In my most humble opinion Kyoto is one of the most beautiful cities in Japan. It’s contrast of busy large city integrated with sites which immerse you in a deep cultural experience that really feels Japanese. I’ll attempt to explain why in my next 3 posts.

Getting in from Kobe just before lunch time the first stop was to check in at the Hostel. Piece Hostel is potentially the best hostel I’ve stayed at and I’ve lost count at how many I’ve been to.

The hostel was very modern and minimalist in the sleeping spaces with shared but private showers. Outdoor patio areas where decked with simple and stylish furniture and greenery. Incredibly it was less than a 5 minute walk to Kyoto station. The reception, cafe, bar, common area was chilled out with books and nice seating areas. You could say for between $25-35 depending if you got a dorm or a private double room. Amazingly thats no difference to the vast array of other place I’ve stay in throughout Japan. All perfect so far and would have been perfectly happy with, but what made it exceptional were 3 things.

1. Free breakfast – this may have served to get people up and out if I was looking at it cynically, but there seemed a tremendous sense of the staff really wanting people to be set up for the sightseeing day ahead. Travellers would share experiences over rice and miso soup and you could read the bespoke whiteboard/tourist map with tips for the main attractions and daily updates on weather and any special events. Staff were always on hand to help out with any questions on what to do and how.
2. Happy hour. $2 beer between 7-8pm provided the perfect medium travellers to meet, share experiences and arrange activities together
3. Cheap bike rental. For $5 you could rent a bike for a whole day and reach those sites that are tucked away in Kyoto’s nooks and crannies. Everywhere else I spotted on the way was at least $8 and far from the hostel or train stations.

Throughly enjoyed my stay there and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Kyoto.

Fushimi Inari Shrine is famed for its ‘thousand orange gates’ the whole site from the station all the way up to the peak is paved in stone with gates as far as the eye can see. It’s almost like a red gate theme park. Even the prayers offered are on mini little gates rather than the normal wooden plaques that are used. You can also buy varying size red gate as souvenir.

That said its a beautiful sight to see. Each of the gate have been donated by various people and the gate size is dependant on the donation size.

Some times there were meters between gates, other times you could barely fit your finger between them. There is a specific stretch quite early on where there are a few hundred gates over a hundred meter stretch which can make quite the spectacular photo. However the constant river of tourists makes it pretty damn impossible to get that perfect shot. After a while I gave up and took the obligatory jump shot. First time too! Ha – got a few weird looks, but heyho.

It was a lovely looped hike to the summit, but to the ignorant tourist (moi) did feel a bit like groundhog day towards the top.

 

Having got back to the hostel I had heard from other travellers that there were some shrine which are lit by night that are worth checking out. They were right. The specific one I had gone to was Yasaka Shrine close to Gion, the Geisha district. It was nice to see traditional lanterns and more modern paper models lit up amongst the shrine and trees. A week or so later and I might have been able to catch Sakura here which I can only imagine how amazing that site might be.

I had read that close by Potoncho was famous for its amazing array of restaurants and izakayas. Was hard to pick one from the other, but as always wasn’t disappointed with a random choice.

Smoked tofu, fish, ham and duck was a delicate balance of smokiness across a spectrum of base flavours from the more palette cleansing tofu to gamier duck.

Tried some local speciality of ‘tofu skin’ which was silky smooth and ever so slightly sweet which when accompanied with a little shoyu was divine.

Sea eel and soba nori maki tempura

Stir fried prawns with vegetables and a motchi like cake made a nice contrast of crunch, bounce and chew textures

Wagyu tenderloin was lovely, but wasn’t a patch on the previous night’s Kobe experience

The akagai (shellfish) was tender on first bite but needed a bit of chewing to finish each piece.

An interesting dumpling and soup dish which comprised of a prawn ball which had a light batter coating that was scored as a grid to create a textured surface. All the crispiness had gone because it was soaked in the soup and the ricey type soup was somewhat bland. It was somewhat complimentary.

A chicken and new potato dish that was quite similar to a chinese soy based dish I’ve had and cooked in the past however these potatoes were extremely starchy and formed a slippery almost slimy layer on the surface that made it taste like a dumpling. Yum!

A grilled snapper served like black cod would be back home. Just a very good bit of fish.