[Kansai Summer Trip] Kyoto

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On day 2 and 3 of my trip, we had decided to take a mini-trip to Kyoto, as both of us wanted to go see things there again, and the famous Gion Matsuri (festival) was happening right when we could be there. It was pretty awesome that it worked out like that, so we booked a hostel for the Sunday night of our stay, and headed out Sunday morning.

It didn't take long to get there, but when we got to Kyoto Station, we were unable to find any lockers to store our extra stuff in. Seems like EVERYONE had the same idea. And the tourist information center wouldn't give us free maps, so we decided to go without one, just using the big city guide map as a reference.

This weird old guy came up and asked Livy if she was confused, inside the station, so she answered in Japanese saying that she didn't understand English. He then asked where she was from, and she said Europe, and he was like oh, I've been to Europe! Which country? And she said France, and it backfired, because then he started speaking French to us! When he asked me what "station" was in French, I was just like um... and finally he left. IT WAS SO WEIRD. We decided that next time, she should say the Netherlands or something strange to be safe.

We wanted to hit Kiyomizu-dera, a famous temple in Kyoto that neither of us had been to before, so we started out hoping we could find it.

It ended up being BLAZINGLY hot, and we got very turned around several times. Eventually, we emerged triumphant after MUCH sweat, and found Kiyomizu-dera. It was very crowded, and we had to take a breather once we got up there because we were literally soaking. The cloud cover came in as we toured it, including the path up the back through the trees that gives you a view of the temple and the city below - which is famous for being one of the most photographed areas in the city! I'd definitely seen pictures taken there before, so I was pretty excited.

On the way back down, we decided to take the other, less steep road, and then made a split decision to get some shaved ice just as it started to THUNDERSTORM. So we were safe and dry inside, eating our treats. The rain didn't last too long - maybe twenty minutes or so - and by the time we ventured back out, it had largely let up. We decided to go find our hostel, which was super close, but the reception didn't open until 6 PM and it was only just after 3 PM. We were like UUGGGHHH but at least we knew where it was. Our other pick for a spot to see was Ginkakuji, or the "Silver Pavillion", so we grabbed a bus to head back out that direction.

Ginkakuji was originally SUPPOSED to be silver, but it never got its silver coat; still, it's pretty and cute and we had a good time. I even bought a beautiful fan AND fan case! Inside, it started raining again, so we thought we would walk around to try and find a place to eat some dinner while making sure we walked along the bus route. Bad idea: EVERYTHING WE THOUGHT. It started raining harder and we found NO places for dinner, so finally we found a bus stop and decided to wait for the 20 minutes for the next Kyoto Station bus to come.

We watched 7 number 5 buses (that didn't go to Kyoto Station) come through and then 5 buses going to Kyoto Station across the street before ours showed up! LOL UGH. And this started our "bus adventure", because it was empty when we got on, but after awhile, it was JAM-PACKED and our driver WAS SO ANGRY. He was mumbling incoherent Japanese and getting really agitated and yelling at people and finally he stopped opening the doors entirely and just yelling at people at the stops to wait for the next bus. I didn't have change for the 220 yen fare, only 300 yen, and I was like OH NO, WHAT DO I DO. I'LL HAVE TO GET CHANGE AT THE FRONT AND HE'S GOING TO YELL AT ME. I was going to chance it, but he was SO ANGRY that I was like OH GOD NEVERMIND and I just dropped all 300 yen into it without bothering to get money back. IT DIDN'T MATTER, JUST TAKE THE EXTRA MONEY!! lol it was hilarious

We went up to the TOP floor of Kyoto Station, which was super cool, and found a delicious pizza place for dinner! Then we got some snacks and since it was just after 6 PM, found a bus to take us back to our hostel. Once there we had to wait about 10 minutes for reception to come (he was getting snacks, too) but it was such a nice place! Really cozy and built into an old Japanese house, so very traditional style. Our room was a Japanese-style with two futons. We lazed around on the floor for awhile to try and get less tired, and the front desk gave us a map (FINALLY!) and told us that there was a festival going on in Gion. We knew the matsuri was happening, but didn't think it would start the night before. Feeling refreshed, we went out to see what we could find, since our hostel was literally IN Gion and we hadn't even planned that!

It was SO BUSY. And there were floats set up that would be part of the parade in a few days, and lots of little stands to buy things. Of course, the tiny sidestreets were ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE to get through, but I did manage to get a candy apple at one point, and then we stuck to mostly larger streets that had less stalls but also less people. What we DID find was a tiny place selling yukata! Yukata is a summer kimono worn by women here, and at least half the people at the festival were in yukata. I really wanted to get one before I left Japan, so I decided to go and take a look. The people were so nice and helpful, and I found one I really liked that wasn't too expensive!

When I told her I would get the set, with the obi (waist band) and geta (sandals) as well, she was so happy. I got to pick out the obi color and style I wanted, and the same with the geta! It was REALLY fun! And then she asked if I wanted to wear it then, and I said sure, but I asked if someone could help me. So we went back into the shop (Livy came too, so she could talk to them haha) and one of the ladies dressed me in my new yukata. She was sooo nice, and Livy had a whole conversation with her that I mostly followed. Then we got a picture together, and when we left, everyone told me how nice I looked in my new outfit! It was mega-awesome, I felt so pretty. <3

After that, we were pretty tired and it took awhile to walk back, so we just went back and crashed.

The second day, we checked out of our hostel and went to Fushimi-Inari, a famous temple walking area with 10,000 red torii (gates). There's a scene in the Memoirs of a Geisha movie where she's running through Fushimi-Inari. It was busy, and also hot again, but really cool to see. The famous mascot there is a fox! I got a "key to success" necklace, and Livy got a little fox charm. Then we made our way up through the torii. It wasn't too long to get to the top, and we stopped 75% of the way up to get snacks - a beer for me (yeah!!) and ice cream for Livy, haha. The view from this place was way better than the top, which didn't really have a view at all, but we made it to the top and back down and even made a wish along the way on a fox plaque! We wished for our family's health, haha. 😊

It took a long time to get back because we took random lines rather than the JR Kyoto line, which saved us about 300 yen even WITH the transfer between private line and JR line! What the heck, JR. Why you so expensive. But in Namba Station, we got curry and it was the BEST curry I have eaten in Japan yet! It was so delicious! I'm hungry again just thinking about it, haha.

Thus ended our Kyoto trip - a super great trip with some really funny stories! Haha.

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