Kyoto, Nara, Osaka w/ Family!!

Hehe again, very late... sorry. This all happened September 8-17. Anyways at this point in my Japan journey my family came to Japan and I was done with my lab work so only exploring was happening here on out!

Kamakura

On Sunday, I took my family to see Kamakura the ancient capital of Japan. We went on a hike to see the first Shogun who established military rule there. My family quickly realized how hot and humid Japan was on the hike... We then went to visit Giant Buddha and ate some ice cream to cool off.

Traveling to Kyoto!

Oh my goodness there were so many complications on our way to Kyoto. So Japan had been hit by a typhoon Sunday night so all the trains were delayed (NEVER HAPPENS), some train lines were cancelled and the weather was crazy at night. We wanted to get on the bullet train (Shinkansen) from Tokyo station but we had to wait hours to get the tickets because of all the travel delays. BUT the guy at the ticket counter was lightening fast he was typing in stuff at like 500 mph we were all like :0 when he was giving us our tickets. We finally got on the train (after being cut in line by some other rude tourists) and I basically knocked out for the whole ride. Since the whole day was traveling we just rested in the hotel after that.

That night we had Okonomiyaki (savory pancake) at a local restaurant. My favorite was actually the fried rice and mushrooms though. It was cool though we had a whole grill for cooking at our table!

Ryoanji Temple Rock Garden and Kinkakuji (Golden Pavilion)

To start off our Kyoto adventures we went to Ryoanji Temple Rock Garden. In all honesty I expected it to be a lot bigger. But I guess it was therapeutic seeing the raked sand. Next, we visted the Golden Pavilion. This place was CROWDED with European tourists but the place was so beautiful. After we went to have a vegetarian lunch at what looked like was someone's house (but I found it on Yelp?). This was a hilarious display of my aweful Japanese. I thought you could walk in and I was greeted by a Japanese auntie who only spoke Japanese. I was asking her if she spoke English and she said she didn't. Then I asked if they were closed... or I tried with "Tabe OK??" (eat OK??) and I think she was asking me if I had a reservation but I'm really not sure. But after just going back and forth with her being like I'm so sorry I don't understand she let us sit and made food for us. My mom and aunt were like wow your Japanese is so good and I was like LOL I JUST SAID I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE ENTIRE TIME. It was a traditional eating setting where the table is low and you sit on the mat cross legged. My dad was having trouble with this so the woman brought him a little stool. Overall the food was okay but at least my family got the traditional dining experience.

Fushimi Inari Shrine

After lunch, we went to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. It was really beautiful walking through the torii gates in nature. We did get really sweaty on this walk though (it's mostly uphill) and there were storm clouds so we were worried about it raining. This place was also PACKED with tourists. If you wanted a picture alone under the gates you had to run ahead and pose quickly before the next people behind you hike through.

Osaka!

Next, we took a train from Kyoto to Osaka. We visited the Osaka Castle and this time there were a TON of tourists but from China instead of Europe. I'm not sure why the location mattered for the type of tourists. Anyways we went inside the Castle and theres lot's of nice art and history on the walls but I'm not sure if it was worth the entrance fee. Next we went to the Osaka Kuromon Fish Market. This is a site to see there's SO much seafood everywhere! We ended up getting fresh sushi there and grilled scallops (so good). They also had Fugu (the poisonous pufferfish if you cut it wrong) ... I decided to pass on that. We explored more of the city just strolling around and went to the Osaka Aquarium too. That was really nice - it cost 2550 yen (about 25 dollars) but if you compare that to the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is $50 that was a steal and you get to see so much more fish. Finally, we ended the day with some Kushiyaki. This was so delicious especially the wagyu beef with a little bit of wasabi. SO good!!

Nara

We took the train/bus from Kyoto to Nara and got to see some wild deer. The deer were pretty nice and tame EXCEPT they ate two of our maps. You can see my mom fighting one of the deer for our map back "Give it back!!!". We also visited some more temples/shrines in Nara based on the recommendation of the visitor booth lady who gave us the maps: Kofuku-ji and Yakushi-ji (the red one). After the long day of walking in Nara we got some Tonkatsu near our hotel in Kyoto- so yummy!!

Kyoto: Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, Nijo Castle, Gion District

On our last day in Kyoto we decided to visit the Arashiyama Bamboo Forest. It was nice but also again extremely packed with tourists. After, we were walking around the area of Arashiyama and based on a strangers recommendation took a small hike to a Buddhist shrine in the hilltops? I'm not sure what this place was called- I just let my mom lead the way on that one. We also visted Nijo Castle which was really nice - the gardens and the inside were really beautiful.

We got some ramen for lunch but we really should've gone somewhere else. One of the things I learned in Japan was never to go into a restaurant that had a big sign in english out front but we caved because the pictures looked good. The ramen was really mediocre haha but they had a great translation for my dads ramen: "Best ass meat barbecued pork Ramen". He literally said that aloud when ordering too AH.

Then we roamed Gion District and actually saw a real Geisha! Hoping it wasn't rude that I took the picture but I was so surprised we saw one.

Well that was my really long and overdue update on more of Japan outside Tokyo. My feet were absolutely obliterated after this trip. Hope it gave you some ideas of where to visit!