Let’s start with our day in Arashiyama! This gorgeous are to the west of Kyoto is well known for its bamboo forest and temples. We went many times here before, but there is always something new to discover!Every temple is different and there are many of then alongside the trail. This one had tons of small statues, all with a unique face and expression.Probably my favorite!This is the garden of a small cottage where a famous Japanese haiku poet used to live in Arashiyama. The garden was famous for its persimmon trees.This temple is dedicated to lost children and so hundreds of small statues fill up the space. It is a very serene place but unfortunately featured on some instagram and now flooded with selfie obsessed tourists!Arashiyama is a popular marriage spot.We wandered a lot around the east part of Kyoto where we lived 15 years ago. It is my favorite area of Kyoto. From Ginkakuji you can walk all the way south past the Philosophers path (where we lived) past Maruyama park past lots of different temples down to the famous Kiyomizudera. Ofcourse we climbed the mountain to the huge DAI kanji… it is a tradition! In August they light the kanji on fire and that is an amazing site. Honen-in is still one of my favorite temples, right behind our house in Kyoto.The area is filled with small mysterious shrines like these.There were a lot of light up events around the temples around this time of year. We visited a few temples we hadn’t seen before.In this temple you could make your own pebble garden, or trace a holy text for good luck ( which was a lot of work with all the kanji!)And now for a bit of Kobe! Kobe is a beautiful city with as a highlight a cable car to the top of the mountain where apart from gorgeous views there is a herbal garden and perfume museum!O yes, let’s not forget the fantastic tea and cake cafes there as well!The gardens on top of the mountain are filled with flowers, fruits and vegetables!More of Kobe in the “White” post :)We stayed in Ikoma for a while, which is in Nara, and here is a ropeway up the mountain to a very unique temple.In the forest hundreds of statues are lined up. You can put a coin in their box for good luck. Some people were giving coins ro each state, one by one.A monk was chanting in one of the shrines. Such a surreal and impressive experience.
And now I want to dedicate the last chunk of this post to my favorite hike in Kansai: yamanobenimichi. I have made posts about this before (we’ve walked it three times now). It is a 4 to 5 hour walk through Nara’s countryside, following an ancient route and it goes past temples, farms, ricefields, forests, lakes and ancient graveyards. It is just beautiful.
