Since I still had an hour to spare, I walked down to the temples and found the bamboo grove. I just love bamboo groves, there's something about them that's really peaceful and even if my mom says they invite spirits, I don't really care. Also, there were cemeteries next to the grove, which made me feel calm for some strange reason. I always loved the idea of death and maybe, death itself. To die would be an awfully big adventure, me thinks.
Some things on the way to the bamboo grove...
Soon, it was time to board the train, so I walked back to the station and was pretty excited for it. The train ride was about half an hour, mostly travelling along Hozu River, which was really nice because it went up the mountain, and it was a little chilly towards the end of the ride. I also loved the colour of the water. Looking at the river was something I really needed, just to remind myself that there's always somewhere to escape to, all I need to do is look.
I bought a round trip ticket because I had no idea where I was going to be at the end of the ride, so I got to look at the river again. Wish I could have dropped and actually go down to it but it looked dangerous if I did, haha. After getting off the train, I walked back to where the temples were and decided to go in the opposite direction which led me to Togetsukyo Bridge. It was nice because you could see the mountains far away, and also way lesser people, so it was pretty quiet.
After walking around the bridge area and resting for a while, I was starting to get hungry, so I walked back to where the temples were because there were lots of restaurants over at the other side. I settled for udon, not really settling since udon is my favorite thing in the world. lol I ordered a set, they gave cold udon with dipping sauce with duck and scallions (I haven't had duck in forever so I was happy), some rice mixed with mushrooms (yay again because mushrooms), some pickled vegetables and tofu. I was so full after my meal but was still craving something sweet. I walked down, and stumbled upon a soft cream stand, so I got four flavours mixed into one! Cinnamon, chocolate, matcha and vanilla! I didn't know but that was where the other entrance to the bamboo grove was, so I went in again and decided to go to the shrines in there.
After roaming around at the shrines, I wandered around some more, and since it was getting dark, I decided to head back to Kyoto Station. It wasn't hard to, just that since it was peak hour, it was very crowded. I had difficulty breathing on the train -.- Once at Kyoto Station, I was looking at the bento sets but ended up only getting small sushi because I was still stuffed from the udon. Caught the train at about 6.30ish and only got back to Tokyo at 9pm T__T Reason why I get so lazy to travel but I'll still do it.
The funny thing about today was, the number of people asking me why I was alone. One guy even called me "Hime" (princess) to ask why I was alone, I was like o__O It's weird right? When a guy travels alone, no one asks why but when a girl travels alone, people think it's strange. Of course if I had a choice, I wouldn't travel alone but since I don't really have a choice and really really wanted to go to faraway from the city, I had to. Besides, travelling alone is nice sometimes. I admit, it gets a little lonely but I do feel a sense of accomplishment when I write down my adventures. But of course, no one can be alone for too long.
There was so much stuff on my mind on the way back though, I hate it when that happens. Just when you think you are perfectly fine, then these thoughts creep in just to remind yourself that you're actually not. I wish things were easier for me but at this moment, they just aren't and I'm going to travel more to not think about it.
The sunset on the way back
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