We got up early the next day to explore Kyoto. I wasn't too excited to go to Kyoto again as well because I was also just there the month before. The only difference was that I didn't get to do much sightseeing the last time, so I was glad to have Yuri with me this time.
We started our day with heading to Kinkakuji, the last time I visited The Golden Pavillion was in the summer of 2014 with little sis. It was really cloudy this time, so our pictures didn't turn out as nice as we wanted it to. It also didn't help that there was a chokehold of tourists here, no surprise, though. What was nice was the soft serve with golden flakes sold nearby.
After Kinkakuji, we made our way to Arashiyama. Arashiyama is my favourite tourist spot in Kyoto. This was my third time visiting Arashiyama and I was glad to be there again. We had a quick lunch at a little udon restaurant and made our way to the bamboo forest, it was about already 3 in the afternoon at this time and the sun was already setting.
I always liked these little statues.
For some reason, the bamboo forest was not as pretty as I remembered it to be. I don't know if it's because it is winter or the number of bamboos has decreased? But it wasn't as impressive as it was a couple of years ago. There was also a little Kitsune shrine I really liked in the forest but this time, all the little kitsune statues have disappeared which left me disappointed.
To cheer ourselves up, we got yet another soft serve with 4 flavours. We slowly walked over to Togetsukyo bridge. This part of Arashiyama didn't disappoint me. I still like it and now when I look at the river, all I can think about is how little sis was trying to row the boat and we got stuck in the middle of it. Ah, memories.
We didn't know what else to do because it was still early, so I went to find Arabica, probably the best coffee in Kyoto. The queue was really long but we decided to just wait in line. It took much longer than expected to get coffee. It took about an hour in the cold. It was worth it because the latte I ordered was really good but the next time I get the chance to drink Arabica again, I'll make sure to head to the other branch and at a time where there I know there won't be a line.
We walked back to Arashiyama Station to check out the kimono forest that I stumbled upon on Instagram. Honestly, it wasn't that impressive in real life. The person who designed this probably knows how to arrange things to look really pretty in photos. It does look way better in photos.
We spent quite some time taking photos and once we were done, we took a bus to Shijo Station. The bus ride was more than 30 minutes which gave us enough time to recharge, we both fell asleep on the bus. We got off nearby Shijo Station and went for dinner. We ended up going to a small, a little pricey izakaya in the same alley way I went for yakisoba with Yamako the month before.
The food at this izakaya was really yummy and both Yuri and I agreed that the duck was our favourite. We spent a little over an hour there and explored around the area before heading back to the apartment.
It was a pretty half disappointed, half fulfilled day.
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