Crouching Photographer, Hidden Tourist
| | 14-May-2014|. After a few missed turns this morning we managed to locate the small station for the Keifu-ku Arashiyama line and the single rail car to Arashiyama, home of the famous bamboo grove used in movies such as ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’.
Our later-than-expected start meant there were more people out and about when we arrived than we had hoped. But patience paid off and we got some great shots of the bamboo grove despite the several school groups, roving tourists and less-than-ideal overcast lighting. It’s a beautiful area, home to many temples and shrines. Totally worth the trip. |
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove – simply stunning. This is the 15 or so seconds between a random batch of tourists and a school group, going in opposite directions. |
Single rail car on the line to Arashiyama Transportation within the park is equally antique. Or you could hire a taxi to drive you through the bamboo grove; it is uphill after all. And yes, people did! |
Glass piggies at an artisan workshop. The missing pink one is coming home to Seattle. |
Once back in downtown Kyoto we started the trek to Grand Burger – pre-scouted as being *the* place in Kyoto. After what turned into a 40 minute walk (no wrong turns, just a long way), we were greeted by a tiny neighborhood joint with a neat, clean, non-smoking interior that seats only 20 and a simple menu of 8 – 10 burgers. We ordered up the lunch set – burger, fries and salad – and relaxed as the busy one-man-show cooked and tended to patrons. Very cool place, no tourists. Win.
A very, very tasty lunch stop. Sleep gives it a thumbs up. |
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After lunch we strolled back toward our hotel via Kyoto Imperial Palace Park. No issues getting people out of our pictures here … the place was empty. Nice green space but all the really cool stuff is behind a wall, closed to visitors. There were a few shrines scattered around the park, but otherwise not much to write about. Berto did manage to trip the perimeter alarm of the Palace compound, but thankfully no international incidents followed.
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| The guys headed back to home base while I did some stolling through the shopping arcades. Some shoes might have found their way into my bag ….
And I found more beautiful fabric/craft stores. Tons of beautiful fabrics from cute kids’ prints to silks and brocades for kimono and other traditional dress.
Finally, I hit the basement food hall of Daimaru, a large department store, in search of “light, non-fishy” dinner options. Holy crap these people know how to do a food hall. The place was huge … HUGE…. and full of beautifully packaged bentos, sweets, various Japanese sweet/savory/salty treats, and a grocery section. Overall, bentos and sweets dominated the selection but I managed to find some ham, spreadable cheese, English cheddar, fresh tomatoes and two kinds of bread. We won’t starve! |
Beer House CRaFT MAN in Kyoto. We tried a number of local brews in different styles from different breweries. It’s not all Sapporo here in Japan! |
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Tomorrow we’re planning a trip to Nara in the morning, a smaller town south of Kyoto. After that we’ll see if we’re up for a few more sites here in Kyoto – the Philosopher’s Trail along the hillside has some old temples and great views of the city. |
