so in Japan. We'd have to use our phones with Google Translate to decipher signs or instructions multiple times each day. And despite being a popular 1st-world tourist destination, not all attractions were well-equipped with English information or summary descriptions. Sometimes, even Google Maps would give you directions to turn right at "外苑東通り/都道319号". Wha? Thank goodness I managed to recalibrate my iPhone's GPS to actually point me in the direction we needed to go, as many times we would have been lost.

Typical Japanese-only menu

The cuisine: I thought I would love Japanese food... after all, I like sushi, teriyaki anything, tempura, and noodles. Unfortunately, she doesn't really eat any seafood, but I still thought we'd be ok, knowing that there's lots of chicken on rice, bbq etc. to get us by. However, what I didn't realise, is that many dishes use a fish sauce base or broth, which threw even me off. So almost every afternoon, we'd be on Google, searching for meal options that we thought we'd like. We defaulted to some non-Japanese restaurants a couple of times (Indian and a kebab joint), and went to the same beef restaurant twice (Japanese beef is excellent). And I'm not ashamed to say that we had hamburgers a few times as well; they were some of the best burgers we've ever had!

Getting around

I wouldn't say it was easy navigating around Japan, but if you know what you're doing, it's relatively fast and efficient, most using the prepaid IC card (Icoca, Suica). But since we were Japanese travel rookies, we made quite a few mistakes. Our first was trying to use the bus; since they are usually quite full, they actually open the doors before the actual stop to let out passengers, and then pull up to let new passengers in. We did not know this of course, so ran back 20 metres or so when our bus pulled up, pressing the button on the rear door for access (noobs!). Finding the stop for a particular bus at larger transfer station also proved to be a challenge, and we missed more than one bus while trying to find the right place to stand and wait.

The Icoca card we used is worth discussing for a moment. These IC (integrated circuit) cards are used for pretty much all your public transit needs. Confusingly, they are called different names based on the region in Japan where you purchased it, but they all operate the same and are interchangeable. For us foreigners, you can't use your smartphone, as the app isn't built to accept our VISA cards for some reason, so you have to go and buy a physical card from a station. The other annoying thing is that you need cash to re-charge your IC card, as we found out when trying to exit a station once, and her card had run low on funds. You can use your IC card to pay for things at 7-11, Lawsons and Family Mart, but it's not really a benefit, as you can tap your VISA or smartphone there anyways.

We struggled with the metro a number of times, where the name of the end stop was not listed on the signage for the subway platform we were waiting on (or couldn't find the right platform since the end destination we wanted was not shown). Sometimes we just gambled that Google Maps had the right time and platform was correct, and got on the train that was loading at that specific time. And even if it was listed correctly, you'd have to wait for the English version to come up on the overhead sign.

Some fare gates are IC card only!

Then there's some of the "Limited Express" trains where you pay for reserved seating on top of the fare subtracted from your IC card. This got us when we were trying to go to Nikko, as we thought we had become Japan train veterans by this time. Nope. Since we had not pre-purchased the reserved seating leg of our trip, we had to wait almost 2 hours for a train with available seating. You end up tapping in/out with your IC card and inserting your paper ticket for the Express portion. Confused yet?

Standing in-between cars to Osaka

The final gotcha was booking our Shinkansen ride from Odwara to Osaka. We used the "Easy for Foreigners" ticket machine in Kyoto, and we were successful on that trip, but this time we screwed up royally. It seemed we had found the train that was leaving around the desired departure time, but no Green Car (first class) or Ordinary Car reserved seats were available. We thought, we'll just buy the non-reserved tickets, and do the festival seating when the train shows up. Well, when our train arrived at the station, it was coming from Tokyo and all of the seats were taken already, so we ended up having to stand for over an hour and a half!

Stranger things

In no particular order, here are a number of things that seemed odd to us, as Canadians who are relatively well travelled.

You need cash here: I was surprised at how often we needed to use up our Japanese yen, especially at restaurants. Many/most of the food vendors on the street and smaller establishments were cash-only, so it was something that you need to verify before you sit down with only your VISA. Also, in most/all of the cultural attractions, cash was the only way to pay, specifically at the temples in Kyoto. And then there's the aforementioned IC card recharging; I'd say that in general you need 2-3 times more cash in Japan than you'd bring on a European trip. Oh and for you Americans using your credit card, make sure you know your PIN, as almost 1/2 the places we went did not accept tap to pay.

A small park where we ate in Nikko

There's not many places to sit: When we were walking around the public spaces in towns and attractions, we found that there was not a lot of seating. Apparently this is by design, to eliminate loitering and their cultural emphasis on order. Nonetheless, it does make things somewhat annoying for foreigners, as it is also a no-no to eat or drink on the street. So what do you do? For street vendors, you stand and eat/drink right in front of the place you bought it, then move on. If you've bought some take-away, you either take it back to your hotel/Airbnb, or as we did a couple if times, go to a nearby park where there's benches to eat.

Restaurants: Aside from the issues we had trying to find places we wanted to eat, there are some other curiosities to be aware of. When you sit down, wet towels, called oshibori, are provided for cleaning hands before eating; this is not to be used to clean your face or wipe food from your mouth. However, often we'd find that either no napkins/serviettes were provided, or if they did, they would be small waxy things that were almost useless. We ended up buying a pack of paper towels to bring with us to restaurants for this purpose. Finally, the idea of having a separate dessert course after a meal is not traditional in Japan, so once you're done with your meal, you simply get up and pay at the till. A few times, a bill was presented after delivering our food, and you brought that up to pay on exit.

Minor hotel differences: As with other countries we've visited, it was not common to get wash/face cloths in Japan, nor was there any bar soap provided. We bring our own for both, but just something to be aware of for those who prefer these. There was always shampoo and conditioner, but those with brand preference might want their own products. We booked Airbnbs because we wanted to be able to do our own laundry, and at each place they provided the necessary washing detergent pods. One unique feature of their shower/bath rooms, was the integrated heating system, where you could hang your laundry, and dry your clothes overnight. It was very effective, and we used it a number of times. Lastly, all properties we visited had automatic bidet toilet seats!

All things cute: We both knew about Hello Kitty, anime and other cute icons that are popular in Japan, but we didn't realise the extent of it. It's referred to as "kawaii", a cultural phenomenon which emphasizes cuteness, childlike innocence, charm, and simplicity. Hello Kitty traffic barriers? Why not? They were also embroidered into the headrests on one of our trains! There's even these shops, where you buy nothing but cute little keychains and things from rows and rows of vending machines. We didn't get it.

Clean streets, but where are the trash bins?

It's very clean and orderly: Everything is very clean and you're safe pretty much anywhere. Unlike major European destinations where pickpockets abound, you don't need to worry about that here, even in crowded areas. The people are courteous, but since many/most don't speak any English, they do not engage with foreigners whatsoever. Despite sometimes questionable signage, everyone was very orderly (even tourists) and queued up properly for transit or other busy places. 

A rarely found recycling container

Trash talk: Speaking of clean, there's virtually no trash anywhere to be seen, despite the lack of rubbish bins. You heard that right... they don't have garbage cans in public areas. Apparently this was as a result of the 1995 Sarin gas attack, and cultural norms to keep things clean. So you end up packing your trash around with you, and then dispose of it at the hotel or Airbnb. However, we did find the amount of plastic waste to be astounding, considering that there is no soft plastics recycling, and it ends up in the garbage incinerators. Even in the free public washrooms (which are almost everywhere), there's no trash bin, so you don't get paper towels to dry your hands (most did not have the air dryers either).

The conclusion

Japan was definitely an interesting country to visit, and it is certainly a unique place to travel. While I think the above may deter first-timers from going, that is not my intent. You will experience a country rich in history and culture that is far different than anything we've ever seen before. At 16 nights, I feel as though we did a pretty decent job of seeing a variety of things and places; if I had to trim a couple of nights, we could have dropped our "decompression stop" day in Kyoto, and another on departure from Osaka. I would also suggest that maybe, just maybe, an organised tour (vs. self-guided) would take out much of the angst that we experienced with missed opportunities and transit mishaps.

In summary, the obvious question is, "would I go again?", to which the answer is "no". Not because I didn't like it, but because I've seen enough to satisfy my needs. Even if the handful of negative issues could have been overcome, I'd still say that I don't need to go back. Sorry Japan.

Japan Act III: mountains, onsen and Osaka

Travel and Leisure

Day 12/13: Nikko

After the hubub of Tokyo, I knew we would need a break. While you can do Nikko as a day-trip from Tokyo, it's a pretty long day. And being the newbies to Japan rail that we are, we screwed up by not pre-booking the "Limited Express" seats, so we had to wait for availability and only got to Nikko around 2 pm. After a whirlwind experience with the woman at the tourist information centre, we mapped our visit into two blocks; afternoon at the Kanmangafuchi Abyss and Tamozawa Imperial Villa, then next morning around the historic temple sites. And it’s cooler here… thank goodness!

The abyss was a short bus ride and 15 minute walk from where we dropped our bags at the Nikko Station Hotel II. It is an easy riverside stroll along this relatively short length of gorge but the dramatic term "abyss" seemed a bit overstated. Sure there's some small waterfalls and swirling rapids, but the area was also used as, you guessed it, a place of worship. There are about 70 stone statues of Jizo, a Bodhisattva who cares for the deceased. The red hats and bibs have something to do with protecting children or just reverence and kindness for the dead - it's not really well defined on western websites.

Another short walk from the entrance to the abyss, was the Imperial Villa. With almost no tourists, this was another great find for us to explore. The original core of the complex was actually used by the emperor in Tokyo around 1872, but was moved to Nikko in 1899. The rest of the complex was built around this, and used as a summer house for crown prince Taisho. I imagined the scenes from the Vancouver-shot Shōgun tv show, taking place in and around this extravagant villa.

The next morning, since we were already up early (we never really adjusted to the timezone), we hit the temples. Armed with the info from the tourist information, we hit ‎⁨Rin’nōji Taiyū-in Temple while the rest of the tourists were waking up/taking the train in from Tokyo. Since we were told that our next temple stop would be very busy, we made our way over there just after opening at 9 am.

Toshogu Shrine was already getting slammed with visitors upon our arrival (I use Google Photos to remove people from our pics). With over a dozen structures scattered over the shrine site, the crowd was spread out a bit, but it was still very busy. You end up following a stream of tourists up a lengthy set of stairs to the tomb of Ieyasu, which after a lot of huffing and puffing, was really underwhelming. Back to our hotel to grab our bags and get on our reserved seats back to Tokyo then onward for...

Days 13 and 14: Hakone

Hotel photo of the open-air onsen

Hakone is known as an onsen (hot spring) town, where dozens of springs provide hot water for the town's spas and ryokan. We stayed at Hotel Senkei, in a traditional room, where the property's hot water and spas are fed by a local spring, as we found out our first evening, when a tree fell and disrupted both services!

The town itself is small and spread out, so with a supper-time arrival, we really only had time to grab dinner and settle in. The next day, we did the big loop of Hakone, using train, cable-car (funicular), ropeway (gondola), pirate ship (?!?) and bus. It is pretty touristy, but you get nice vantage points over the valley and on clear days, views of Mt. Fuji. We pretty much followed the Hakone Round Course outlined on the website, but did not stop at the museums or Gora Park. With a stop at a lakeside restaurant for some schnitzel, this took most of a leisurely day.

Back in town, the feed pipe for the hot springs had been repaired, so we both took in the spas (hers outside on the 5th floor overlooking the valley, mine inside). The thing about these towns, is that they are really catering to the daytrippers, and so restaurant selection is limited at night (same with Nikko). Still trying to avoid the fishy-taste of the Japanese food, we settled on a small (and pricey) burger joint called Box Burger, but we were not disappointed! Down a series of tiny streets and alleyways, this little place served up a meal as good as or better than our Wagyu burgers back in Kyoto.

Days 15-17: On to Osaka

We made a mistake on booking the Shinkansen high-speed train (more on the next post) but managed to to make the ~4 hour journey to our Airbnb in Osaka, located in the Namba area. I knew we'd be getting pretty exhausted from our journey thus far, so I had chosen one that was really in the heart of the action, and we definitely were! We didn't need to use the metro to get around, as we were located only a block from Kuromon Market and a few blocks from bustling Dotonbori; we certainly did not lack for Osaka atmosphere.

Our first night there, we took in the action on the brightly lit Dotonbori street, where there are thousands of tourists taking pictures and sampling the food along the way. There's a little historical street that runs parallel to this, Hozenji Yokocho, with narrow alleys that are lined by traditional restaurants and izakaya, and are reminiscent of the atmosphere of past eras. We had our dinner there, at a neat little spot called Dotonbori Terrace, where we had our last Okonomiyaki.

We'd pretty much urban-Japan'ed out by this point, so we spent a leisurely morning poking around the Namba Parks & City shopping complex, adjacent to the Namba station. During our trip planning, we searched for festivals that would be taking place in Japan during our trip. We found in a suburb of Osaka, there would be the Kishiwada Danjiri Festival taking place while we were there, and so we made this our last afternoon/evening event.

During the day, a hundred or more men pull elaborately crafted wooden Danjiri floats perilously fast around street corners, while riders "surf" on the rooftops, egging their teams on. We didn't see any crashes, but apparently it does happen! After an evening break where the respective teams split off for their bbq dinners, they decorate the floats with lanterns, and parade them back through the streets at night.

It was a fitting way to end our Japanese trip, if a little frustrating, as I'll detail next in...

The trials and tribulations of travelling in Japan

Japan Act II: Tokyo

Travel and Leisure

Part II of our Japanese adventure took us to Tokyo for 5 nights. Using the Shinkansen high-speed train, the total journey was only about 4 hours, end-to-end. Tip for first time users of this service, is that you want to make sure you buy reserved seats, preferably in the Green (1st class) cars, or at least the ordinary cars. We didn't get reserved seats on our 2nd Shinkansen journey, and that was a big mistake (more on that in the next episode).

Day 7: travel to Tokyo and settle in

Anyhow, we managed to find our Airbnb without much fuss, and used the rest of Day 7 of the trip to settle in, grab a bite to eat and hit the local supermarket. Getting a little tired of the Japanese cuisine, she found an Indian restaurant a few blocks away down a neat restaurant street; the place was called Dipmahal Yotsuya, and it was great! We're normally leery of having meals that don't match the ethnicity of the countries we are visiting, but this was as good as we'd had locally, and great value to boot. Look at the size of that naan!

Day 8: Asakusa area and Shinjuku at night

We were about due for some more temple time, so we hit the big one in Tokyo: Sensō-ji. The lead-up to the actual temple grounds is pretty neat, as you follow a long shopping street for over 200 meters, called Nakamise, which has been around for several centuries. Today, it sells a combination of street food and touristy items, but it is a lively pedestrian-only area; we got there just as they were opening up the shops, but it was packed by the time we walked out. 

Admission to this temple and the grounds was free, and understandably, this was a popular tourist spot. We wandered around for a bit, and even went across the street from the Thunder Gate entrance, to the Asakusa Culture Tourist Information Center observation deck; it gives you a great view down the shopping street and temple area. Since we saw that there might actually be some cooler weather coming (did I mention how hot it is here?), we headed to the local Uniqlo for some shopping.

That evening, I had mapped out a brief tour of the Shinjuku area, starting with The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, for it's two free observation decks, at 202 metres above street level. Unfortunately, this was one of the only drizzly weather evenings we'd experience, so daytime views were not great. However, arriving just before dusk, we were able to take in the nighttime lights, and as a bonus, found out that they run an evening light show. projected onto the outside of the towers!

After taking in the brief light show, we walked the short distance to Omoide Yokocho (Memory Lane); this network of narrow alleys and streets hosts many tiny bars and restaurants serving yakitori. If you've ever seen the original Blade Runner, this area is reminiscent of that first scene where Deckard sits down for some street food. With tourists and diners packing the area, we were lucky enough to find to available bar seats right away, and took in the experience with cold beverages and skewers barbecued right in front of us!

Day 9: teamLab light exhibit and Shibuya at night

Recommended to us by more than a few people, the teamLab Borderless is a must-see exhibition that is difficult to describe. Part art show, part immersive experience, it is described as a world of artworks without boundaries, a museum without a map. Indeed, you walked through the dark passages of the facility with art and light moving around you, and the light often interacted with your actual movements. It is necessary to book reservations, so we had set up for the earliest (9-9:30 am) slot for the day. As such, it wasn't too busy, and we spent around 90 minutes wandering the ever-changing lightscape around us.

It was a Sunday, but the shopping mall that teamLabs is attached to was open, so we did a little bit of window-shopping before taking in some of the views of the Tokyo Tower. If you think that it looks a little bit too similar to the Eiffel Tower, you'd be correct, as it was directly modelled after the iconic French version. Just as the Paris version is used for radio communications, Tokyo Tower was designed specifically for that purpose - and a tourist attraction as a secondary intent.

That evening, we had to go see the other iconic Tokyo experience - Shibuya Scramble Crossing. Located in the centre of the Shibuya district, seven streets come together in this one intersection, and when the walk lights turn green, chaos ensues! We went up to the 2nd floor of the Starbucks on one of the corners to capture this image, and it is definitely a spectacle to behold. We continued walking around the busy area, taking in the energy and sights of the brightly lit streets.

Day 10: Enoshima & Kamakura day trip

Two days is really enough for us in Tokyo, so we planned the rest of our time based there to day-trip; first was the seaside towns of Enoshima and Kamakura. Enoshima is mostly known as a touristy island that offers variety of attractions, including a shrine, park, observation tower and caves. Mount Fuji can be seen when the conditions are just right, but it was hazy enough to prohibit that view for us. We still hiked to the top, and then back down to see the caves that had been carved by the ocean, then converted to shrines. It was a tough morning of many stairs as, you guessed it, it's really hot here.

A streetcar ride took us to Kamakura, where the principal attraction is another giant Buddha; this one a little smaller than the one in Nara, but since the temple hall that housed it was destroyed in a typhoon, this one sits out in the open. There are a number of temples to see in this town, but at this point we were pretty templed-out. So we strolled the pedestrian shopping street for a bit, then caught the train back to Tokyo.

Day 11: Kawagoe (Little Edo) day trip

We used our last day in the Tokyo area to do another day trip, this time to Kawagoe, known as Little Edo because the main street is still lined with Kurazukuri (clay-walled warehouse-styled) buildings that retain an ambience reminiscent of an old town from the Edo Period (1603-1867). It's a relatively easy day trip, that is, if you can figure out where the right bus stop is that takes you to the old town.

There's other temples and Kawagoe Castle there, but we decided to pass on those, but did find the interesting Kawagoe Festival Museum. Since we were going to similar festival in Osaka, this was a great warm-up visit, and at only ¥200 to get in, a great bargain. This festival takes place in the third weekend of October, the same way it has for 370 years. Huge wooden floats are dressed up and paraded through the streets, then face each other in performance “battles” of the hayashi music played by the onboard participants.

Back in Tokyo, we had a relatively quiet night, but did discover a great restaurant, Teppan Dining SAYA. It was a little more high-end than what we had experienced so far, but we were just happy to have something close by for us to try. We discovered that we both liked the signature dish, Okonomiyaki, which is a savory Japanese pancake dish made from a batter of flour, eggs, dashi stock, and your choice of other toppings. We tried the "Osaka-style", pictured here. 

We returned to the Airbnb to pack up for the last five nights of our trip, to be continued... Click here for Act III.

Japan Act I: Kyoto

Travel and Leisure

We did it - our first (together) trip to the Orient. Probably more for posterity than anything, here's a brief outline of our trip and the activities we packed into a 16-night trip.

While we flew in and out of Osaka (purely based on price of the air), we immediately grabbed a train to Kyoto for 6 nights. For anyone else looking to do this, there's a discounted rate for foreigners to take the one-way JR Haruka Limited Express train, but you must buy the ticket from home. We had a minor credit card issue, so we were unable to purchase before hopping on board our flight. Note to self: some credit cards still require advance notification of overseas travel authorisation to allow for purchases.

Day 1 and 2: orientation

With a late afternoon arrival, and bumbling around at the KIX train station, we arrived in Kyoto around dinner time, so dropped our bags at our Airbnb and ran out to grab a bite and basic groceries for breakfast. So our Day 1 was pretty uneventful, except trying to figure out where to eat (more on that later). For Day 2, we had little on the agenda, as we prefer to do now, using the first full day as kind of a decompression stop after the long haul flight. We had a brief neighbourhood intro walk with the owner of our Airbnb, who showed us a few of his favourite restaurants in the area, then we strolled the length of Nishiki Market; known as "Kyoto's Kitchen", this area has been used for selling fish as early as 782. Note: It's hot here.

In the afternoon, we visited the nearby Nijō Castle and grounds, a UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The 3,300-square-meter Ninomaru Palace consists of six connected separate main buildings, but the characteristic feature of the hallways, was the "nightingale floors"; normally old floorboards creak, but these floors were built in a way that the flooring nails rub against a jacket or clamp, causing chirping noises. I tried to capture the sound with my iPhone, but was unsuccessful.

That evening, instead of just walking around trying to find a place to eat, Christine used Google Maps to zero in on a place that better suited our palates. Kyoto Niku Shokudō was a simple eatery, serving rice bowls quickly to a small room of only 16-20 diners. We were lucky to walk right in and grab the last two available seats, as a lineup formed moments after we ordered our meals. Since we're both not big seafood eaters, this place was a win for us, with beef on rice dishes - she had the "gorilla" version.

Day 3: Higashiyama temple touring

With our legs under us, we took the day to go to the eastern side of Kyoto, with many historic temples and shrines. The biggie was Kiyomizu-dera, a 1250-year old buddhist temple, also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located 1/2 way up the mountain, and this would be the first day that we really started testing our legs. 

Getting to/from the temples in this area took us through really interesting, historical streets. Even if you wanted a new store, e.g. this Starbucks, it needs to stay in the traditional style of the neighbourhood. Christine had mapped out our temple touring for the day, and we visited Kōdai-ji, another Buddhist temple, Ginkakuji, a Zen temple known as the Silver Pavilion, and then strolled a little bit of the Philosopher's Path before catching the bus back to our Airbnb.

Day 4: day-trip to Nara

A brief 40-minute train ride from Kyoto takes you to the city of Nara, famous for their wild deer population that roam freely on the streets and specifically in Nara Park. You can buy special crackers to feed the deer, and at only ¥200 per pack, I decided to buy three. However, these deer are smart, and hover around the stand where the lady sells them, and immediately descend upon the unsuspecting tourists! I was getting mobbed by them, and in this pic, two are nibbling at me to get their crackers! We had to hot-foot it out of that area and leave behind the herd there; luckily the deer were not that aggressive all day long.

Inside Nara Park, is the Tōdai-ji Buddhist temple complex that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples. Inside is the massive 15m tall, 500 tonne Great Buddha statue. We wandered the rest of the park, meeting and feeding many more deer along the way, and visiting other smaller shrines along the route. If you stopped and visited every temple and shrine, it would take all day to get around Nara Park, so we did an abbreviated visit instead.

Day 5: Western Kyoto

Tour organiser Christine had mapped out our third day on the west side of the city using the Japan Guide suggestions, starting with a hike up to the Arashiyama Monkey Park. Unlike the deer, these monkeys are not to be messed with! There were very explicit warnings: stay 2m away, don't make eye contact, do not point your camera at them. Another sign indicated the monkeys' traits when showing teeth: if you see only their bottom teeth, they are angry - step away from the monkey now.

Our self-guided tour took us across Togetsukyo Bridge into town to… another temple! The almost 700-year old Tenryū-ji is yet another UNESCO World Heritage Site, but growing a bit weary of temples, we only toured the beautiful gardens on site. This particular temple however, is located next to a bamboo forest, so we took the obligatory stroll through the towering rows, along with hundreds of other tourists looking for that IG shot.

After a street-food lunch stop, we took a break from the heat (did I mention that its hot here?), and rented e-bikes to continue touring around. This was a great idea, as some of the next sites were spread relatively far apart, and up some hills. One was even closed, and we pitied the poor folks that had trekked all the way up the historic Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street to the Otagi Nenbutsuji temple, only to discover they had wasted their energy.

One last remote temple stop at Daikaku-ji, where it was so empty, we had an entire bamboo forest to ourselves! With all the temple stops we'd had, we opted to stroll around the pond and the grounds instead of going into the complex and museum. A leisurely ride back downhill took us back to Arashiyama street-car station and a complimentary foot-spa, before we rode the tram back to our Airbnb. Back in our 'hood, we discovered a great little restaurant for dinner, Meat Bar Dining Ageratam, that served beef as their primary menu item, and were not disappointed!

Day 6: Fushimi Inari-taisha and urban Kyoto

We got an early start on probably THE most popular attraction in Kyoto: Fushimi Inari-taisha. The shrine sits at the base of Inari mountain, where the trails and stairways that take you up the mountain are lined with arcades of torii gates. There are over 10,000 of these torii, and each has been donated by a family or business; the name is inscribed on the left post, and the year that it was donated on the right. 

The hike takes you up to many smaller shrines, which goes up 233 vertical metres and spans 4 kilometres. Even though the Grouse Grind is almost triple that, it was tough sledding getting up to the top; Apple Health calculated that we went up the equivalent of 78 stories that day. Unsurprisingly, the crowd thins out as you get further up, so you can quickly catch these shots of empty stands of torii. Luckily, we were up and down before the crowds and heat of the day kicked in (yes, it's still hot here).

After some relaxi-taxi back at the Airbnb, we went down to the core of Kyoto, surrounding the main station there. First stop was a trip up to the Nidec Kyoto Tower observation deck for sweeping, 360º views of the city, and to take in sunset. It was better than I was expecting, as we were able to use the telescopes to see the temples and sites we had visited on previous days. Attached to the station, is the massive JR Kyoto Isetan department store. 

We didn't visit to go shopping however, but to take in the views and the light show that takes place each night on the Grand Staircase. Kyoto Station itself is an architectural masterpiece, and there were a number of unique areas to explore that were lit up at night. After that, it was back to our neighbourhood beef restaurant for a great Wagyu hamburger (not to be confused with Kobe beef), and to pack up for departure to Tokyo.

That's it for the first leg of our Japanese trip - To get you into the spirit of the Hallowe'en season, I'll leave you with a video of the Grand Staircase at the JR Kyoto Isetan:

Up next - Act II: Tokyo