Twelve years ago when we first visited Arashiyama. We failed to ride the
Sagano romantic train as some parts of the train tracks were hit by a landslide.
This time, it's our second visit. We are spending a day in Arashiyama and sharing to you the places we have visited and you may also enjoy on your next trip.
Togetsukyo Bridge
We took the bus from Karasuma station. Stopped at Arashiyama and got a quick shot of Togetsukyo Bridge. There are two of us travelling here, my sister is taking her time to have a great view of the bridge. While I was rushing to line-up at Arabica.
% ARABICA Kyoto Arashiyama
Although there is already an Arabica shop in the Philippines, it's just fun to be queing on it as well. As the westerner mentioned, "this long just for the coffee"? And we laughingly answered, "Yes".
In less than 10 minutes, the line grew up to this.
We got Kyoto latte.
And if you are wondering where we got our walnut bread, those were our leftovers from last night's late snacks.
Tenryu-ji Temple
The earliest temple that will open in the Arashiyama area is Tenryu-ji. But since it looks crowded from recent photos, we decided to skip this one.
eX cafe Kyoto Arashiyama
In the interest of time that we wanted to take a chance in getting a good spot for brunch, tucked away from the main touristy street, we headed to eX cafe Kyoto Arashiyama, 30 minutes before its open time.
We're the first ones to queue, and got this private spot assigned to us.
You need to remove your shoes and use their slippers before heading to the hall. This is like an old machiya house, with a traditional interior, transformed into a cafe.
We ordered Sennen no Koi parfait combo, which is a black honey flour ice cream and purple sweet potato ice base. Had it with hot organic matcha tea.
We also got a Hoku-Hoku dango combo (where we can toast our own sweet rice dumplings on a traditional grill). I had this experience first in Hakone (at
Cafe Komon) and I want my sister to experience toasting our own dango as well.
We almost stayed there for an hour, savoring the food and the ambiance.
We are about to leave the cafe and to our surprise, there is already a long queue of crowd waiting for their turn to be seated.
Touristy and crowded Dori Nagatsuji
Continue walking along the main street. Think twice if you are commuting by bus which is passing this street, expect traffic as this street gets too crowded during the day.
See more cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops.
Inner streets and Hidden shops
Don't worry about getting hungry while you are away from the main street, you'll continue to find unique cafes and shops.
Bamboo Forest and Jōjakkōji Temple
From the main street, we decided to skip Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, hoping that there would be less of a crowd in Sagano Bamboo Forest, but we skipped that as well.
The first temple we planned to visit was Jōjakkōji Temple, but it was also crowded.
Nison-in Temple
So we headed to the next temple, Nison-in Temple. Lesser crowd and we enjoyed autumn foliage here.
You'll find peaceful areas on the ground, where you can sit while enjoying the breeze, autumn colors and falling leaves.
The shrine purification basin aside from water is full of beautiful flowers.
Don't miss to take the long staircase heading to the top of the hill.
There is a graveyard behind the temple, with a great autumn view and overlooking the city.
Gioji Temple
Walking a bit further, we were able to reach Gioji Temple.
Although this is just a small area, this place is nice to visit due to the variety of mossy ground and maple leaves.
Good choice if you want to avoid the crowd. A fusion of autumn and moss environment.
Here we experience a short but most serene bamboo grove.
Sen-Oh
Since it will still be a long walk to the main street, we drop by Sen-Oh to have light snacks.
We got pasta, hot apple tea and cake.
Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street
Then, we dropped by Saga Toriimoto Preserved Street (traditional wooden homes & shops, with forest views).
Please be advised that Arashiyama and Kyoto have over tourism and are overcrowded during this visit in November 2023. Below is our way back to the train station, for safety reasons we don't want to continue down the street due to this scene.
So ensure you know your way out and you have familiarity on the map. We decided to walk to the next station which is Randen-Saga, instead of going to Arashiyama station.
No comments:
Post a Comment