Japan 2019: Second Full Day in Kyoto! (Pt. 1 Kiyomizu-dera)
DAY 6 (PT. 1)
Rise and shine (oop, I hope Kylie didn’t copyright that phrase…) - today is our last day at the capsule hotel, so it’s time to pack everything back up to get ready to leave. First Cabin Arashiyama is such a great place to stay. The sleep area is surprisingly quiet and the common areas (lounge, bathroom, washroom) were VERY clean. The complimentary breakfast for each night you stay is also a plus!
We had planned to go to a lot of the places I wasn’t able to, back in 2018, so I was pretty excited for today! We first got our complimentary breakfast but then we also went to the nearby convenient store to pick up extra food/snacks - I picked up a couple onigiri - to fuel up because we knew there would be A LOT of walking this morning and we probably wouldn’t get to eat lunch until late in the afternoon. But first stop - Kiyomizu-dera!
I love the Kyoto area so much, it’s gorgeous everywhere. I swear I was able to find beauty from the mountains to everyday streets.
There are a lot of small streets and little alley ways in this area (as I’m sure there are a lot of them all around Japan and probably other countries). You were able to find small shrines or really cool areas even in these really hidden spots! I wouldn’t be able to tell you where the above was because honestly we were following Google maps to Kiyomizu-dera and just stumbled upon this.
A lot of gardens and shrines to discover everywhere. I loved it.
Kiyomizu-dera is quite a bit of a hike from the nearest train station. Also, its on an incline so it’ll get a bit tiring if you aren’t prepared for it - it’s not difficult to walk in anyway… The streets are pretty narrow and its kind of insane that cars drive up and down the main road. There are shops scattered along the road, so there is a lot of people/tourists. To give you a sense of the road width, two cars cannot drive past - one will need to go before the other one does.
But along the path, depending on the time you go, there is a lot of souvenirs you can browse and purchase and a lot of food/snacks you can buy!
There is quite a bit to see on the outskirts of Kiyomizu-dera. A lot of these red buildings scattered around and small areas you can view the city from. It’s really nice and was especially beautiful on this clear and very sunny day. You will need to pay a small fee (I believe it was 300YEN) to go into the main area. In here, you’ll be able to purchase charms, burn incense, and much more.
There was a bit of construction there. I think because they were preparing for the influx of travellers coming for the 2020 Olympics. So by the time this post comes out/you read this, it’ll probably be all fixed up now.
I believe burning incense is a way to purify yourself according to Buddhism. There is a small box of incense near this giant cauldron where you can drop 10YEN and pick up one of the incense sticks. I’m not sure if you’re supposed to think of something, make a wish or anything of that sort, so I can’t help you there but be careful not to burn your hand from other peoples incense when sticking yours in the ash.
Here I’ll just show you a few photos I snapped in the area - not much for me to say about them but a well known photo from this area is the pagoda in the distance. I’ve seem amazing fall/autumn photos of it. I went when it was still late summer/early fall weather in Japan, so I didn’t see any of the colour changing leaves.
There’s this area in the temple where you are able to drink the water that’s flowing down. I’m not sure where exactly the water comes from or the significance of it - my assumption is again for cleansing yourself. They have these large ladles that sit in UV light to kill bacteria from the previous person - so don’t grab one that was JUST put back. Also, depending on the time you go, there may be a really long line. If the line is short, I say go for it! But if it’s a couple hours of wait time… I’d say skip it.
I do have to say though, when I went there was a Chinese tour group that was there at the same time we were (I know they were Chinese because I’m Chinese). Honestly, they were kind of obnoxious and rude (I’m saying this particular group). Everyone should be standing in line and waiting their turn. There are only 3 flowing steams, so you would think 3 people at a time… BUT NO. When it was my turn, this one lady kept pushing me aside trying to fill her cup with water while I was filling mine. I was low key irritated, so I kept saying out loud to my sister/cousin - “My God, this woman keeps pushing me. STOP PUSHING ME. WAIT YOUR TURN HOLY. I DON’T KNOW YOU. STOP PUSHING ME. GET AWAY FROM ME, I DON’T KNOW YOU.” So that was fun… (lol)
Overall, I feel this was such a great site to visit and experience. I really enjoyed it. The trek up wasn’t bad at all for me but it is an incline, so be wary of that. After we finished exploring Kiyomizu-dera, we decided to try out some snacks from the main street. I unfortunately forgot to take a photo of everything I tried but I did take a few!
I saw this shop that sold fish cakes and if you know me, I love fish cakes so I decided to get one. Right next to this stall was a steamed bun store which my mom wanted to try, so she bought one of those. Here is a little 2-in-1 photo:
The fish cake was freshly made it seems. It was really light and very soft. It was just alright - I like my fish cakes with a bouncier and harder (harder might not be the correct word here? but more of a mouth/teeth feel??) bite to it. The steamed bun wasn’t my favourite. I honestly can’t remember what the filling was but by the looks of it, it was some sort of fish patty? I feel both could have had more flavour to it.
There was this one shop we stumbled across. Sadly, I can’t tell you the exact location and I also forgot the name (sorry) but it was on the main street, though you had to enter through these wooden doors down a small hallway of some sorts to the back where the shops were located. It was surprisingly beautiful back there (lol). The main shop had great snack souvenirs and they had samples of each of their product which I loved - being able to try it before you buy it! But holy, one of my favourite, which I ended up buying, were these rice cracker snacks covered in chocolate.
The rice cracker itself had a really great/strong rice cracker flavour to it - kind of hard to describe but if you know, you know! And really great high quality chocolate covering it. It was a mix of milk chocolate, white chocolate, and matcha chocolate. Honestly, while I was walking around the store, I kept grabbing more to snack on. Don’t worry, I ended up buying a few things - I didn’t just steal all their samples (lol)
They also had a small cafe next door which sold a bunch of drinks and desserts. My sister and I ordered the same matcha parfait:
The ice cream was great and some of the additions were good. Though the parfaits had chunks of what I believe were warabimochi, which is jelly like and not really chewy like mochi is. The texture I didn’t really enjoy… but if you like warabimochi, you’ll probably really enjoy this.
On a plus, it was a great spot to rest because it was quiet (at the time we were there) and washroom!
I will end off this post with one more closing and my last thoughts - I wanted to post my full day in one post but I would have too many photos and the page would probably lag…
Kiyomizu-dera and the journey to this temple was something I really enjoyed. I’m glad I was able to explore this area on my second trip to Japan. I really recommend you visit here if you get the chance. It had great views, its quite well known and there are so many foods to try and shops around this area. It’s a great place to go to get a small taste of everything really.
Stay tuned for my next post - the second half of the day - where we visit Kinkakuji and finish the day around Nikishi market. Thanks for reading and until next time!
-Thomas