Japan - Kyoto - Day 2b

Big day without even knowing it. We had a wonderful Western breakfast at the hotel and then collected ourselves to figure out what we were going to do. We decided to reserve an ‘onsen’ experience at the public (although really private) hot springs bath at 4:30 because we had already booked dinner reservations at the Japanese restaurant on property at 6:00. Then we called the concierge to try and get us reservations at the Kyoto Imperial Palace because the website said you needed advanced reservation. The concierge let us know that the Palace was closed for the next several days. So, we decided to go to the Bamboo Grove in a section of Kyoto called Arashiyama. We walked to catch a bus which took us to the train station where we caught the train to Arashiyama and walked to the grove. It was actually quite spectacular and we stumbled upon a pond with amazing loud bull frogs that entertained us for quite a while. We also walked through the town of Arashiyama and it was bustling! We forgot that it was Sunday and that was part of the business. We think that some of the youth of Japan like to go out on the weekends and dress up in kimono wear and walk around while tourists ask to have their picture taken with them. We saw several shops renting kimonos today and many couples decked out in the garb. Today was one of the warmer days we’ve had in the low 80’s and we were hot in our shorts and I can’t imagine how hot it was for them.

After Arashiyama, we headed to the Kyoto Imperial Palace, just to see if we could see it from the outside. Lo and behold, they were open and taking walk in visitors - our lucky day! The palace is not quite as impressive as the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, but it is still pretty impressive. And, we stumbled upon a Japanese Crane and a Blue Heron posing around one of the ponds on the grounds. That was worth the visit alone!

After that, we decided to head back to the hotel to get ready for our onsen. We hopped on a bus that took us most of the way and walked the rest to the hotel. On our way to our room, we were met by several hotel staff that seemed to be in a bit of flummox. Apparently, the cleaning crew was in our room so we needed to hang out for a bit longer before they would be done. We planted ourselves at the outdoor space by the casual restaurant and had a cold drink while we were waiting. Then, Nan managed to strike up a conversation with the only other people outside with us. An interesting woman from New Zealand/Las Vegas who was here on a culinary tour with 6 other couples and her husband who doesn’t like Japanese food!

Anyway, after that distraction, we went on to our onsen which was lovely and very hot! We had just enough time to cool down before our dinner. It was a lovely meal with way too much food. But, the service was excellent and we had a grand time!