In the morning we headed off to Kyoto to visit two famous Japanese attractions–the Fushimi Inara shrine and the Bamboo Forest. Instagram abounds with photos of people in these two places, and for good reason–they are beautiful!
There is a train station just across the street from the shrine, so it quite convenient to get there. You will not get lost, just follow everyone out of the train, because most of the people on the train with you are probably tourists and that is their destination too.
There are lots of tourists that visit the site, so best to go there very early in the morning. Visit the main hall and pay respect to Inari, the Shinto god of rice, regardless if you’re a believer. Afterwards, go on up to see the famous torii gates and have your fill of photos “for the ‘gram”.
The gates at the front can get crowded, so you’ll want to hike a bit further to get away from people. This way, you’ll get some prettier shots. It can get exhausting as you walk up (you are going up to a mountain, after all), so sensible walking shoes are a must.
We then took another train to Arashimaya to get to the Bamboo Forest. Tourists flock to this area as well, there are lots of stores around.
There are plenty of stores around the area. Lots of streetfood, that you’ll be spoilt for choice!
The Bamboo Forest itself is pretty. I felt like I was in another world–very peaceful and Zen-like, with just the leaves rustling with the wind.
There are also gorgeous shrines and temples near the forest, but we did not go in to see them. Definitely going back there next time.
Don’t miss checking out the Kimono “Forest” just by the train station. Beautiful kimono prints encased in plastic pipes line the area, perfect background for a profile photo.
We proceeded to Kyoto City Centre to learn about Samurais and Ninjas. The museum is quite small, but the enthusiastic and funny guide more than made up for it. There was also a demonstration by a real life Samurai descendant. At the end of the tour, we got to dress up like Samurais and try some of their weapons too.
Our day ended back at Dotonbori, where we had a nice shabu shabu meal in a restaurant that looks to be frequented by more locals than tourists. We did some last minute shopping and more walking around, just taking in our last few hours in the city, because the next day we were off to the airport and going back to the Philippines.
Conclusion
I would have to say that I really like Japan and would definitely be coming back, when we can all travel safely. There’s still so much more I want to see from this country, and I can’t wait to take John and the girls here soon. At the start of my trip, I was really not looking forward to going to Japan, because I was so focused on Korea, but it’s surprising how things turned out. Now I have two countries to discover, and I definitely will be saving up for another visit.
