Sea Change Okinawa: Kyoto

Arashiyama - Kyoto

Before I continue on with my snowy holiday in Japan posts, I have one post left from our trip to Koya-san and Kyoto this past November. Our last full day in Kyoto we ventured out to Arashiyama. Can you believe that i've been to Kyoto at least 5 times before and never been to Arashiyama!? How stupid I was to miss this area every time! Arashiyama is gorgeous and a prime spot for viewing the autumn leaves.

As soon as we stepped off the tram I was in love. The station was adorable and we walked straight onto a street full of cute shops and restaurants. We stopped for a croquette from a street stall, then continued on towards the bridge. Arashiyama was CROWDED, and it wasn't even a national holiday or a weekend when we were there. It was crowded for a reason though. The autumn leaves covering the mountain backdrop were stunning and the area is just so cute.

We only spent a half day here because we were tired from non-stop sightseeing for the previous 4 days, and we wandered off track and ended up kind of in the middle of nowhere and hungry with a small child, so ended up heading back into the city around lunch time. Still though, we had a lovely time. We walked by the river, through the park and came across the bamboo grove.

If you ever find yourself in Kyoto, I definitely recommend taking a day out in Arashiyama. It's not far from the city centre and everything is just so pretty! Also, I wish I had known about it before (it's obvious I didn't do much planning for this, isn't it?), but there's a lovely train ride in Arashiyama, that you can read about on my friend Ashley's blog.

Gorgeous fall colours in Arashiyama, Kyoto

Fall colours in the mountains surrounding Arashyiama

Amazing fall colours in Arashiyama, Kyoto

Bamboo

The famous bamboo path

So in love with these colours

The cute Randen tram at Arashiyama, Kyoto

Cute little tram we caught to Arashiyama

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Arashiyama in Kyoto is a must-see when visiting Kyoto. It is a charming little town with lots of traditional shops, restaurants and temples and is the perfect spot for viewing autumn leaves or Cherry blossoms in spring!

17:50
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Fushimi Inari Taisha - Kyoto

Japan

On our second day in Kyoto, we packed a decent amount in considering we had a 5 year old in tow. After we had had a bit of rest over lunch at Matsuontoko, we hopped on the train to head to Fushimi Inari Taisha. This is one of the most popular shrines in Kyoto, and is known for it's thousands of torii gates that stretch up into the mountain for kilometres.

The shrine is accessed from Fushimi Inari Station or JR Inari station and you just need to follow the many people up the road to the shrine grounds. On the way, there are many many street food stalls selling everything from yakitori, to takoyaki, chocolate covered bananas and candy as well as souvenirs.

Once we finally made it to the shrine, we walked some of the way up through the torii gates, however after an already busy morning and a tired 5 year old (and mums!) we didn't go all the way up the mountain. We did at one point venture up a precarious looking dirt path that was off to the right of the main torii path, which led to a little wooded shrine area, that was definitely less busy than the main path. This also offered some good views of the torii from above. I would definitely recommend veering off the main path as you go because you will avoid some of the crowds and possibly discover all sorts of gems.

I would love to come back another time and do the whole trek. As you get further along, there are less and less people so you are more likely to get some great shots of the tunnels of torii gates without the hoards of people!

When we were heading back to the station we came across a tiny neighbourhood playground so little G was super happy! It was basically just a slide and a couple of other things, but if you have kids, it's sure to make their day (as well as giving the parents a chance to sit and rest!).

Street food stalls on the walk to Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto

Street food leading up to the temple

The Kitsune (fox) stands guard over the entrance to the Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto

Fox

Beautiful Autumn leaves at Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto

Tunnel of torii gates

These colours!

Me :)

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18:16
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Vegetarian (and vegan) food in Kyoto

food

A couple of weeks ago we were in Kyoto for a few days. As you all know, i'm not vegetarian, but H is, and we have a lot of vegan friends, so we're always on the look out for Vegan and vegetarian friendly places to eat when we're travelling.

While we were in Kyoto we actually stumbled across a few gems, completely by accident!

All these vegetarian/vegan friendly places in Kyoto were in the Teramachi shopping arcade area, so great stops when you're in the central city shopping area. I've put links to their location on Google maps below

Sen no Kaze Ramen

This ramen restaurant looks deceiving. We actually walked past it a couple of times and didn't consider it because all the pictures on the menu out the front were meat-based. After doing a google search for vegan and vegetarian ramen in Kyoto, this place was mentioned! We headed back there and asked the staff (who spoke great English) and she advised they do have vegetarian and vegan ramen. The vegetarian ramen is in a soy-based broth, and they will make a special vegan ramen on request.

If you're looking for a warm bowl of ramen on a cold day and a drink to wash it down, this is the place for you! It's small and popular, so I recommend getting there when it opens, although when we arrived we only waited about 15 minutes and the turnover seemed to be fairly quick. This is also a great option if you are travelling with a meat-eater.

You can find their location here

Sen no Kaze Ramen

The Vegetarian ramen (soy milk broth)

The meat version

Matsuontoko

Matsuontoko is a completely vegan restaurant just around the corner from the ramen place above. We happened to spot to sign outside when we were walking past and went straight in!

The menu includes burgers as well as soup and vegan lunch plate sets, organic beer and wine.

There is plenty of seating inside, and the burgers were tasty!

You can find their location here

Matsuontoko is a vegan restaurant serving burgers and other vegan food in the city centre of Kyoto.

Matsuontoko (vegan restaurant)

Avocado burger

Miso cutlet burger

Floresta Donuts (Vegetarian)

So these aren't actually vegan, but they are a great dessert treat if you are vegetarian. These donuts are fantastic because they are not super sweet like Mr Donut or Krispy Creme and the company is trying to make a healthier donut using local and organic ingredients. Also, their animal donuts are so cute and Instagrammable!

You can find their location here

Floresta donuts

cuties

Other vegetarian options in Kyoto:

I noticed quite a few Indian restaurants in the main shopping area with vegetarian menus, which is also easy if you are looking for something tasty to eat.

Have you been to Kyoto? Are there any other vegan and vegetarian places you recommend?

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Vegetarian food in Kyoto is relatively easy to find. Check out my post for where to get delicious meals when in Kyoto!

18:53
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Nijo Castle - Kyoto

Japan

Entrance to Ninomaru Palace

On our first full day in Kyoto, we were up early and headed to Nijo Castle. Have you ever read Lian Hearn's Across the Nightingale Floor? Well it's a great book, but more importantly, Ninomaru Palace at Nijo Castle has the famous Nightingale floors. These floors were built to make a chirping or squesking sound when walked across to alert the inhabitants of any intruders. Anyway, this was our main reason for wanting to check out Nijo Castle, however we were pleasantly surprised by how awesomely beautiful the grounds surrounding this place were.

After doing the walk through Ninomaru Palace with what felt like a million other people and horribly behaved children, we left the palace to walk through the gardens. This was the best part. It was a FREEZING cold day compared to Okinawa, so we were getting colder by the minute when a little teahouse appeared on the path in the Seiryu-en gardens. I saw that the coffee was overpriced, but we were cold and a hot drink was in order. We walked in just wanting a rest, but what we got was yummy snacks and the most beautiful view of a Japanese garden we could have imagined! The overpriced coffee, all of a sudden became totally worth it!

The coffee was lovely, and little G got one of the most decadent and delicious hot cocoas i'd ever tried. The matcha chiffon cake was also delicious, and I don't even like matcha. We opted to sit outside and look at the garden while we had our drinks, and at that moment the sun came out and started warming our freezing legs. It was all incredibly perfect and just what we needed.

After dragging ourselves away from the lovely teahouse, we continued through the gardens to a row of amazingly yellow ginko trees. The leaves were falling off in the wind, and it was so lovely. It was like being rained on by golden leaves!

Nijo Castle was a lovely place to visit, both for the history and the beautiful autumn colours. Apparently there are many cherry trees to see in the Spring as well, so is worth checking out at other times of the year. Don't miss the lovely tea house in the Seiryu-en garden part of the complex!