November 10: Hakone and a detour to Fuji 5-Lakes

Sunday the 10th dawned as yet another gray day in Tokyo and I was starting to wonder if I was ever going to see sun again during my remaining 13 days. This was the morning that I was to meet the bus from Japanican tours to spend the next two days in Hakone national park. Hakone features several wonderful attractions, including the Owakudani Boiling Valley and Lake Ashi, but the big kahuna (at least in my book) is Fuji-san. I have been in awe of Fuji-san since the 6th grade when I had to do a social studies project on either Russia or Japan. That project is what sparked my life-long interest in visiting the Land of the Rising Sun and seeing Fuji-san, capped with its glorious snow cap, was at the very top of my list of things I wanted to see.

I had to meet the Japanican van at 8:30 at the Conrad Hilton hotel, about a 6 block walk from the Mitsui Garden Ginza, so I was up and at the neighborhood Starbucks (where I was starting to real like a regular) by 6:45 a.m. By about 7:20, I had finished breakfast and my English copy of the Japan Times, and made my way back to the hotel to pack my backpack for the 2 day trip (leaving my main luggage with Mitsui Garden Ginza) as I’d be returning the following night. I was back up in my room by 7:30 a.m. Little did I know until I read one of Don Topaz’s posts on the Forum the next day that I had missed the opportunity to experience another one of my bucket list items.

While I’ve had the chance to travel all over the United States and much of Europe, including multiple business trips and vacations to California, I have lived my entire life in the Midwest. I’ve gone through more tornado warnings than I can remember. I’ve seen two actual tornadoes in the Twin Cities and experienced numerous blizzards. But there is something about earthquakes that have always fascinated me. It’s probably because they are something we don’t have to worry about experiencing here in the Upper Midwest that makes them so fascinating. And as strange as it might sound, experiencing a quake is something that would be on my bucket list. Not anything major, mind you, but a little 6.0 or so shaker that would rattle the pictures and the furniture for perhaps 10 seconds but otherwise, do no harm. So I will admit, when I read Don’s post that Tokyo experienced a 5.5 quake that morning at 7:38 a.m., I thought “damn, how could I have possibly missed a quake of that size?”. All I can figure is that being on the 21st floor of the hotel, the shaking wasn’t perceptible due to the high earthquake standards that Japan’s building construction obviously entails. So alas, while technically I WAS there, since I didn’t feel it, I think I have to leave “experience an earthquake” on my bucket list.

I met the Japanican bus promptly at 8:30 at the Conrad Hilton. We made one other stop to pick up passengers before we were dropped off at the central departure point to transfer to the bus that would take us to Hakone. I had signed up for the two-day Hakone tour with overnight stay. The schedule called for us to visit the Fuji Visitor Center before proceeding on to the 5th station on Mt. Fuji. From there, we’d travel into Hakone to catch the gondola/ropeway at Owakudani, before arriving at Togendai for a boat cruise across Lake Ashi. All along with glorious views of Mt. Fuji (weather and Fuji-san permitting, of course.) The second day would be all free time for me, staying at a mountain onsen and then using my Hakone Free Pass to tour through the park before returning to Tokyo in the evening. This would be it—my date with Fuji-san after all these years of pining for it from afar.

We made our way out of Tokyo for the approximately 1 ½ hour drive to Hakone. By the time we approached Hakone, I wasn’t really thinking about Fuji-san when, there for the briefest of moments, Fuji-san and its amazing snow capped cone appeared directly in front of us. Sitting in the first row of the bus, I had a quick opportunity to throw my digital camera onto burst setting and snap pictures through the moving windshield before Fuji-san disappeared back behind clouds. (Little did I know at the time for the rest of the 2 days!) Wow, was that really it? And WOW, was that really IT??????

Shortly thereafter, our tour guide informed us that there were some serious storms in the Hakone region. We would make our way to the Fuji Visitor Center to check out the weather report and determine whether or not we’d need to modify our itinerary. While at the Visitor Center, I climbed to the Fuji lookout point. There it was—Mt. Fuji, with the top 50% of it hidden behind clouds. While I knew in advance that Fuji-san is an elusive creature, I nevertheless was highly disappointed. Every time it seemed the clouds were going to break for a few minutes, they’d fill back in. I took a number of photos but knew that none were going to give me what I had come to the opposite side of the globe to see. By this time, it was time to reboard the bus. Our guide informed us that both the 5th Station, as well as the Hakone Ropeway had been closed due to storms in the Fuji/Hakone area. We were going to make itinerary change and head to the Fuji 5-Lakes area instead where the weather report was more favorable. Perhaps we would see Mt. Fuji from there.

We stopped for a rather non-descript lunch upon reaching Lake Kawaguchi. As we finished lunch, the skies started to clear somewhat and the sun peeked out. I made a beeline out of the small restaurant to catch some pictures of Lake Kawaguchi in the sunlight. The fall colors were lovely around the lake and it was just wonderful to finally see some sun again. I had met a gentleman from the U.K. on the bus who told me that if we walked roughly a ½ mile around to the end of the lake, there should be a spectacular point from which to see Fuji-san. Although the skies above the lake had brightened, the clouds around Fuji had not thinned and the mountain continued to tease us with its game of “seek and hide”. After about an hour of free time to explore the lake, our group ended up taking a quick boat tour of Lake Kawaguchi and then took the gondola up to the top of the nearby hills. This was certainly a nice experience but my disappointment was setting in that, through no one’s fault, we weren’t getting the tour that any of us had signed up for. At the top of the hills above the lake, Fuji-san loomed large and shrouded in clouds.

The remainder of the day was spent driving to Gotemba, a small town at the base of Mt. Fuji. There we visited a lovely shrine. Even in the mist, the koyo here were the best I had yet seen on the trip, which helped ease a bit of my disappointment with the weather and the missing mountain. By this point, it was getting dark. My tour guide told me that I was the only one on the bus who had signed up for the 2 day tour, so they would be meeting the van from Yunohona Onsen (where I would be spending the night) ½ way between Gotemba and the onsen, before returning to Tokyo with the rest of the bus. As we approached the rendezvous point, I asked our guide to disembark with me to be sure that the van I would be getting into was actually from Yunohona Onsen. (I figured hey, it’s pitch black, I don’t speak more than a couple words of the language, and if I didn’t double check, who knows WHERE I’d end up??). In the end, it was the correct van and about 10 minutes later, I was at my first ryokan of the trip.

Yunohona Onsen is a nice enough, but aging ryokan high up in the mountains around Hakone. I checked in, found my room and relaxed until my 7:30 kaiseki time. The food was tasty, nicely presented but nothing particularly memorable. What WAS memorable was the outdoor, sulfur-based rotenburo. This was heaven on earth. The Japanese bathing procedure was exactly as I had understood it to be from research prior to my trip. One enters the assigned bathing area (separate facilities for women and men). You totally disrobe and then first shower and shampoo in a common bathing area with multiple shower heads. From there, in the case of Yunohona, you then step outside into what I would guess was perhaps 45 degree F. temperatures and walk down a flight of steps to the men’s volcanic-infused outdoor sulfur baths. This turned out to be one of those unexpected highlights of my trip. Soaking under the stars, in pleasantly-hot volcanic water that smelled of sulfur, while a ½ dozen other guests chatted away in Japanese was one of those moments that struck me with “wow, you really are HERE”!

After soaking for a good 20 minutes, I dressed back into my yukata, made my way back to my room, and planned out my next day, solo adventure through the various transportation options through Hakone. Perhaps Fuji-san would present its glorious self tomorrow???

Tomorrow: Lake Ashi, Owakudani Boiling Valley and the black eggs, Miyanoshita and back to Tokyo.

Sorry you didn't get more than a glimpse of Fuji-san, but sounds like the trip was worthwhile and the rotenburo onsen sounds charming!

Kavey--you'll have to read the entire way through to see how the Fuji-san story turns out. <G>

November 11: Hakone

Another gray day in beautiful Japan. After checking out of Yunohona Onsen that morning, I caught their shuttle bus that took me to the local bus stop just east of the southern tip of Lake Ashi. I would be spending this day touring alone through Hakone national park before eventually catching the Shinkansen from Odawara station back to Tokyo. I’ll confess that I had just a little bit of nervous excitement at the prospect of being out in the middle of this huge, beautiful park and having to navigate all of these different forms of transportation to make it back to the comfort of the big city. I had done a considerable amount of research on touring Hakone but I did have just a bit of apprehension until I caught that first leg of transportation and saw for myself just how good Hakone’s transportation system is.

Arriving at the southern tip of Lake Ashi, I first decided to walk roughly a ½ mile around the eastern shore to tour the Hakone Shrine. This is the shrine whose torii gate appears on the shore’s edge in many Lake Ashi photos. The shrine was lovely and quite peaceful with just a small crowd at around 9:30 a.m. I snapped some photos and made my way back to Ashi’s south shore to catch the pirate ship that would cruise across Lake Ashi to Togendai, the southern tip of the Hakone Ropeway. The lake cruise lasts a pleasant 20 minutes or so and drops you off on the north shore of the lake. From there, it was time to catch the gondola/ropeway that would take me to my next destination, the Owakudani Boiling Valley. The ropeway was my favorite of the Hakone transportation modes, by far. Most cars contained no more than 8 passengers, so you have plenty of room to move around and take photos from the air of Lake Ashi, the fall foliage and, when it’s visible, Fuji-san. Alas, Fuji-san was again clouded in this day. After perhaps 10 minutes, the ropeway stopped at Owakudani and it was time to visit this really cool volcanic landscape. Once you leave the station, you meander through a marked path up the side of some hills, all the while surrounded by plumes of volcanic steam escaping from the earth. The smell of sulfur is quite pungent and only adds to the other-worldly atmosphere. In addition to observing the volcanic terrain, the other big attraction is to purchase some black, hard-boiled eggs. For 500 yen, you can buy 5 hard boiled eggs that are identical to any other hardboiled egg you’ve ever eaten—except for the fact that the shells have been turned black from being boiled in the volcanic waters. (You can actually watch the men as they boil the eggs. Seemed like an awfully hard way to make a living.) Legend has it that consuming 1 or 2 eggs extends your life by 7 years. But for some reason that I never found the explanation for, you’re not supposed to each more than 2. So…after consuming a couple of eggs and offering the others to a tourist family, I spent a bit more time gazing at Mt. Fuji, still cloaked in a heavy cloud cover, before making my way back onto the ropeway to catch the next mode of transport-the Hakone Cable Car. (P.S. I would say that Owakundani is THE best place for serious Fuji-san viewing on a clear day. The mountain looks so close that you believe you could reach out and touch it. Alas, if only it were a clear day...)

The Hakone cable car is basically a funicular that runs from the ropeway terminus at Sounzan to the town of Gora. There are four stops along the route that I’d guess goes for no more than a mile down the side of a steep hill. I exited at Gora and spent perhaps an hour just wandering and exploring the town, not finding a whole lot of interest. From there, it was time to then catch the final mode of transportation-the Hakone-Yumoto train, which would ultimately take me back to Odawara where I would catch the bullet train back to Tokyo. At the first stop on the Hakone-Yumoto train, I stopped at a cool little town called Miyanoshita. The town is filled with little antique stores and cafes and well worth an hour or two of exploration. As I was making my way back to the train station after exploring the town, I stopped for an ice cream cone break at a little shop near the station. As I came out, I noticed a few people soaking their feet in a little pool that had hot, volcanic water being piped in. This was TOO good of an opportunity to pass up as my feet were pretty sore by this point. So there I sat, soaking my feet in this little pool of volcanic water, eating my ice cream cone in the middle of Hakone. It was heaven and I never wanted to leave. At this point, it did cross my mind that unless the shop was offering its guests free use of towels, the only options I had to dry my feet were with either my jacket or with napkins from the shop. Just as I was about to go the napkins route, two teenage girls who had been sitting next to me enjoying a nice foot soak of their own got up and, using the towels they had with them, dried their feet off and began to walk back into the ice cream shop. Assuming the towels came from the shop, I asked them if they had indeed gotten the towels inside. As it turns out, the towels were theirs, AND they had one extra, clean towel that they insised on leaving with me to use. Again, HOW KIND IS THAT? I just don’t see these random acts of kindness happening anywhere else that I’ve traveled to.

Now, with warm and happy feet, I made my way back onto the Hakone-Yumato train. This was by far my least favorite of the park’s transport options. First off, there are 3 switchbacks along the way and overall, the train is just plain slow. Start to finish it's probably just under an hour. Once back in Odawara, I caught my Shinkansen back to Tokyo and rechecked into the Mitsui Garden Ginza for the night. It was a tiring but very enjoyable day. Even without having seen Fuji-san, I really enjoyed my time in Hakone and would recommend it to anyone wanting to get out of the city and experience some beautiful mountain scenery.

Next 2 days: Matsumoto and the “Crow’s Castle”, some beautiful koyo, and hiking through the Japanese Alps in chilly Kamikochi.

P.S. Forgot to mention that in Odawara, I had about 90 minutes before my train left so I walked to the Odawara castle. I arrived at the castle just before its 5:00 p.m. closure, so it was too late to enter. But I did walk around the castle grounds below (the castle sits up on a higher plateau) several times and got some great photos of the castle, which is lit up in white light at night. Definitely worth a quick stop if you find yourself in town.

Thanks for your detailed and place evocative TR.
Although much of SE Asia has been fantastic to me, Japan has never been on my "list" despite only a 9 hour direct flight from our local airport.

I have read many Japan TRs from Foders people over the last 3 or 4 months.
All very thought provoking, so now revising the "list".

Thank you to all.

David, I look forward to the next episode !

I'm still reading!!! No further sight of Fuji-san spotted yet!!!

How disappointing that you didn't get to view suji-San. This is such a good read and I was expecting a happy ending! Sounds like you enjoyed your time anyway.

Kayey and dgunbug, I appreciate your empathy for my Fuji-san situation. All I'll say is that these past 2 days may not end up being my only opportunities to catch the sleeping giant.

November 12 and Matsumoto and Kamikochi

Had an early train that morning from Shinjuku station to Matsumoto, so checked out of the Mitsui Garden Ginza around 6:00 a.m. Before leaving, I asked the front desk about having my luggage forwarded to my Kyoto hotel so that I could travel through the Japanese Alps with just a backpack. The front desk was well familiar with this procedure, which I heard was very common throughout Japan. The charge was a very reasonable $14. I made a point to email my Kyoto hotel (Hotel Mume) in advance to advise them that my bag was coming and I would be there in 2 day. Once my bag was tagged, off I went to catch the subway to Shinjuku and from there, the JR train to Matsumoto.

As I left Shinjuku around 7:00 a.m., I noticed a clear, beautiful morning sky was dawning over Tokyo. From this point through the rest of my trip, the weather would be sunny and clear except for one morning in Kyoto. The train ride to Matsumoto was pleasant, uneventful and just over 2 hours as I recall. Arriving in Matsumoto, I made a beeline out of the station and noticed that the weather, while quite sunny, was considerably colder than in Tokyo. I would guess it was probably in the high 30s F that morning. I checked the “pointy tourist street signs” and began making my way through the city towards my primary reason for visiting Matsumoto—Matsumoto-jo or the “Crow’s Castle”.

About 15 minutes later, I arrived at my destination. Matsumoto Castle. Matsumoto Castle is 400 years old and is nicknamed the “Crow’s Castle” due to its charcoal black, striking exterior. It’s one of those structures like the Eifel Tower or the Hagia Sophia where pictures just don’t do it justice. The castle just screamed “medieval Japan” to me. I probably spent a good 45 minutes just taking pictures of it from all angles before crossing the moat to enter it. The koyo, both around the castle as well as throughout the city itself were spectacular. Plenty of reds, golds, oranges and browns. I’m sure I must have hit Matsumoto’s fall colors at peak. Inside the castle, you have the opportunity to climb up, I believe 4 stories before reaching the top. Inside are storyboards explaining the castle’s history and usage, along with medieval Japanese armor and other artifacts. While I peered out one of the castle windows. I saw a large group of Japanese schoolchildren in their yellow helmets (remember, they are everywhere during my trip!) approaching the castle entrance. At this point, one has one of two choices. Slow down your exploration and let them eventually pass you, or speed up your tour to stay ahead of them. I chose the latter as for me, the interior of the castle, while interesting, didn’t hold a candle to the castle’s exterior and the gorgeous fall colors.

After taking another couple dozen pictures of the castle and grounds, I walked back towards the city and explored Nakamichi-dori, a pedestrian street of shops and cafes that were former merchant houses. I stopped for lunch along the street and ordered a steaming bowl of pork belly ramen, washed down with a Kirin. The proprietor was a bit surprised when I told her I wanted to enjoy my lunch outside, as to her the weather was quite chilly, albeit sunny. But I explained that where I came from in the United States, it was colder than this and besides that, this was only the second day of my trip that I’d seen sun! After enjoying my ramen and beer, I walked towards my final sight in Matsumoto, the Kaichi Elementary School. This school, a museum since 1960, shows that elementary school was like for Japanese children during the Meiji period, when Japan opened up to the West. The displays of wall charts, musical instruments, school books, photographs, etc proved to be an interesting way to spend an hour or so, as well as provided another opportunity to observe the gorgeous Matsumoto koyo.

By this time, it was approaching 4:30 and time to make my way back to the train station to catch my van that would take me to my ryokan for the next two nights. Miyojinkan is tucked high up in the Japanese Alps above Matsumoto. I really enjoyed my two nights here. I booked a Japanese-style room with private, open air bath. Like you should expect at any fine ryokan, the service was outstanding and gracious. My assistant, Emi, graciously answered all my questions and cheerfully assisted me with all requests—including sending a separate shuttle van the next afternoon to pick me up when my bus from Kamikochi was going to drop me off 10 minutes after Myojinkan’s scheduled van would leave the bus/train station. Again, HOW KIND IS THAT?? ONLY IN Japan! I had kaiseki dinners both nights at Myojinkan. Traditional Japanese and Modern Japanese (which was my favorite of the two.) The room was comfortable and non-fussy. The private bath contained both a shower and a deep cypress tub, as well as a large window that opened up the bathing room to the mountains, babbling brook below and chilly outside air. It was a wonderful way to enjoy the late fall, crisp mountain air, all the while soaking in the comfort of my bath. Then it was time to hit my comfy futon bed in order to be up early to catch the bus to tomorrow’s destination, the Japanese Alps hiking destination of Kamikochi.

November 13: Kamikochi

That morning, I got ready to catch Miyojinkan’s shuttle that would take me to the Matsumoto bus station to catch the bus to Kamikochi, for an afternoon of hiking through the Japanese Alps. Now I had packed accordingly for this trip, knowing that the temperatures would be fairly cold. The Kamikochi hiking season runs from April (I believe) until season close on November 15th. The kind folks at Miyojinkan asked me if I was sure I wanted to hike in Kamikochi as the weather would be very cold. (25F, to be exact). I thanked them for their concern but explained that being from Minneapolis, 2-3 hours of hiking in 25F temperatures would not be any problem.

The bus ride from Matsumoto was perhaps 90 minutes or so and dropped us off at the Kamikochi Visitors Center. The very friendly young gal at the Visitors’ Center provided me with a map of the hiking area and recommended I take the roughly 2 ½ hour round trip hike up to the Myojin Bridge and back. This would take me past the famous and scenic Kappabashi Bridge, which crosses over the Azusa River, through snow covered forests amid the towering, snow capped Japanese Alps, and up to the scenic Myojin Pond. The hike was very easy…the terrain is flat the entire way. The scenery was lovely and would have been even more spectacular if not for the clouds and the light snow that occasionally fell. Once I reached the Myojin Pond, I wanted to cross over to the south side of the river and take that route back to the Visitor Center. However, that route takes slightly longer than the outbound path I took on the north side of the river due to twists and turns in the path, and I was afraid that if I made even the slightest detour or mistake, I would miss the last bus back to Matsumoto. So in the end, I hiked back the way I came which, nonetheless, was a terrific change of pace from all the city life, castles and fall foliage I had seen to date. I would enjoy coming back to Kamikochi a month or so earlier when the weather is likely clearer and the koyo is out in all its glory.

Back in Matsumoto, I met up with the special van that Miyojinkan ryokan had sent for me. I enjoyed a terrific Modern Japanese kaiseki dinner that evening and settled back into my room for the night. My next four days would take me to Japan’s cultural capital of Kyoto, to see ancient temples and shrines and some of the most spectacular fall foliage I have ever seen.

Tomorrow: The wonderful Hotel Mume (Kyoto); a nominee for the New Seven Wonders of the World—Kiyomizu-dera Temple; and some Shrines and Temples Fall Light up

I'm hoping you include some pictures. Enjoying your report.

David - I am still traveling along with you. :) Just curious how you found out about the Matsumoto ryokan - sometimes it is hard to find one that takes a single traveler.....

And you wrote all this from memory...omigosh!

Wonderful detailed trip report. I'm bookmarking some of your locations for future use.
Some similar experiences and memories from past trips.
I'm thinking Shinjuku /Tokyo Stations could be a day trip destinations on their own.
It took a second trip for us to have a clear view of Fuji.

We experienced an earthquake while visiting the Nagasaki A-Bomb museum. The mock up A-bomb hovering over a earth globe near the exit started swaying !
Some buzz by the other attendees and hasty exits but soon over.
Later in Hakata there were some damaged building storefronts roped off.

Looking forward to following along
Thanks again for the effort

dgunbug--I'd be happy to include photos but I don't blog anywhere else, nor am I on Facebook. If there's another alternative, I'd be thrilled to load some.

Mara-I found Miyojinkan through a Google search and then, vavlidated it through solid Trip Advisor reviews. I had understood exactly what you said about, what I'll call, a bias against single travelers. But no ryokan that I attempted to reserve turned me down, although Iwaso on Miyajima did require me to pay $100 or so extra.

David, I'm enjoying your report, and you are inspiring me to start work on my own, from the same time period. (Who knew November would be so popular a time to go to Japan!) A good site to load your pictures is www.shutterfly.com. It's free. You can upload your pictures and then provide a link to them in your report. But there are plenty of other sites as well.

Hi David, could you elaborate further on the difference / dishes in the traditional and the modern Japanese kaiseki meals you had at Myojinkan, please? It's so much about the food for me, and I'd love to know more on that.

:-)

Aprillilacs-thanks for the tip on shutterfly.com. I will check it out and try and get some photos posted there, perhaps this weekend.

Kavey-I found the menu from Myonjinkan's Modern Japanese kaiseki. It was:

Appetizers: Big char sushi; Cup-steamed egg custard with foie gras; Beef tongue with grated radish

Chicken meatballs & mushroom soup, served in hot pot
Smoked shinsyu salmon with shittake mushroom jelly
Grilled plate: Shinshu Beef, Carp, Lilybuld
Roast turnip dressed with Amber Sauce
Rice porridge

I looked through the photos both on my camera and my IPhone and I'm afraid I didn't take any of the Traditional Japanese (which is surprising because I thought I took pictures of all my kaiseki dinners). As you can see by the above menu, the Modern Japanese had more of a fusion aspect to it, as you might expect. I recall enjoying the Traditional Japanese but LOVING the Modern Japanese.

Aah fabulous, thank you so much. It was the modern one I was most interested in actually. We've had quite a few traditional kaiseki dinners now and have a good feel for the kind of dishes included but was curious about a modern version.
I can see it's created on similar lines but with the fusion you mention in terms of ingredients like foie gras.
Thank you!

Reporting in tonight from absolutely frigid Minneapolis. The temperature will be -20F by Sunday morning with a daytime high of -10F, -26F by Monday morning and Monday’s expected HIGH temperature is -18F!! Yikes. Alaska’s revenge. Gotta keep thinking about Puerto Rico in Feburary. Puerto Rico in February. <G>

November 14 and 15: Days 1 and 2 in Kyoto

I checked out of Miyonjinkan that morning, promising them a wonderful Trip Advisor review (which I still owe them). Their convenient shuttle dropped me off at the Matsumoto train station, approximately one hour before my train would leave for Nagoya, where I would transfer to the Shinkansen to get to Kyoto. The morning air in Matusmoto was crisp and there was not a single cloud in the sky. Matsumoto-jo and these sky blue skies were just a 15 minute walk away. If I walked fast, I could make it there and back, take perhaps 10 minutes of additional photos, now in the clear sky, and still be back 20 minutes before my train left. I went for it. In the end, I got a gorgeous shot that I have since blown up and have framed in my master bathroom with 6 other great pics from the trip.

The train from both Matsumoto to Nagoya and then Nagoya to Kyoto was punctual (duh!) and uneventful. While it seemed like I never had more than 10 minutes to transfer on any multi-leg trip, I never had any problems. If I couldn’t figure out where I needed to go within the first 2 minutes, I never hesitated to ask a station attendant. All that I asked were likely used to English-speaking travelers asking for assistance and all promptly pointed me to the correct track number.

My home in Kyoto for the first 3 days of my stay in Kyoto was the #1 rated Kyoto hotel on Trip Advisor-Hotel Mume. I had originally attempted to book Mume 7 months in advance of my trip but they were already full. (It’s small, boutique hotel of perhaps a ½ dozen rooms or so.) They told me they were hold onto my request in case they had a cancellation. Imagine my surprise when in July, they emailed me to say they could accommodate me for my first 3 nights. I am so glad I booked with them as the staff and owner have to be the kindest, most sincere hotel staff I have ever stayed with. Yoshie met my cab at the front door (the taxi directions they emailed were flawless) and offered me a glass of orange juice. We finished the check in process in their breakfast lounge/happy hour bar that sits atop a little babbling brook running right behind the hotel. I can’t say enough about this wonderful little hotel. No task were too big or insignificant to help me with, whether it be restaurant recommendations and directions, bus times and pick up points to Kinkaku-ji, or even transporting my larger wheelie bag (which arrived hassle free from Tokyo) to my ryokan a couple blocks down the street on my last day in Kyoto. The owner, Hisako, also taught me how to say “please” in Japanese. (Onegaishimasu). If I return someday to Kyoto, I will stay here in a heartbeat (and try to book one year in advance if possible!)

With directions in hand from the staff, it was now about 3:00 and time to walk the 20 minutes to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. Kiyomizu is located in the eastern hills above the city. You approach it through an inclined street of perhaps 3 or 4 blocks, with shops selling mostly generic souvenirs. The crowds were pretty fierce at this time of day and it was challenging to enjoy what must be the incredible sacredness and serenity of the interior temple grounds when they first open. This was probably still my favorite temple, physically speaking, due to its location, it’s style, it’s veranda that looks out over the city (which you can get incredible photos of by walking down a path just off the temple grounds) and the various gongs and other sounds coming from those worshipping at the temple. Kiyomizu-dera was a nominee a few years back for the New Seven Wonders of the World competition and while it didn’t win, is still a must see and was one of my highlights of things I saw in Japan. I also returned the next night when Kiyomizu’s Light Up began. As I got there at around 9:00 p.m., the crowds had thinned. I enjoyed the light up but enjoyed the temple visit more during today’s day time visit.

I made my way back to Mume and enjoyed a glass of rose cava and snacks. This is a wonderful little late afternoon touch that I enjoyed each night at Mume. After resting up for a couple of hours in the room, I made my way back to the lobby, where Yoshie took my request for sushi and recommended a great little place along the Pontocho, which was just a 10 minute walk away. The sushi was delicious. I walked around the Pontocho after dinner, snapping a few photos both there and of the area surrounding the nearby river. I made my way back to Mume and settled in for the night, planning out my next day when it was expected to rain for a good portion of the day.

Next: Fushimi Inari Shrine, Tofokuji Temple, Sanjusangendo Temple, and Light up at Chion-in and Kiyomizu dera.

November 15: I awoke that morning and, as predicted, a fairly heavy rain was falling on Kyoto. In hindsight, this would prove to be the last drops of precipitation I would see for the rest of my trip and fortunately, only lasted until about 1:00 that afternoon.

After a wonderful breakfast at Mume, I made my way to the subway to get to my first stop of the day, Fushimi Inari shrine. Fushimi Inari is a collection of over 10,000 vermillion torii gates, along with little shrines and altars along the way that wind their way up a large hill in the southern part of Kyoto. While it was lightly raining through much of my climb up the winding paths of the hill, I thought it added to the spirituality of the shrine. I did not walk all the way to the top but probably 2/3 of the way up, stopping along the way to observe the little altars or to take a drink from the bubbling dragons. I probably spent 90 or so minutes here. Making my way back down the hill, I made my way back to the subway and traveled a couple of stops north to visit the Tofoku-ji Temple.

Tofokuji won 2nd place in my book in the Kyoto koyo contest. While the temple grounds themselves were free of charge, the gardens required a 400 Yen ticket purchase and were worth every yen. Golds, reds, oranges and enough greens to keep everything real spilled across the tops of the trees and shrubs, which you view from a walkway that crosses the garden 2 stories up. I spent a good 45 minutes just oohing, ahhing, snapping pictures and walking through the gardens. Next stop, Sanjosangen Temple.

In Sanjosangen, there are over 100 bronze statues of the goddess Kannon, all lined up in rows as if holding court. Statues of various other notable figures and gods are interspersed along the way. Since this is what everyone comes to see, the walkway to view these figures can be quite crowded. Also, unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photographs. In fact, the temple management is SO serious about this that there are multiple signs posted along the way, saying that your camera will be inspected upon leaving and confiscated if found to contain interior photos. I found all of this a bit unnecessary, in my opinion, as I didn’t see anything that would be damaged if photos, flash or otherwise were taken. This temple was interesting enough but my least favorite stop of the day. I did however purchase my shuin-cho here. A shuin-cho is a small, cloth-covered book with blank, heavy stock pages that costed 1000 yen. At each temple or shrine you visit, you can obtain obtain that temple/shrine’s ink stamp and calligraphic signature for just 300 yen. Counting the temple and shrines I ended up going back to obtain stamps/signatures, I ended up with 13 mementos in my shuin-cho that provide a lasting record of all the temples and shrines I visited in Kyoto (+ the Itsukushima shrine in Miyajima, towards the end of my trip.) It has become one of my favorite souvenirs from my trip.

From here, I made my way back to Hotel Mume for the afternoon happy hour. That evening, I had dinner at a little hole in the wall dumpling restaurant in Ginza that Mume recommended. For less than 2000 yen, I gorged on dumplings, rice and beer. It was delicious. Then it was time to head out to snap some photos at both Chion-in temple and Kiyomizu-dera temple as part of the annual Fall Light Up. Solid but not obtrusive crowds at either temple.

Overall, a really fun first two days in the beautiful city of Kyoto. Two more days left.

Next: The temples of the Philosopher’s Path, including the spectacular koyo at Eikan-do, and a long bus ride and a very rushed visit to Kinkaku-ji.

Did you go back to Kiyomizu-dera to get a stamp in your shuin-cho? What a lovely memento...

We did't do it on the first trip but this time I purchased ema from many of the temples and shrines we visited. Not all of them as a few were simply asking too much for these simple wooden plaques, the pretty designs notwithstanding.

I had the idea of what I wanted to do with them already in my head in advance of the trip. When I got home, we found the perfect metal tree stand, which was easier than the regular green tree I'd originally envisaged:

http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/12/kyo...-ema-tree.html