Our internal clocks were all screwed up still, so we were all up early; we donned our one-size-fits-all slippers and headed down to breakfast around 7 AM.
We wanted to get to the train station to begin our journey to Kyoto today, but didn't want to go so early that we had to fight through rush-hour crowds with luggage. The weather had improved dramatically; it was a mostly-clear sky with ample sun, as we left Tokyo (for now).
It was just after 9 AM by the time we finished getting tickets, and the commuter foot traffic was thinning.
We upgraded to business class on the 9:21 Shinkansen, which left us plenty of time to find the correct platform and browse the snack offerings before boarding.
Sabrina thoroughly enjoyed the extra leg room and the footrest.
It's almost 300 miles from Tokyo Station to Kyoto Station; to drive it would take almost 6 hours, but it's just over 2 hours by train. By my math, that's an average speed of somewhere between 130 and 140 mph. We topped out at 176 while I was watching. It's a real shame we can't have this service in the US.
As we headed south, it got cooler and cloudier. There were plenty of pleasant views out the window, but they fly by so quickly that it's difficult to get a photo of anything specific.
At some point, we passed by Mount Fuji, but were unable to see it through the clouds. Instead, we got a lovely view of the snow-capped (what I think is) Mount Ibuki.
We arrived at Kyoto Station some time around 11:40 AM, and then spent some time wandering around the maze of a station in search of a way up to the 10th floor of the connected shopping center.
Most of that floor was occupied by a sort of mostly-ramen food market, which included 10 different establishments.
We spent some time browsing menus, with photographic and Google-translate assistance, before deciding on a place.
For the bargain price of about $38 US total, we all stuffed ourselves; this photo was taken before the gyoza and white/fried rices showed up.
After lunch, we strolled across the Skyway, admiring the views.
On the other side, we had to take a series of 5 or 6 multi-story escalators to get back down to ground level.
Outside the station, we found a taxi stand and piled into a Foreign Friendly Taxi, who took us on a (at times) harrowing ride through the city and out to the western distric of Arashiyama to find our accommodation for tonight: Ranzan.
It was before 1:30 PM when we arrived, and checkin wasn't until 3 PM, so we dumped our bags and set out on foot to explore the area.
Our first major destination was Tenryu-ji temple.
We'd learned/heard/read at some point that most (all?) of the temples and shrines were cash only, and had intended to get some yen before leaving Kyoto Station, but had not actually followed through on that idea.
Instead, we walked back the way we had come, down to the bustling main street and up a few blocks, to find the nearest ATM at the Arashiyama station. Apparently 7 Eleven has a banking arm.
Armed with a fistful of strange-to-us bills, we hoofed it back to the temple.
Having opted for the combo deal, we first entered the connected set of buildings, stopping to de-shoe at the door and leave our footwear on the shelves.
If you've ever wondered how public bathrooms work inside buildings that are shoe-free, let me satisfy that curiosity for you: communal sandals, at every toilet.
Many areas were closed to entry, but this one was open as long as you were standing or sitting.
I had no desire to touch this bell, until a sign told me not to. (I did not.)
Having completed the (admittedly somewhat unnecesary) inside exploration, we reclaimed our shoes and wandered around the gardens for a while.
Exiting through the northern gate led us to our next point of interest: the Bamboo Forest/Grove/Walk.
This was a rather popular/crowded stroll, but we had a few moments of solitudinous reflection here and there.
After exiting the Bamboo Walk, we made a few stops for coffee (not at this place—yikes) and ice cream.
As we continued our exploratory walk, there were several more temples along the route. We'd had Jojakkoji Temple on the list, but were dissuaded by the view of endless stairs in the distance, visible through the main gate. This turned out to be a wise decision, I think. (I have no idea if this is correct.)
There were several other temples on the route, all vying for the attention of the limited population of tourists willing to walk this far from the Bamboo Grove.
The penultimate temple we stopped at today was the small, tranquil Gioji Temple.
We kept seeing collections of statues in small shrines, dressed in some sort of coats or aprons. I tried to find out what this was about, later, without much success.
As we continued north, we hiked up the Saga-Toriimoto Preserved Street.
Our final destination was just past the top of the historic area: Otagi Nenbutsu-ji Temple.
We barely made it in before closing time at 4:15 PM, but we had just enough time to explore the acres of stone statues.
Michael was happy to have completed the climb.
Eventually, they came through and ushered everyone out; we walked back down into town, taking a circuitous route back to the hotel.
Apropos of nothing, the men (and women!) who pull these rickshaws around are absolutely ripped.
White Day (tomorrow) is an interesting rabbit hole to explore, if you're curious. It does explain the many chocolate-related popup stores we've been seeing in the train stations, for example. Eva and Mike clued us in to that explanation.
We meandered back to the river, then followed it west, back to where we'd started.
Along the way, we kept an eye out for any viable dinner options, but it seemed like most places closed early. It turns out that they roll up the sidewalks early, here, as my father would quip.
It was around 5:30 by the time we returned to Ranzan. They had delivered our stored luggage to our room, which was ready. Ranzan is a ryokan, and we had a traditional Japanese-style room for the night.
While we rested our weary legs and debated what to do for dinner, we enjoyed some tea while sitting on the floor. Some of us enjoyed it more than others.
Sarah was determined not to let the lack of a handle and the too-hot-to-pick-up temperature stop her from enjoying her tea.
A solid hour passed before we were ready to go out again; by then, most of the food options along the tourist strip were closed. (There was an in-house dinner option, but it was a prix fixe menu and also problematic for allergy reasons, so we'd opted out of it.)
Google Maps had turned up a few promising suggestions, so we marched across town to investiage. Along the way, we walked through the impressively-lit train station.
Striking out at the only option that appealed to everyone (noodles, I think), we opted to split up for dinner. Michael and I indulged in some serious burgers, while Sarah and Sabrina went in search of fast-food sushi. In the end, I think everyone was satisfied.
While we were out, the staff had converted our room into night mode, mostly by pushing the tea table out of the way and deploying the sleeping arrangements.
Tomorrow, we're relocating to downtown Kyoto and exploring points of interest to the east.
