Kyoto (Japan) 2023

After spending two full days in Kanazawa, I took the JR Thunderbird Limited Express from Kanazawa Station to Kyoto Station the following morning. Once I reached Kyoto, I explored Nishiki Market by trying out a few different foods from local vendors. It was raining pretty consistently but the upside was that some of the heavily touristy outdoor areas were almost bare, such as the geisha districts of Pontocho Alley and Gion, which actually looked quite beautiful in the rain. Once the rain cleared, I enjoyed a peaceful stroll in the gardens of Yasaka-jinja Shrine. The final stop was seeing the illumination night show at the Kōdai-ji Temple, which was a serene experience.

On my second day in Kyoto, I naturally woke up way too early and couldn’t fall asleep again so I got ready and headed toward Arashiyama on the JR San-In Line Local. Arashiyama Bamboo Grove is one of the top attractions in Kyoto but it is notoriously known to be extremely crowded unless you go very early in the morning or late near the evening. Thankfully, I reached the grove by 7am where there were only a handful of other tourists who were also looking to avoid the crowd. The bamboos and the lack of people created an incredible sense of serenity and I was so glad to have this experience. Afterwards, I explored the surrounding areas by walking, even enjoying some iced coffee from one of the many vending machines.

The photo below is actually not at the Bamboo Grove but at a temple called Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple

On the final day in Kyoto, I checked out of the hotel and placed my backpack in the locker at Kyoto Station and headed toward another top attraction called Fushimi Inarai Taisha. Thankfully from another very early waking, I managed to get to this temple by 7am, where I was happy to take photos without a lot of crowd. But more importantly than avoiding people in the photos, I was able to walk through the path of thousands of vermilion torii gates in a state of peace and serenity.