Arashiyama Bamboo Grove – Anne Goes to Places

Second day for this autumn trip was dedicated to Kyoto. I wanted to visit Arashiyama again without a crowd (read my 2017 visit here) so we got the earliest Shinkansen from Nagoya i.e., the Nozomi line at 06:20.

NOVEMBER 22, 2018

I was running at just 3 hours of sleep and the day didn’t start well because when we were already at Fushimi Station (nearest station to the hotel), I realized I forgot my mirrorless camera. Train bound to Nagoya Station leaves at 06:04 and it was 05:53. I had 11 minutes to run back to the hotel and then back to the station… and so I did with a bit of beating the red light at pedestrian stoplights. ☹ I was able to return to Fushimi Station at 06:02 then continued running up to the ticket gate. But, instead of swiping my ICOCA card, I swiped my BEEP card instead (for Metro Manila trains). WTF. I had to exit the gate and swipe the correct card instead. We reached the platform at 06:03 and I was so relieved because if we didn’t catch the 06:04 train, the next one was at 06:16 and we wouldn’t be able to ride the Nozomi train… which we already paid for. I didn’t mind the muscle ache I got after because that was nothing compared to shelling out ¥12,000 for two new tickets.

We were able to make it to our Shinkansen ride with still plenty of time before it left for Nagoya Station. It was my first time to ride a bullet train, by the way! The ride to Kyoto Station only took almost 40 minutes whereas non-Shinkansen would take about 2 hours. From Kyoto Station, we transferred to JR Sagano Line to reach Saga-Arashiyama Station and from there, there are two options to reach the entrance to ARASHIYAMA BAMBOO GROVE: take a cab or walk.

I initially wanted to take a cab because that was how we did it in 2017 but the cab driver probably thought I was asking for directions when I showed him the picture of the place. He told me, “2 minutes only”. Haha, I was too embarrassed so I ended up walking for less than 10 minutes.

You’ll know you are at the start of the trail when you see food stalls selling oden, ramen, mochi, daifuku among a variety of Japanese food. Picture below was at past 10AM when the shops were already open.

Not sure if it was due to autumn being a peak season in Arashiyama but I was shocked to see plenty of tourists at 07:40. During my visit back in 2017, there was only a couple aside from our trio at that time in the morning.

It was good that it wasn’t too crowded yet so there was still some semblance of tranquility despite tourists talking to each other. There was some drizzle also but not enough to get me soaked.

Always in awe of this place and how I can feel small with all these towering bamboo around me. Glad to be back here and still find peace here.

Interesting to see the difference of 10-15 minutes in this place. Pictures below show the increase in number of visitors.

Upon reaching the end of the trail and retracing our steps back to the entrance, I walked more slowly and this time, without so much distraction from my camera – taking in the sight of this majestic bamboo grove that seemingly sheltered me from the noise and chaos of the world.

I wouldn’t get tired of going back here again and again, even if I have to wake up really early just to enjoy its quietness. I highly recommend visiting this early in the morning to avoid the crowd. ❤

MARCH 7, 2017

We started our 2^nd day in Kyoto quite early since our goal was to get to the famous bamboo grove without the big crowd yet. When we got off in Arashiyama Station, there was a sign which exit was for the bamboo grove but we were not sure how to get there by walking. It also started raining so the temperature became too cold to handle (at least for me).

We ended up taking a cab so that we would not risk getting lost – short ride and the driver dropped us near the entrance. The first hundred meters of the bamboo grove got us thinking why people described SAGANO BAMBOO GROVE as majestic because there were electric posts + wires blocking part of the view.

We still walked some more and stumbled upon NONOMIYA-JINJA, which is a shrine dedicated to Amaterasu and the deity of fire.

After spending a few minutes here, we decided to continue our walk along the bamboo grove but we were surprised that it was quite short. We were at the back area of Tenryu-ji and we could not find any more bamboo. We decided to walk some more and finally, we saw the bamboo area captured in most photographs.

I finally understood what people meant when they said that photographs were not enough to do justice on how ethereal and beautiful this place is. Highly recommend to go here really early! Aside from us, there was just a tourist couple so we managed to get good pictures of the place. The place was also quiet which made it perfect for a bit of reflection and relaxation time.

At the end of the path, visitors can also go to OKOCHI SANSO VILLA. Since it was too early and too cold to wait, we retraced our steps to reach the city area. We grabbed some breakfast from Lawson – onigiri, sandwich, hot coffee and tea. We were lucky that it was very near to TOGETSUKYO BRIDGE and there were vacant benches. We ate our breakfast with the bridge and Katsura River in sight.

After eating, we crossed the bridge and explored the park on one side. On the other side, we got a closer and better view of the river. There were also boats offering a cruise along the river, but I think this would be best enjoyed during the spring and fall season. Trees were still bare at the time we visited.

We wanted to buy some local sweets in Arashiyama and we decided to get help in Arashiyama Randen Station. Another surprising discovery we made here was the KIMONO FOREST. A short pathway was lined with cylinder-shaped pillars, which were designed in different colors and patterns. I read a bit more about the place afterwards (read here), and people highly recommend going here during the evening as well as the pillar are lit up.

At the end of the path, we saw a small pond with a sphere designed with a dragon. There was a small sign near the pond that said that if one dips their hands into the water, s/he will feel refreshed and will be blessed with happiness. My hands were too cold already so I did not do this but J and M went ahead since they felt they could still withstand the temperature.

We walked to TENRYU-JI (UNESCO) afterwards and bought tickets for both the garden and buildings in the area.

It is the largest temple in Arashiyama and said to be one of the best Zen temples in Kyoto. Not a surprise because the place is beautiful, and there is a spot in the main hall where one can sit and admire the garden and pond outside.

Before heading back to Kyoto Station, we bought tickets for the SAGANO SCENIC RAILWAY. We were lucky because we only had to wait a few minutes before the special train arrives. The next schedule after ours was an hour later.

We hopped on the retro-looking train when it arrived (seat numbers are assigned upon buying the ticket). It was past 1PM already and since we had not yet eaten lunch, I ate the daifuku I bought from a stall near the bamboo grove entrance.

: Flavors (L-R): adzuki, ???, matcha

The ride lasted for about 25 minutes – we passed by scenic views of mountains as well as a good view of the Hozugawa River.

We only bought a one-way ticket so upon arrival at the last station, we walked going to Umahori so that we could catch a train ride back to Kyoto Station. We had our very late lunch in KYOTO RAMEN KOJI, located at the 10F Kyoto Station .

There are 10 ramen shops to choose from and this “street” (koji) boasts of housing shops that serve ramen from different parts of Japan (check out the list of ramen shops here).

Since we had different ramen preferences at that time, we decided to go our separate ways for lunch and meet at the entrance of Kyoto Ramen Koji after eating. I chose HAKATA IKKOUSHA because I was super hungry and I saw that their ramen has huge pork slices. Yay! Securing a seat was not a problem since it was still off-peak hours.

Their hakata ramen tasted really, really good that I finished the whole bowl by myself. This was on top of my additional order of karaage (which I also enjoyed BTW!).

After lunch, J recommended going to Kitano Tenmangu as she saw IG posts that a lot of ume trees there are already in full bloom. We somehow gave up already in seeing sakura so we decided to go there.

KITANO TENMANGU is a shrine dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, a scholar and politician during the Heian period who is also best known as the “god of academics”. Hence, this is also a shrine where many students visit to pray for their studies and exams.

We also went to the garden of ume trees (with entrance fee but forgot how much), and it did not disappoint at all! I’ll let the pictures below do the talking. 😉

We went home afterwards and bought convenience store food for dinner. Guess we had not yet recovered from the 30,000 steps we did the day before this.