Is Kyoto Still Worth Visiting? | Our (Mostly) Unfiltered Experience

Is Kyoto Still Worth Visiting? | Our (Mostly) Unfiltered Experience

Too many obnoxious tourists. I hate this. This is the worst place I’ve been to in Japan. This is the only time we’re going to actually do anything like this. And to be honest, like we almost backed out. I just don’t get it though. Like there’s so many other beautiful places in Japan. Just as that don’t have thousands of obnoxious people everywhere like [Music] [Applause] [Music] After a chilled few days in Kanazawa catching up with friends, it was time to head to Japan’s must visit spot, Kyoto. We’d planned ahead this time, learning the station layout to avoid the stress we’d had before. Still, our train got delayed after someone was hit on the line, which sadly isn’t uncommon here. A couple hours later, we finally arrived and straight away you could feel it. This was the tourist mecca we’d been expecting. Can you show us where we come from? The bear comes from Hogs Bay. The bear came from Hawks Bay. And do you know where we are right now? That’s very good. Know where we are now? Oh, now we are here. Yeah, it says we are here. That’s true. Yeah, it’s up there though on the real map. [Music] After a week in smaller towns, the crowds in Kyoto hit us straight away. And it’s not the kind of crowds you find in Tokyo. Instead, it was wall-to-wall tourist shops and shoulder-to-shoulder visitors, all heading to one of the city’s most popular spots. It was the side of Japan we really hadn’t seen until now. This is the only time we’re going to actually do anything like this. And to be honest, like we almost backed out. Yeah. But I feel like I just had to come up here to see how many people are actually doing this. I mean, look, honestly, like it’s pretty. Yeah. Um, but we’ve seen stuff that is also pretty. Yeah. With five people. Yeah. I don’t know what it’s like early in the morning, but Yeah. I don’t want to wake up at 4:00 in the morning just to come to something like this. So, I actually think this road technically does lead up to it. Google Maps takes you the way that we just were, but looking on the maps, I feel like just by going through little alleys, um, that you actually can get to this way. And there’s people, sure, but it’s fine. And there’s shops still with Look at this. You can get you can get a drink in here. And there’s like two people and the prices are way cheaper along here. And literally, it’s just a street over from that real like [Music] almost right next door, we found a small cluster of Buddhist temples and shrines with hardly anyone around. We had no idea at the time, but this was actually the mausoleum of Shinrron Shonen, the founder of the Jodu Shu Buddhist tradition. [Music] Just behind it on the hillside is Ky’s largest graveyard known as Torabino since ancient times. We almost skipped it after visiting Kiomadiraa, but we’re so glad we didn’t. These two experiences really set the tone for our time in Kyoto. We weren’t chasing the main tourist spots anymore, but instead looking for places like this. Today, we kick things off with a trip to Arashyama. There are a few ways to get out here, but we took the main train line and by chance stumbled across an art installation called the Kimono Forest, which I can only imagine looks awesome at night. [Music] Okay, so we’ve come to the monkey park. Um, the train was pretty full, but not too bad. Um, and even that town was pretty um pretty quiet. So, it’s actually better than we thought. I imagine the bamboo grove is uh packed. Both Sean and I have kind of seen. Sorry, there’s a lot of steps. We’ve kind of only not long started. You all right? Long way to go. Um seen monkeys heaps in our time in Asia before Hugo. But uh this one’s for Hugo. He really wanted to see monkeys. Hey, buddy. You really wanted to see monkeys? Yep. Got to be dedicated to the wrong concealer. So, I think this is actually don’t know exactly how long this is going to take to get up here, but by reading things, it’s probably at least like 45 minutes up here, right? Half an hour maybe. 20 minutes. Oh, okay. So, half an hour if you’re probably stopping a lot. I saw people sitting down like literally after oh I don’t know like 20 m all wearing sunglasses cuz we heard if you look them in the eye they can kind of get a bit aggressive. Maybe they think of it as like a challenge. So sunglasses may hopefully avoid that or they’ll steal them. I like dead monkey. That monkeyy’s funny. He’s putting on the I love that monkey. He’s so seeing in the water. That one’s flying in the water. He did a cool move. You get a piece of monkey. [Laughter] [Music] You going to take it? Well, this is actually pretty cool. It is actually pretty cool. And it’s nowhere near as crowded as what I thought it was going to be. Like monkey. Yeah, it’s it’s way better than I was expecting. And the monkeys are fed uh like when the human like humans go in the cage. Yeah, it’s great. And then the monkeys are all on the outside like trying to take the food from us. It’s great. like not 100% sure on it in terms of like, you know, like because they’re getting fed so much. Yeah, they probably How does this impact things? But yeah, as far as like they only go there if they want to be fed. Yeah. Or else they just Yeah. Was this worth it? Oh, yeah. Should we wander back down? He’s just strange by the monkeys everywhere. Little babies. Don’t get too close to them. They’ll run past you. Just Yeah, it’s fine. It’s actually way more relaxed than I thought it was going to be. Yeah, 100%. Didn’t even come early. Uh like we got here at what 10:30? Yeah. And we could actually walk along the street. But even then, like we we were literally 10 minutes walk that way when we were having lunch and there was hardly anybody around and now it’s just absolutely mental. Horrible. Like why? Suddenly. Look at all this. [Music] Look at all those buses. And there’s more coming. Holy. Do not follow Google Maps. Google Maps wanted to take us through. Like literally thousands of people crowding everywhere. I looked at the maps and I said, I think we can go back roads. So, we’ve come back roads. There’s no one here. It was the same with the temple. Like, yeah, don’t I don’t know. Just don’t follow the directions. Just have a look at the map yourself. Kind of zoom in and see if there’s any other little side streets that are going to take you to the same place cuz this is quicker. Yes, Google Maps. It’s like it doesn’t pick up um foot traffic, you know, like it picks up like uh the most direct cars, you know, like this is the busiest route with cars and stuff like that, but not with foot traffic cuz this is going to be way quicker. Yeah. And peaceful. And there’s cute little houses. Look, this is beautiful. We’re not having people like smashing into us and like Hugo. A blossom tree with nobody in front of it. No. What do you mean there’s not 50 people under that crowding? Again, nobody down here. Possibly the one of the best looking blossom trees we’ve seen so far. It’s gorgeous. Just in a little residential street, so you just be quiet. Um, I think this whole like series I don’t want to like tell people exactly like everywhere we’re going because you want to preserve the the quietness and the respect for that. But just get the general advice. [Music] This is great. So, we’ve come back to that first place that we came that we hated initially. We went out for dinner at what’s become our favorite place, Silverback Cafe. the vegan cafe restaurant. Oh my god, even if you’re not vegan or vegetarian, highly recommend going. It was amazing. Neither of us are vegan. You’re like veg. Yeah, I’m not. But like I honestly it’s top. It’s really hard to say top because it’s Japan, but um yeah, top three places or food that I’ve eaten 100%. Anyway, um there’s no one here. This was the crowded street. Um, this is and just in front of me we have the temple. Oh, you see? So, it’s closed, but that’s fine. It’s closed, but there’s still there’s just people, but how good is this? It’s beautiful at night. It’s gorgeous. Oh, there’s people up there. So, I wonder if it’s closed for like a And there’s like a big camera there, too. So, I wonder if they’re doing some sort of filming. Yeah. Wow, it’s so impressive at night. Yeah, this was a little bit of a detour. We were going to kind of walk towards the Gillon district, which again, we don’t want to do that during the day because it’ be absolutely packed. So, we thought we’ll come for a night stroll. And we thought, hey, there’s big flashy light coming up from up there. Let’s go have a look. Yeah. And we walked up the street and there’s just no one here. So, There’s two lights. Beautiful. There’s two lights. See, when one coming from there, one coming from there. Oh, yeah. And if they didn’t say to you, this is the place you were yesterday. And look at how busy. It was so busy yesterday. And look at it now. Barely anyone compared to yesterday. What are you doing? Nothing. Dancing in the streets of Ky. Because we can. I weren’t able to do this the other day. Look at this. Oh, it is. It’s It’s beautiful. So, this is another little famous street that when we walk past was just shoulder toshoulder. Um, and now there’s a handful of people down. I actually think it looks better, too. You’ve got all the beautiful doors closed. You’ve got these beautiful lanterns. You can walk everywhere. There’s an element of like uh it’s like calm, serenity. It’s gorgeous. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Yeah. We wouldn’t normally speak here, but we felt it was important to show the reality. Please be mindful and show respect when you’re in these places. We also understand how easy it is to accidentally ignore these customs, especially when you’re surrounded by noise like we were near the first temple at the start of this vlog. This is where Kyoto ruins are. Just you’re supposed to be quiet around these areas. It’s a shrine. Just listen to everyone. [Music] Like it’s actually quieter in Shinjuku station than what it is here. There was less talking. Every time I want to love Kyoto, that stuff happens. But then this also happens. I don’t know. I have mixed feelings around Ky. I don’t know. I don’t actually know. It’s a city for the morning. Yeah. Or the evening. It just feels like it’s the most touristy place we’ve been out of everywhere we’ve been in Japan. Like fake and put on like and like everyone doesn’t follow the general uh respect. Yeah. Like what culture here? Like the general customs. That’s it. Yeah. So the customs are just throwing up water like Tokyo had it. Yeah, it did. Okay, so we’ve come to Uji for the day to escape. Well, not necessarily escape, but just just be somewhere away from the people. Somewhere quiet again. It’s nice. Um this is meant to be a bit of a hidden gem. Yeah. Um, currently like there’s we just got off at the station. There’s not really anyone here. There’s a decent amount of people get off, but not significant amounts. One of those places that for now was or once we get closer and we’ll know, but I think it might be somewhere that for now is pretty easy to get around. It’s not too busy, but maybe in a year or two, I think it might become somewhere that’s going to become really busy. Yeah. It’s got the oldest shrine in Japan is actually here in Fuji. So we Hi. Hi. Um, so I think like at the moment we’re just sort of walking towards the waterfront. Yeah. Which seems to be where the largest concentration of stuff is. Yeah. So I guess it’s a wait and see and hopefully fingers crossed we don’t just turn around a corner and there’s like swarms of people. Yeah. Yeah. So, this kind of looks like the main sort of touristy street like that leads towards the temple. So far, it’s fine. Like, it’s all good. Um, however, was like this sort of round about the same sort of time. So, I’m not getting my hopes up completely. Okay. So, so far this is actually pretty good. We’re standing on the site of a world heritage site. Mhm. At the oldest shrine in Japan. And I can put my arms out. Pretty like steep to get in that pricing. Yeah. Definitely one of the more expensive pricing for places we’ve entered, but also y for the three of us. Yeah. So about $20 New Zealand, but it is a world heritage site. And to be honest, what you’d pay in any other country in the world, it’s still a lot cheaper than what you pay anywhere else. Yeah. Japan’s definitely cheap. Bodo and Temple in Uji was originally built in 998 and is most famous for its Phoenix Hall, named after the two Phoenix statues on the roof. It’s so iconic that it even appears on the 10-y coin. We opted to visit the Hoskin Museum included in the entry fee, which houses historic artifacts, Buddhist statues, and paintings related to the temple’s history. [Music] After exploring the temple and museum, we went for lunch at a tiny local restaurant where the owner spoke no English, but the curry rice was incredible. Spending the afternoon wandering Uji, soaking up the calm, peaceful vibe was such a highlight. Uji really was the perfect day trip for anyone looking to explore Kyoto in a more grounding and relaxed way. [Music] How’s your matcha ice cream? You like the matcha ice cream, eh? How’s yours? What did you get? I got so it’s half and half. So half matcha, half sakura. So like cherry blossom. It’s really good. I got a matcha too. [Music] It’s quite strong. Yeah. You like it? Like not the best ice cream. I’ve had still okay. Wanted [Music] [Music] to show you guys around a little bit. Uh where we’re staying in Kyoto. Uh guest house Soy. It’s like perfect location. Um, just down the road here, we’ve got a number of really great restaurants, including our little Silver Bet Cafe. Um, and it makes it sort of quiet cuz literally 200 m down the road there, um, is a main street with a bus stop that takes you right into Kyoto station. Um, these guys have bikes to hire. Um, even like there’s a by the look of it like a bike seat for a kid. Um, yeah, I’ll show you through the inside, but the owners are well the people that work here are just fantastic. The first night that we stayed here, they had like a little like meet and greet thing. So, there was like a bunch of different people from, you know, person from she’s Filipino but working in Russia. There was someone from Taiwan. There was an American. Um there’s a couple of local Japanese people. Uh there Yeah, it was great. It’s just cool to sort of meet people and um they’ve got a guitar here which is fun. There’s actually only a few rooms that have got their own bathroom in. So um you’ve got like down here upstairs there’s showers, more toilets, all that kind of thing. Um our room does have a full bathroom and it just is easier with kids. Um, sorry, room 113. And here goes having some chill out time. We’re going to pack our bags uh because we’re getting them sent on to Osaka whilst we go to Ko Salam for a night. I just be much easier. Um, Hugo is playing Switch. You lost your tooth today. Oh, yeah, I did. I know. I He’s got very few teeth left. Um, but this is Anyway, this is Sorry, there’s a little bit of a mess. Um, this is his bedroom. So, this is kind of like the main like living space, I guess, but it’s just getting converted to his because there’s space outside. We can just hang out there. Um, and then downstairs, we’ve kind of got our own little space that we can chill in and sleep in. So, we got our own little Well, it’s quite a big bed. It’s comfy. Um, our own air con. Yeah, it’s great here. I’d stay here longterm. Same. [Music]

We’ve arrived in Kyoto, Japan’s cultural capital and everyone’s favorite city, but our experience was different. The crowds and overtourism shocked us, so we set out to find a more authentic side of Kyoto.

From sipping Uji’s famous green tea to climbing up to Arashiyama’s Monkey Park, and wandering lantern-lit Gion at night (the best time to visit!), we uncovered a calmer, more genuine Kyoto.

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⏰ Timecodes ⏰
0:00 Intro
1:30 Kiyomizu-dera Crowds
3:05 Otani Hombyo Temple
3:51 Arashiyama Monkey Park
10:09 Kyoto at Night
14:43 Exploring Uji
18:51 Where We Stayed

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Ulanzi ND Filters
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All Editing done on Final Cut Pro

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✈️ Hey guys, we are Jason, Sian & Hugo, a little family of 3 that has been bitten by the travel bug! Join us as we embark on an epic adventure across the globe with an aim to inspire other families to do the same!