*Parked bicycles at night. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

Kurama to Kibune

After our stay at Otsu City, we had planned to hike Mt Hiei from the Shiga side and descend on the Kyoto side, but it was rainy both days during our stay in Kyoto, and we didn’t want to risk getting caught in a thunderstorm in the second highest mountain in Kyoto. Instead, we reached our Kyoto hotel early in the morning and we went to Kurama for a gentle hike from Kurama-dera to Kifune shrine.

*At Kurama-dera. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 We saw a deer here, but alas, no telephoto lens. Voigtlander Nokton.*

*An 800-year old cedar tree. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

*Walking across the bridge. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

*The Path of the Roots at the summit. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

*Mandala on the temple ground. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

It was very crowded once we reached Kifune. Kifune Shrine was a sea of people—tourists taking selfies on the steps, and there was also a wonderful performance by a pianist and a violin that drew a large crowd. We walked down the mile or so from Kifune Shrine to Kifune JR Station, enjoying the scenic walk along the way. There were many restaurants along the river that offer kaisekis and yudobu cuisine to be enjoyed on a platform on the river itself, but we decided to go to a restaurant we saw an ad for at Kifune Shrine—it was a restaurant called Falafel Garden that advertised vegetarian/vegan food and wonderfully, it was just around the corner from Demachi-Yanagi station! The falafel was indeed delicious!

*At Falafel Garden. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton*

Philosopher’s Path

With falafel pita in our belly, we headed down to the start of Philosopher’s Path. Ginkaku-ji was flooded with people, and we didn’t feel like dealing with the crowd, so we headed down the path for a peaceful gentle stroll down Philosopher’s Path instead, visiting the temples and shrines along the way (although some were already closed by the time we reached).

*At one of the temples. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

*On the Philosopher’s Path. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

*A bridge across the canal on the Philosopher’s Path. This canal is called Lake Biwa Canal, and it leads to Lake Biwa itself! Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

Nanzen-ji marks the end of the Path. A family was having a photoshoot here dressed in traditional garbs, but apart from a few tourists, it was otherwise quiet.

*Nanzen-ji. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

*Biwako canal—it would be more impressive in April during cherry blossom season or during the fall! Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

We walked to the center of the shopping district in Osaka (where the tourist crowd was) to have dinner at Eggs’N’Things—a restaurant chain that we found in Yokohama as well as Osaka later on—before we made the trek back to our hotel.

*Motorcycles by a restaurant. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

*A parking space right across our hotel. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

Takao to Arashiyama

We woke up to the rain, and instead of going up to Mt Hiei, we decided to visit Takao.

*Waiting for the bus to Takao. The bus was considerably late and we were panicking thinking that we’d missed it even though we were punctual in arriving at the bus stop. Sony RX100V.*

Takao is famous for its three temples: Jingoji, Kozanji, and Saimyoji. From the bus stop, we descended down some steps into a trail by the Kiyotaki river and followed the path to Jingo-ji, the biggest temple of the three.

*The Kiyotaki river at the bridge leading to Jingoji. Sony RX100V.*

There were a lot of steps needed to reach the temple! The last few steps to Jingoji. Please note that entering the temple requires a ticket and admission fee is 600 yen. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.

It was still raining when we reached Jingo-ji, and coupled with the fact that it was a weekday morning, the temple grounds were quite empty. This would be a popular photo-spot during the fall though!

*Imagine the leaves blazing red. Sony RX100V.*

At the highest point of the temple, you can purchase 3 small clay disc (kawarake) to throw into the valley below to fend off bad luck/evil—the further you throw the disc, the more bad luck you will shed off! The lady I bought the kawarake told me to fling it like a frisbee, which seemed to indeed work the best.

*The scenery that greeted us here was just breathtaking. The fog danced in front of us the whole time. Sony RX100V.*

*Rain drops on the stone steps. Sony RX100V.*

Saimyoji was just a few minutes walk away, and didn’t require as many steps to climb!

*Stone pillars at Saimyoji. Sony RX100V.*

Kozanji was a lot harder to get to. We got a bit lost and meandered off for a while into a whole different forest trail—I have a feeling it might be the Kitayama West Course as it seemed to be leading up Mukai-yama, although I’m not sure at all. (I tried looking for the full Kyoto trails map the night before online to no avail—if anyone has a copy of it please let me know, I would be happy to pay fair market price for it!). This trail is definitely not marked on Google Maps, but we weren’t prepared for this particular trip and turned back when we still haven’t seen any temple after 20 minutes of climbing up the trail. It turned out that we were supposed to walk along the highway for ten minutes after climbing out of the Kitoyaki river trail (pretty scary as there were parts we were walking on the actual road with cars and trucks zipping by in a narrow winding road with blindspots) before reaching the steps leading to Kozanji.

Entrance to Kozanji temple grounds was free, but it would be 500 Yen during the autumn. Kozanji is famous for its instagrammable photo spot in the main building, especially during autumn—accessing that special photo spot requires admission and would cost more as well in the fall. However, temple was quiet when we were there in the light rain and fog on that weekday May morning.

*Contemplating the view at Kozanji. Sony RX100V.*

As the rain was lightening up, we decided to press on with the hike from Takao to Arashiyama. We retraced our steps back to the steps leading up to Jingoji and continued down the trail.

*These are also still car roads, so take care. Sony RX100V.*

*A little frog friend. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

*The water was calm close to the dam. You can see how deep it gets very quickly at the sides from the change of colour. Sony RX100V.*

The asphalt path quickly became cobblestones that became a dirt trail, taking us deeper into the fog and the forest along the river. The scenery was just otherworldly. I wish I were a good enough photographer to capture the mythical feeling we had, embracing and embraced by nature.

We didn’t see anyone else until the end of the trail near Kiyotaki village. Mindful that this is still bear country, we talked loudly amongst ourselves.

*Crossing ‘the sunken bridge’, which was not underwater or sunken at all. I actually thought we were going to have to ford when I saw the trail board! Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

*The path was slippery here after the rain! We had to scramble up a few rocks that were slick from moss and the rain as well. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

We regretfully got separated from the trail and was lost a little bit when we were approaching Kiyotaki village. Instead, we made our way to Arashiyama on the car road instead of the river—not as scenic, but another kind of adventure, I guess. (Another hard lesson learned: DON’T FOLLOW GOOGLE MAPS FOR HIKING TRAILS!)

*Finally seeing where the ‘real’ trail would have taken us! Sony RX100V.*

*There was a friendly family of cats lingering around the bushes. They were photogenic and they knew it—they patiently modelled for us. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander.*

*This quirky shop displayed all its crafts for sale without anyone supervising them—a huge display of trust to the many tourists passing by! Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

The density of tourists rapidly increased the closer we went to Arashiyama and in the general direction of the bamboo forest. There was a very scary moment where a huge crowd had built up by a train crossing: the moment the barrier was lifted, everyone rushed to cross the tracks, but the crowd was too packed and too big, and the warning bell started ringing for the barrier to come down with us (and many people) still on the tracks. A rickshaw was trapped with us on the tracks too. Once we thankfully made it to the other side safe and sound, I saw a very long line of rickshaws, all with tourists, waiting to make the cross through this massive wave of people.

I was thankful there was no stampede, but if the crowd had been bigger (and mind,, this is a weekday evening crowd in May), things might really go out of hand.

It was also upsetting to see people ignore signs that say ‘Private Property’ and/or ‘No Photos/Videos allowed’ around other grounds with bamboos to take selfies. Please always try to be a respectful tourist—these are people’s homes, workplaces, places of worship, and not just some Instagram spots we are entitled to in our own selfish journey and ‘character development’.

*Bamboo. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

We were pretty hungry by the time we reached the main road with all the shops and restaurants, and we were very lucky to find Yudofu Takemura, a yudofu restaurant that serves AMAZING yudofu kaiseki with vegan options located in a humble, nondescript building next to the bus stop.

*At Yudofu Takemura. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

We were extremely appreciative of the fact that we did not pay the dreaded Vegan Tax for their vegan set meal—we were ready to pay the price of their most expensive set meal for less quantity of food without the expensive seafood/meat as usual, but to our pleasant surprise, the price was very fair for the amount of courses we got—it corresponded to the similar set meal, but less the seafood etc!

*Maple leaf iconographies have been following us from Takao. Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

*Maple Leaf Tempura! Sony A7C + 40/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton.*

We slept early and deeply, getting ourselves ready to make the journey north the next day to Amanoshidate.

Kyoto: Kurama to Kibune, Philosopher’s Path, and Takao to Arashiyama

Kurama to Kibune

Philosopher’s Path

Takao to Arashiyama

Amanohashidate, Ine Fishing Village, and Osaka - May 2024

A taste of the Biwako