Travel to Kyoto was quite unusual, since we took a bus instead of a Shinkansen, guess why… of course, the cost was much cheaper. We booked the tickets online, going from Nagoya station to Kyoto station, Chuoguchi, I believe it was through the website called WILLER.

The travel was not the most pleasant one, since it took around 2h 15m, and right after our arrival, we saw how touristy Kyoto is. We took a bus to our hostel, which is one of the main lines that goes through the most touristy places, I think it was number 206 or 207. We loaded ourselves on the bus… literally… with the heavy backpacks, not knowing what was ahead of us at that time, trying to be the most out of the way possible, heading to the very back of the bus. After a few stops, at least 50 people got into the tiny 15-seat bus. OMG! We had to start our journey to the front of the bus well in advance before we arrived at our stop (since you pay the driver). We had to squeeze through all these people to the very front and get out. I wish to say I never had to get on this bus again, but as it was one of the main lines, it was not really possible to do without using it again.

My advice? When travelling by bus in Kyoto, try to stay in the front part of the bus to make your life easier.

We were so extremely exhausted from the whole experience of getting from Nayoga to Kyoto. We arrived at the hostel – Gion Ryokan Q-beh, left our stuff behind, and went to a nearby shop to buy some lunch while waiting for check-in. After taking a shower and resting, we only went out to have some dinner. We went to a ramen place nearby, where it was okay but not worth mentioning the name but here is a picture.

The hostel itself was very pleasant and we enjoyed our stay a lot. It had really great common areas, where we spent a lot of time at the end of our Kyoto experience, working on our projects. The rates were quite expensive, around 34 per night per person, which is one of the highest rates we spent on accommodation in Japan overall, but I guess in Kyoto, it is so over-touristy that you just have to accept that it is simply the price you will pay if you want something somewhat decent. 

In the evening we only took a little walk to the nearby Yasaka Shrine, to took in the vibes of Kyoto.

The next day, we woke up a little bit later and were quite excited to visit the famous bamboo forest in Kyoto. Which was, in my opinion. Not worth it at all. We took maybe the longest overfilled bus to get there, and it took around 1 hour from our hostel. And damn the number of people there, it was a tragedy. We were there around 10-11ish, and it was already so full. The bamboo forest was not worth it at all, at least not with all the people just F***G around. It really didn’t make my day, and made me really nervous. Everyone there was just there trying to take a stupid picture that they can showcase on their social media with some stupid description about how life is amazing, and this bamboo forest is so magical… but in the end, it just sucked. That’s the reality you will never see in any picture on social media. Btw, on our way back, there were even more people!

The only thing that saved this awful morning was my partner, since he found a nice hike that was, btw, much better than the tiny and lame bamboo forest full of people. We ended up hiking, and it was very nice and almost completely human-free. If you are interested, here is the trail that we took. Definitely Vanesa approved, just look at the beauties we saw!

The trail was not so straightforward. For example, there was a fence?!?! After translating what was written there, it was clear we could pass, but it got quite confusing at that time. If you want more details about how we went, you can follow our exact trail over here.

In the evening we went for a tempura in a restaurant called 京都海老天丼 徳. The food was great, but a little bit too expensive for what it was, in my opinion.

For me, day 23 was the best day in Kyoto. We woke up super early, around 5:30, to get to the famous Fushimi Inari Taisha temple 伏見稲荷大社. 

We decided that based on our experience from the day before, this place would be crazy overcrowded, and so, naturally, we made a decision to wake up crazy early. We started our day at around 5am and took the first public transport that we could catch, heading right to the temple. We arrived there just after 6 o’clock, and there were already some crazy people like us. We took a hike to the top, passing these beautiful, bright red shrines, taking pictures, and enjoying the views. In about 1-2 hours, we reached the top (picture time included). On our way down, we started to notice that there were many more people, and it started to be a little bit frustrating; however, happy as we were already seeing all the beautiful sights, we didn’t mind so much. 

My advice? If you are visiting a very touristic place in Kyoto, wake up as early as you can and try to be there as soon as possible. Trust me, it is worth it. 

After we arrived at the very beginning of the temple, at around 9, the number of people had drastically increased. I cannot imagine what the place would look like around 11 or 13 o’clock.

After this, we decided it was simply too early and not enough to stop our touristic activities, and so, we did what I would say was the hardest hike we did in Japan so far. We were hiking to Mount Atago. If you are interested in the hike, here is the link to the Komoot trail, and here is what we actually did on the Relive app. Please don’t get confused by the long way through the city you can see on the map. We were actually going on a bus. We took it from the Nonomiya bus stop in Kyoto, located not so far from the bamboo forest, and got off at Kiyotaki bus stop, using bus number 92, where we actually started the hike.

If you are looking for a nice, challenging hike, this is definitely the one for you. We did an elevation of approximately 1200m, and it was quite steep! Basically, the whole way was uphill. The top was quite touristy, but mostly populated by school trips or local tourists that were probably taking a different way because we didn’t see any of them on our way up. The very top was interesting, the temple located there was almost mysterious, and we kept wondering how people managed to bring food and other supplies to the top of the mountain in the past.

The way back, we took a different trail, which started just before the stairs that led to the temple, taking the trail on the right. I would recommend you to be careful with what trail you choose and follow the map thoughtfully, otherwise you might get lost easily. After finding the right path, it was a pretty straightforward thought. On our way down, we met only one person. Which was good and worrisome at the same time. The way just fell a little bit abandoned. What made it the scariest bit was when, at some point deeply in the mountain, we reached a little settlement guarded by this statue.

It felt like we entered a place stuck in time, the old buildings, almost falling apart, but it was obvious that someone lived there, as we saw how a new set of clothes was hanging out in the sun for them to dry. The signs of Keep Out were everywhere. The most uncomfortable thing was that even though it was obviously inhabited, there was no one to be seen. The quietness of the place was simply unsettling, and I had a feeling that we were not welcome here at all. We couldn’t do anything else then pass through there because it was simply the only way to go. After this, nothing exceptional happened. We simply finished the trail, forgetting about this mysterious place. 

The next day we woke up we woke up with the biggest hiking hangover ever. I don’t know for what reason I was so tired; I feel the whole day was just about my groggy existence. 

Even though we were tired, we had a big quest in front of us. Shopping. We were planning to take some souvenirs with us home to bring to our friends and families. Our initial plan was to do a big shopping in our last destination, which was Tokyo, buy a big luggage and just stuff it with all the souvenirs we would buy. But in Kyoto, we had a better idea.

We decided to shop for 90% of the items in Kyoto, and then send a parcel to my family in Slovakia. The reason for this was that if we sent it by boat, the cost should be relatively cheap (and possibly cheaper and more stress-free than taking extra luggage), and anyway, we would not come before the middle of December, which is about 2 months from this day. So we made our shopping list and went hunting for souvenirs…

The next day, we still had some items on our shopping list, and so after a nice breakfast, we headed for the city again. Among the places we were shopping in these past 2 days were, for example, the Nintendo store in Kyoto, the Hands, where we could buy some fans and matcha sets for reasonable prices. We also visited some smaller souvenir stores along the Kyoto-Kawaramachi, and also bought an old tea set in an antique store, located near Yasaka Shrine. We also ended up wandering in a quite nice street called Nishikikoji-Dori, where I bought some nice tea blends. 

In the evening we went eat to a place called . I had this great katsuobushi udon noodles and my partner had a tofu udon. I would definitely recommend the place, but it felt rather touristy than something a Japanese would go for.

On our last day in Kyoto, we were sending the package. We went to a Japanese post office, specifically the Kyōto Kiyomizu Post Office 京都清水郵便局. They were so lively and helpful there, the younger worker even spoke a pretty good English. 

First, we went there and bought a box, then headed to our hostel to pack everything. We came back to the post office ready to send it, but realised we had to make a list of all the items we are sending! So we made such a mess in there, all the workers looking at us as we were unpacking it, the newspaper flew all around the office, we made such a mess, I was ashamed of us, but what can you do if you don’t remember what you put in? 

My advice! If you are sending a parcel from Japan, make sure you make a list of items with their price before you pack it!

Finally, we managed to put everything back, and we were ready to send it. We paid approximately 40 euros, if my memory is correct, which was from Kyoto to Slovakia, sending it by ground. This was much cheaper than flying by plane, but at the same time, we are not quite sure when it will arrive. We hope before Christmas, which is in two months. As I am writing this, the parcel is somewhere in the middle of the ocean. If you are interested in the outcome of this, please let me know in the comments, where I can also answer you! 

For lunch, we finally had some good stuff. In general, in Kyoto, everything was overpriced and, in my opinion, not worth the money we paid for it, but this place was great! It was called Tonkatsu Buta-Gorilla – Shinkyogoku Rokkaku. They had the best katsu there, including katsu curry that was served with some miso soup and cabbage. The best thing about this place was that you could get a free refill of cabbage, miso soup, and rice! Basically all you can eat! It was very much worth it, and I was so happy that we finally had something nice in Kyoto. 

The evening of that day was very calm, as we were preparing for our next destinations, Hiroshima and Yamaguchi!