Japan Trip – Day 8 Arashiyama, Kyoto

It was the eighth day since our arrival in Japan and we can’t wait to leave Hiroshima. It’s not that Hiroshima has less to offer, but we can’t stay a single night in the Park Side hotel anymore.

We were back on Shinkansen hopping again and the first Shinkansen we took for the day was not impressive, for the interior part.

However, the exterior was quite redeeming with the cartoon works.

The next Shinkansen we changed at Shin-Kobe Station was much better, larger legroom and minus the weird ‘old’ smell.

We went straight to Kyoto Ryokan to save the hassle of lugging the baggage around. After all the ryokan was just 10 minutes walk away from Kyoto Station.

We were given a corner room as I asked for a ‘quiet room’, which we had to compromise with a less than perfect room. Our room was smaller and we wouldn’t have space to move around unless we store our luggage beneath the tatami.

The ‘bathroom’ was a shower rain compartment. I forgot to take a picture of the state-of-art basin. I call it ‘The Stupid Basin’. It doesn’t drain by itself. We have to lift the basin bowl to slanted position to drain the water into the pipe on the wall. It was very irritating especially when I am washing my big face and have to watch out not to let the water overflow.

The storage below the bed was quite practical at a glance but we became unappreciative of it as time went by. Imagine we had to move the mattress, lift the base and squat there to rummage the luggage a couple of time for 5 days.

No, that’s not me in the picture.

Nonetheless, we finally threw off our baggage and headed to Arashiyama, racing against the setting sun. By the time we reached there, the day-trippers were already gone and the shops closed. We quickly made our way to the Tenryuji Temple for a look-look-see-see.

CS was thinking “Temples, again?”

Tenryuji Temple

Our favourite place in Arashiyama is the picturesque Sagano Bamboo Groove. Taking a stroll or simply standing amidst the bamboo stalks felt like entering another world. The peacefulness was overwhelming and the taking pictures here became effortless.

We are envious of the residents who can afford a house facing the beautiful river. I imagine they jog around the bamboo groove in the morning?

We continued our walk along the street, trying to make our way back to the station before it gets really dark.

Had a final stop at another temple but I did not venture far because the path was covered with pebble stones. I hate walking on pebble stones!

Let’s call it a day, dear??

To get to Arashiyama, take the JR Sagano Line (normal train) to Saga-Arashiyama Station and most of the attraction can be reached on foot.