Kyoto, Japan: Ramen, Temples, Bamboo, and Monkeys

Our trip from Tokyo to Kyoto was probably a little more exciting than it needed to be. After losing our original reservations on the Shinkansen (bullet) train, we wandered through the Imperial gardens for a bit and then we showed back up at the train station with about 20 minutes to find our platform. I thought this would be plenty of time, however, I completely under estimated the vastness of the Tokyo main station, the inability to identify what my platform number was based on any departure board (I found online), the coding off the signage, and failed to find anyone who could/would speak English to help me in a pinch. It was truely an ‘amazing race’ like moment. With literally less than one minute to spare we found our platform and sprinted to get on the train on the nearest car. (There will be an entire blog post dedicated to my lessons learned with the Japan transportation system.)

Accommodations

Finding a place to stay within Kyoto on a reasonable budget was a little tricky. There are some western brands here at outrages prices and points, there are some very luxurious spa (Onsen) hotels and there are some budget places that didn’t look entirely appealing. We were able to find a very nice hotel at a very reasonable price, in my opinion at about $160/night. It was Rinn Shijo Nishinotoin, located centrally in Kyoto. It wasn’t very close to the subway/train stations but still walkable within 10 minutes. It was not in a tourist central location which made watching people in their day to day lives more possible, which we like. It was fascinating to watch the preschoolers walk themselves to school and the crossing guards that were out escorting them across intersections! The hotel itself felt like a spa with a rather large and perfectly set up suite for our family of 4, including one room that was a traditional tatami floor and futons and a separate bedroom with 2 twin beds and a living room area with a sofa to watch tv. It also had nice laundry machine which had the soap built in and did washing/drying in same machine and you set up a pin to lock the machine while your clothes are being washed so you can leave without worrying about anyone taking your belongings. Not that I was worried about that at all in Japan!

Nijo-jo Castle

Our first night in Kyoto we had tickets to an autumn light festival at Nijo-Jo castle. For some reason it was called the ‘Naked’ festival so the kids were a little hesitant about what I had signed us up for. The lights and music was a bit magical and mysterious. It was cool to see the gardens and structures accentuated with the lights. There was food, although tiny bite size portions. All in all it was neat but if your family has a limite capacity to historical structures, I don’t know if this would make the top of my list.

Biking around the east side of Kyoto

We decided to rent bikes and wander around our way around the backstreets of Kyoto. I was hoping that we would have a map of a recommended itinerary to places to see but didn’t get that. I had heard bike tours were amazing but unfortunately most did not accommodate children so we were opting for the DIY method. So without a map, except my trusted Google maps and a sense of adventure, we set off for the day. I had a few places identified and we managed to find the locations without breaking laws (that we are aware of) or getting hit by cars or hitting pedestrians so we are going to consider it a win. First we ventured off towards Ninenzaka Street. It’s a very crowded touristy street but it had yummy snack shops and window shopping along with a very historical Japanese feel to it. At the top of the street (it’s uphill), there is an amazing temple at the

Kiyomizu-dear Niomon Gate. If you need to prioritize your temples, this would would make the cut, in my opinion. It’s gorgeous and has a lovely view of Kyoto from above.

We then made our way back towards Central Kyoto and through Gion again which is just a magical area of Kyoto. The homes and shops are so quintessential Japan. It’s also just remarkably peaceful. And we tried to not disrupt that peace! We made a stop at Nishini Market on the way back to the bike shop. My daughter and I made a perfume together which was a nice mommy-daughter science experiment. We got to smell lots of scents and choose 3 to be combined into our perfume which we got to name.

In the evening, against the children’s wishes, I booked us for Ramen making. I think they appreciated that I over ruled that decision though. It was just our family in a small building in Gion making these ramen noodles by helping to operate the machinery that makes them. And we got to wear a nice little outfit while doing so. Afterwards we got to eat some of the Michelin recognized ramen at his restaurant and it was delish. There was even a line outside that we got to skip since we had done the ramen noodle making activity!

Arashiyama

We spent an afternoon exploring the Arashiyama area of Kyoto which is about 45 minutes north of the central city. Again more of a tourist hub which we typically try to avoid but it had some really interesting activities. The bamboo forest was easily accessible from the JR station. Ther was a bit of a crowd - we went early afternoon - but it was very photographic and mysterious. We rode the tourist, romance train through the canyon with hopes of fall folliage but I think we were about 1-2 weeks too early this year for the beautiful colors. The river view is still very pretty. We took the regular JR train back to Arashiyama and then ventured to see the Monkey park. This was a highlight for my daughter and I. They aren’t in cages, they roam freely at the top of this mountain. It was fun to watch them play and interact with each other in a natural habitat of sorts. They would climb trees and shake them and sometimes they would ‘fight’ a bit with each other. We got to feed them, but the humans were in the cages while we did that.