Hiking in Kyoto

If you aren't familiar with the Kyoto trail, check out this site. A beautiful hike that winds in and out of the city, the Kyoto trail is a must for any outdoors-loving tourist. Here are a few shots from our recent trip on the second segment of the hike.

Yuzu jam for sale at a house along the Kyoto trail. 

Tofukuji -a fabulous temple, set back in the suburbs near Fushimi. An excellent addition to any Kyoto trip. The subway/train will take you right to the temple's door. 

Ume Bonsai Tree

At the recent Toji market we picked up our very own bonsai tree. So far it has done very well! Here are a few shots of the tree and it's recent surprise.

When the tree first came home

A couple weeks of living on the table produced our first almost blossom!

 The other day we got our first two full blooms!

This morning we woke up to this! Our beautiful tree in full bloom. Talk about a great start to the New Year! 

Nara the land deer

Deer giving kisses

Nice day for a casual stroll around the temple...It's as if they have no idea they live in one of the most famous areas of Kansai

A not-wise deer trying to steal crackers from one of the vendors...just outside the shot is the woman holding her wooden deer-beating stick, distracted by a small child and his parent. 

Warnings of what can happen if you don't feed them fast enough! 

Visiting Kobe, Japan

Visiting Kobe, Day One and a Half 

Living in the heart of Japan there are so many options for places to visit that is can be overwhelming. Thanks to our collective indecision we have put off traveling for some time now, but are finally forcing ourselves to venture outside of Kyoto and Osaka, and see what else there is.

As Kevin's company was closed this past week, we made a couple trips. The first was to Nara (see Nara post) and the second was to Kobe. If you are unfamiliar with Kobe, it is a coastal town on the main island of Japan. Boasting over a million residents and a large expat community, it seemed like a good bet. This one-time industrious port turned tourist destination is home to several great tourist spots, a booming night scene, and is easy to navigate.

We set out with plans to hit up a few of the major tourist spots: Nada district for its sake, the herb garden and ropeway, the nightlife, and Kobe port. Even getting a late start on our first day we managed to hit everything on the list and then some.

Kobe's Nada District

The Nada District sakes are excellent to say the least. If you are unfamiliar with sake and are not looking for the best tour of your life this will do just fine. There are maps all over the district (in Japanese) and each shop has big flags out front. As if the maps and flags are enough, many of the buildings were designed to look like old style, half wood, half white washed warehouses reminiscent of the Fushimi sake district in Kyoto.

Our favorite was Hamafukutsuguru Ginjo Kobo brewery and souvenir shop. The old man, who either had an eye twitch or loved to wink, gave us an abundance of tastings (rare in comparison to the other sake breweries), ranging from traditional sake to umeshu and even a little yuzu liqueur. As if a good round of tasting wasn't enough, they also have sake and vanilla flavored ice cream and even though it was raining out, you know we were lined up to try it!

image of Hamafukutsuguru Ginjo Kobo outside 

Nada Herb Garden and Ropeway

If you are looking for romance and/or scenery, you will find it at the ropeway and herb garden. This was by far Megan's favorite part of the trip. Unable to plan such a perfect surprise, when we reached the top of the ropeway/entrance to the garden it began snowing! We grabbed a quick lunch at their delicious herb garden buffet. Don't snub your nose quite yet, at $15 a head you get what you pay for. There was an assortment of fresh salads, sashimi, pasta, cooked salmon, 6 or so soups and stews (it is winter after all), a large assortment of fresh fruit and mini-desserts, loose leaf "create your own blend" teas, and much more. The service was excellent and the staff being traditional Japanese were fabulous. After lunch we made our way down to through the garden. For the winter season they had set up a small foot-soak tub outside on the balcony of the green house, overlooking the city of Kobe.

View from the Ropeway

Clock tower of the herb garden's main building

They were mainly growing lettuce and winter herbs as it is quite chilly on the mountain side this time of year. Still very well maintained, and accessible by well-maintained brick foot paths (with ramp access through the entire garden).

Green house fully stocked with lush, tropical plants, a cafe, crafts area, balcony over looking Kobe, and much more! 

Outside foot bath; This was fabulous! Absolutely nothing better than a good soak on a freezing day. For a 100yen ($1) you can purchase a small hand towel to dry off as well. 

Terraced herbs and lettuce

If you are a walker and prefer to save the cash by not taking the ropeway, there is a beautiful hike up (or down) from the garden. This waterfall is the main attraction for this leg of what appeared to be an extensive amount of hiking trails all over the mountains.  Access to these trails is most easily found by walking under and to the back side of Shin Kobe Station. A huge map is at the trail head, and following the main trail up (keeping the ropeway over head) and you will be there in no time. 

Kamo River -Best place to decompress

I'll admit I had my first Gaikoko-jin (foreigner) freakout today. Kev is out of town and I went downstairs to leave for language class only to find the following note left on our bikes. I'll admit we knew parking there was risky as we are subleasing and don't have stickers for our bikes, but gave it a shot anyway.

I figured the sign said something like, "move your bikes, you F*cking foreigners, or we will remove them for you."  -You know classic Japanese rude behavior- I joke; Japanese people are always polite, but the all black and red notice had me freaked out none the less. Since I can't read Japanese, and definitely can't read Kanji, I knew I needed to move the bikes ASAP before something happened.

I took the first bike upstairs (all three flights) and then went back for the other, only to realize I didn't have the key for the bike lock. I ran back upstairs, and began tearing apart the apartment. They weren't in either place Kev had said they were going to be, and I started to freak out. "I don't speak Japanese, Kev is gone, I can't find the keys, our bikes are going to be gone, Kev will be upset, who knows when they will come to remove the bikes, I'm likely to be yelled at in Japanese, can I move the bike with the back tire locked? doubtful, I gotta find that FREAKING key!!!!!" was all I could think about. It doesn't help I had terrible dreams last night about being kidnapped, so I was a little on edge today.

Regardless I emailed everyone I knew who might have Kev's international cell phone's number, and sent Kev a million "I need you to call me" g-chat messages. Breaking down into an absolute mess when he finally answered, we figured out where he had stashed the keys and I was able to get the second bike upstairs.

(We later found out that the sign is a very polite note saying to move our bikes or put resident stickers on them...thank you to the reddit/r/japanlife crew for translating for us!

Of course at this point I was too late to make it to class, and don't know enough Japanese to explain to Sensei why I was late (and red faced). So instead I decided to decompress over a small lunch, a bike ride, and some time at my favorite place in Kyoto: Kamo river.

If you are unfamiliar with the Kamo river, it runs down the center of the city and is a popular hang out among Kansai area people. As you will see in the photos below there are all kinds of things you can do here. We mentioned in a previous post that you can drink along the river, and although this remains true, I refrained today instead opting for a all-veggie sandwich and Starbucks refresher. After lunch at Shijo Dori (dori = street, I think?), I rode a bit father north along the river.

As is the case with most of Kyoto, there are feral cats everywhere. This little cutie lives in the tall grass on the edge of the river. He or she may either have kittens with them or have been hunting mice, as he/she kept ducking her head into the grass as if looking at something. 

The last signs of the paper crane float-trip -there were a few stragglers left in the rocks. 

Each large stone crossing has its own set of non-bridge extra rocks/statues. At this crossing the sitting stones are boats. 

The largest stone "bridge" we have found is at the point where the two rivers merge, north of Sanjo Dori in Kamigyo (upper Kyoto ward, which really isn't that far). 

One of the bikes! 

If we were to ever have children it would be in Japan. Kids here are so happy and at ease here. The couple trips I have taken up the river, there always seems to be families playing in the river. Parents here (from my very limited knowledge) seem to have a good grasp of how to balance technology and city life while still making sure their kids get some "nature" time, even if just at the river.

I'm really not sure why this guy fishes with such a long pole. If you can't tell his pole ends about an inch diagonal from the sign's left top corner. He unfortunately didn't catch anything while I was watching.  

Another fisherman of the Kamo River. These tall birds are all over the place!