After seeing the news in Japan over the last few years, I was actually dreading going to Kyoto on this trip. I felt every street was going to be shoulder to shoulder, there were going to be so many tourists the buses and taxis would barely be able to get around and that the whole vibe of the city would be swallowed in the chaos. Last time we were in Kyoto, the borders had just opened to workers after the pandemic was starting to die down, and tourists were still not allowed in Japan. The streets were empty, in the spooky way cities were during covid times. (If you didn’t see it at the time, the link to that blog is here). When we went to Ginkakuji last time, we were the only people there and we really should have taken the time to see Kinkakuji too, but we’d only just arrived in Japan, we didn’t have our IC cards yet, and travel was a little difficult when we had to get tickets for everything. Considering Kinkakuji is literally the other side of the city, we gave it a miss. This time, we were not going to make the same mistake. We decided, even if it took us 3 hours (that was how long we were expected given the news and expected queues). If we saw nothing else, we wanted to see Kinkakuji.
The evening we arrived in Kyoto, we expected to get in late. However, when we were ahead of schedule coming back from Itsukushima, (if you haven’t read that blog post, you can find it by pressing the back arrow at the bottom of the screen,) I managed to switch our tickets out for the next Shinkansen out of Hiroshima, nearly 2 hours earlier than planned. This meant we got an extra evening in Kyoto that we weren’t expecting. With this extra evening, we split off in our couples to go and get food and do some after dark exploration of the city. Sammy and I ended up at a tempura place in Nakagyo before heading to an onsen 20 mins away from the restaurant. We walked through the market streets, as they were closing up for the day and all the illuminations in the ceiling were lighting up. It was a cute side of Kyoto we’d never seen before. There weren’t many people about, and it felt very calm but not deserted like our previous visit. The atmosphere felt really nice.
The next day, we were up early once more. Again, because I wasn’t sleeping, (see any of my 9 previous blogs to follow that pattern,) but this time, it was also a blessing because we wanted to get a coffee and get in line for Kinkakuji in good time. We caught the underground and a bus to get to the right area, and we were so lucky that the nice coffee shop we found was literally at the bus stop we needed to get off at. We got a large coffee and a large hojicha latte (both with oat milk) and then joined the pretty short queue outside of Kinkakuji at around 8:40am. We drank our drinks whilst in the queue, slightly regretting the large size of each of them, which I ordered out of habit because we usually share a large drink and I didn’t think about the fact if we have two drinks, we’d need smaller sizes. Regardless, the drinks were really, really tasty (big love to: https://www.instagram.com/gogocoffee_kyoto/) and we got rid of the cups moments before they opened the gate. We didn’t have to wait at all to get inside, and we explored the grounds and shrines in under an hour because there wasn’t any crowds or anything to navigate. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and the weather was on our side, so we thoroughly enjoyed our stroll around Kinkakuji, especially considering we weren’t in queues or packed in like we assumed we were going to be.
As we were expecting hours at Kinkakuji, we had not planned for the situation we found ourselves in. We thought on our feet: where else did we not get to see in Kyoto last time we were here? It was a tough question, as we saw basically everywhere except for Kinkakuji, as before the borders opened, we got around the sites pretty fast when there were no queues. We’d stayed for quite a few days last time we visited, so by not going to Kinkakuji last time, we essentially got round everywhere else. Then I remembered that when we were last at Kiyomizudera, we didn’t realise the main, brown shrine was tucked at the back of the site, so we only saw all the red structures. Although, it would be busy now, with it not being early in the morning anymore, but we would go there while we had some time. We headed back to the bus stop.
As expected, the shrine was busy, but not as busy as Sensoji or Meiji Jingu in Tokyo, so it wasn’t super shocking to us. Getting there also was fine. We avoided the famous shopping street leading up to it, going on the street parallel instead, and we got in and out without struggle. Kiyomuzudera is built so incredibly, pictures cannot do it justice. Just note that we got there in the middle of the day, probably at peak times, so the pictures reflect what you are to expect from a busy site in Kyoto around that time (for anyone planning to go).
With the rest of our time in Kyoto, we just walked around, looking at the rivers and cherry blossom as well as eating good food. The best food of all was at a not aptly named “soy milk ramen” restaurant (https://soymilkramen.com/) where they actually did allergy-friendly ramen with prior notice. They made me a soy-free spicy ramen bowl that was absolutely delicious, however it is not the one in the picture of us both because, as anyone with a keen eye for detail will notice, that one had tofu on top. When the picture was taken, I had not yet looked at the food, and within like 2 seconds I had turned to the bowl and called back the staff member. They realised the mistake straight away, it seems they had made me a soy-free broth and ramen, and then the chef had just put all the toppings on the ramen automatically without thinking. They redid the whole thing and apologised profusely, but honestly I was just grateful that they could still accommodate me. I adore ramen, but have not had it at a restaurant in over a year since the one I used to go to in Ikebukuro shut down and nowhere else can do anything for someone with a soy allergy. The food was delicious, the restaurant was gorgeous and we got the best seats in the house, overlooking the Japanese garden. I would highly recommend the restaurant for anyone with allergies, even with the little mistake that was made. I only found out about the place the day before, and because of their name, I assumed I wouldn’t be able to eat anything, especially not at such short notice. However, they could not have made me feel more welcome; I hate feeling a nuisance at eateries and I never once was made to feel that way here. It was a shame I didn’t find out about the place sooner, as they did gluten free ramen too, so perhaps Ellen and Michael could have joined us. If we return to Kyoto together in the future, we will have to go back.
This time in Kyoto was short and sweet, but with the weather on our side, a lovely hotel and the best company, we had a blast. A very pleasant surprise considering the news over here had made me dread the idea of going. So grateful that it all worked out in the end!
