Journeys for Knowledge

After that rather eye opening experience at the robot restaurant, my friend and I set off for Kyoto for a few days. Naturally, we took the bullet train (or shinkansen) to make the trip in less than 3 hours. Still we were tired after reaching the hotel, so we decided to relax at an onsen (hot springs) up in the mountains near Kyoto. Even though it was raining and cold, the warm water was soothing and relaxing. The best part was the quiet outdoor setting, since many popular onsens are packed with people.

The next day, we set off early to explore the various Buddhist temples in Kyoto. This endeavour brought us to Tenryu-ji Temple, where we had an authentic vegetarian meal prepared by the temple staff. Kyoto is considered the capital of tofu cuisine, and indeed this meal did not disappoint. In general the vegetarian food here was amazing, unlike Tokyo where it was a bit of a struggle to find proper vegetarian food each night.

After exploring the temple gardens, we decided to head towards a more popular site, Fushimi Inari. Some may recognize it as the site with the 1000 Shinto gates (called torii), and yes there are in fact 1000. Unfortunately, there are also over 1000 steps, far too many to climb with the sun setting fast. Instead, we spent our time exploring side paths along the mountain trail, finding small gems such as a small lake, and a peaceful cemetery. Having worn our feet out walking and busing all over Kyoto, we had a nice dinner in the downtown district of Gion. A relaxing way to end a busy day.

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