Kyoto Without the Crowds — Japan Road Trip to a Hidden Ryokan 🎌

Kyoto Without the Crowds — Japan Road Trip to a Hidden Ryokan 🎌

Okay, let’s hit the road. It’s about an hour’s drive. Thank you to our luxury suite. And I’m sorry we didn’t film that one. We um we’ve just been editing for 3 days. Solid. Now we need a little bit of luxury, don’t we, Michelle? We do. What are all these cars doing out here? In our way. So, we’ve got to get out of here. Now, interesting. Got a six car turn around, haven’t we? Over. Got to get over and do a loop. So, we’re going to go over. Take the next right then turn right here. Don’t know if this isn’t meant to Michelle. I wasn’t expecting that. No, this is a shortcut. Where is the road? Actually, it’s where they’ve directed us. They did. Okay. Well, that was interesting. We just gone under the road. Let’s cut out some traffic lights, which is good. So, let’s start a little eye spy. I spy with my little eye. First one to spot and always we’re going to have this in the the series. A tory gate. Red one. Red Tory gate. It’s got to be red. Um let’s go for you. Choose something. Michelle, do an ice spy. I’m going to say ice spy with my little eye. A green K card. Green K car. We let this little truck go by and that’ll be the last one and we can get out. So green K car. Don’t forget K cars. Yellow number plates. Yellow number plates. So green in color. Yep. green in color on the road and 3 km I spy with my little eye first want to see any signs saying Kyoto and we’re actually in Kyoto on the very outskirts of Kyoto. So you might have to beh might either have to be a big sign or maybe a business sign and one more. What you got one Michelle? Go on. I spy with my little eye. Two motorbikes on the road together. Two on the same spot. In the same spot. Don’t have to be together, but they have to be in frame. Okay. And uh I’ll go with one more just to um just to liven it up. give lots of options. First one to spot somebody riding a bicycle. That was my other one. Okay, so interesting stop. God, there’s dragon flies. Hundreds of dragon flies to my right. Sweet. You can’t. This country has more dragonflies. Well, they’re following us. Yeah. Than I’ve ever seen. So, we’ve booked a special treat for you guys and for us. Uh if you don’t know what a rio is, it’s a traditional Japanese homeay stroke uh restaurant. So it should have traditionally they have old style tatami floors and you quite often almost always have an onsen connected to them and um so onsense hot water baths like natural hot water baths and they they provide you with traditional Japanese clothing. So you may be getting to see us dressed up as complete nies and um traditional local seasonal food as well. The flip side of that, they’re very expensive. So they are this is a special treat for Michelle and I. But I said, “Look, how often are you in Japan? You’ve really got to you’ve got to give this a go.” Um for sure. Last time we came here, we I think we regretted not uh not staying in one of these places. We did. So, we’re in the home of everything kitchen um in Japan. You know, Kyoto, it’s all about kimonos and uh uh little parasol umbrellas and everything. It’s cutesy. Talking of Kyoto, did you see the Kyoto sign? I did spot it, Michelle, but I don’t know if anyone else did. And do you think they’ll be able to see that? Was it big enough? Yeah, I think it was big enough. Yeah, that’s good. Well done. So, how we play ice spine? You’ve got to spot it and put the time stamp in and the first person to spot it wins absolutely nothing. But but wins bragging rights. Absolutely. So, there you go. So, ahead of us in the distance are the hills. There’s a mountain sort of range that s surrounds Kyoto, the city. And you’re going to notice that Kyoto itself is not all cutesy. It’s a little bit like I liken it to New Orleans in uh in the US whereas that little bourbon street and the the piece that you see in every photograph um is not New Orleans. I mean, when we went there, I was quite surprised to find that it was mainly sort of like convenience stores and uh Walmarts and Targets and all these sort of big shopping malls. The very similar to the rest of uh that part of the US and the New Orleans, the the French se sector was quite small. Quite small. So, did you see the other eye spy back there as well? I’m not playing the show. I’m doing at the moment. I’m just I know, but if you don’t do it, you’ll forget. Okay. But uh I’ve seen a Oh, we just got that light. We just Oh, we’re just over. So, tell them in a minute. Let me just stay on track of what I’m saying. So, Kyoto is a little bit like that. You know, this is Kyoto as you’ll see it now. I think that’s a Udon. Yes. Noodle or maybe Sober noodles to the right of us there. Um very much like a lot of other cities. big buildings, modernity, sprawling sort of residential areas, retailed and the cutesy pretty part of Kyoto is just a very small it’s very little bit little hub in the center and most we’ve been to haven’t we? Yeah, we have stayed there. Stay we’ve stayed right in the heart of Kyoto before and it was absolutely beautiful. Now ahead of me there’s a guy with a a bat. I thought he was going to be waving traffic out where he was swinging his bat. Yeah, he seemed to stop that and then said carry on. And most tourists will arrive here by train which is fairly close to the center and they may walk to their um uh accommodation. Most people want to stay in the heart of Kyoto. We’ve stayed in a we we’re not really visiting Kyoto. We’re just resting. So, we stayed in an amazing love hotel. It was great. Um and we have just really relaxed. um not done a lot over the last few days. So now the guy is holding his red stick cuz he’s stopping the car from coming out to the traffic and eventually he will wave that car out. So I have to be honest, we haven’t visited the center of Kyoto cuz it’s about 40 minutes drive from where we are. Michelle, what did you see? I saw a bicycle. I saw a couple of bicycles as well. I’ve seen lots of bicycles. I’ve seen a lot of bicycles. Did you see the first one? I don’t know. And if somebody spotted it as eagle eye as you did and put in the time stamp, they clearly spotted it before us. I suspect the K car’s been in. I don’t think the K car, but possibly the motorbikes, too. Two in the same shot. I’ve seen lots of motorbikes and I’ve been squinting to see if they’re in the same shot. All right. If you can verify that and if you’ve spotted it, well done. If not, that one continues to be an Ice Spy. I think I might have to chuck another one in quickly. Yeah. Um, I spy with my little eye. A red post van. So, posty post office vans here. The little postal vans are little K cars. Um, red in color. Uh, they’re quite distinct. I think they have a black number plate with yellow writing. Um, but they look like Postman Pat’s car. So, uh, I don’t know if you can see above here that there’s a digital sign and the little guy is bowing to us. Is that Roadworks? Maybe. I don’t know. I think it’s I’m not sure what he’s Maybe you’ve got a right turn coming up. Ah. Oh, right. Okay. I’ve got to get over behind this um there’s three 20ft containers on this vehicle next to me. Greedy. I should have been in that lane. I think you’ve got time. Yeah, it’s almost a kilometer, so we’ll be fine. So, we need our red Tory gate, our green. I thought he’d go slow, but of course, he goes off like a bell and then slides down and then he’s going for second gear and he’s slowing, but the K car ahead of us is pling. He certainly is. I can get ahead. We’re well ahead now. Let’s move over. So, what were you saying, Sha? I was I was just going through our ice spies, our red Tory gate and our green K car and possibly two motorbikes, but I possibly have seen those, but maybe not sure. Well, it’s down to the audience if they can verify it cuz they’re seeing they’re seeing what the camera sees. And you were just going to add another one in. I just get through this traffic, Michelle. I got to post. I know you postman Pat. You put postman Pat in, didn’t you? Sometimes I have to stop and just concentrate because it gets a little busy. Yeah, you might have noticed all over the right and left. Lots of um places to eat. I mean, it’s it’s a a gastronomical delight. Uh Japan in general. I was going to say Kyoto, but all over Japan. sober noodle places, ramen noodle places, udon noodle places, and you can pretty much rock up to any of these places and go in and just enjoy really high quality um fascinating wellprepared food. And it’s not expensive. I’d say anywhere between 800 and 13,400 yen for a good spread of food, which is about Oh, I’m going to say I’m going to you use US dollars. I’m going to say between $6 and and $12. That’s good then, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s pretty good. So, I’m sorry guys. I’ve pulled up behind a truck. There’s things going past the truck slowly. There are things. I’m not going to pause it though because we’ll be going in a minute. I think there’ll be a fair bit of traffic until we get out of the city. Now, this seems to me like the wrong way, but um Oh, no. It’s taking us. There we go. Uh we because we should be skirting Kyoto a little bit. Got to get out of it. Then we have to head out to the mountains. Now this particular Rioan is charming in the winter time. I believe it’s uh sort of kneedeep in snow and then the onends sort of um have steam rising off the ones in the in the cold winter. Now hopefully they’ll be as charming in this very hot summer weather that we’ve been having. They turned the onents down and maybe a bit of fake smoke. A little sort of disco smoke blowing machine watering. natural, aren’t they? Absolutely. Absolutely. So, the mountains you guys can’t see, but uh well, you can ahead of us. Little peaks behind these trucks. Okay, we’ve got a left. So, I got to get over again. Really got to start paying attention. Sorry, I’m uh Yeah, this one here. Not the best thing to do in ice spy when you’re in in a city center. Kyoto is a city. Of course, it’s not just a small town. As testifies by what you can see ahead of us is I did hope it would be a little cuter. I didn’t realize it was going to be quite so industrial. Well, it’s showing Kyoto as a lot of it is. This is real Kyoto. I mean, we are We could probably stop the car and walk into old Kyoto from here. Oh, look at that. Stop. I’ll stop a little bit further back so you can not just see the back of the truck 706 ahead of us. So yeah, it’s I don’t want to say it, Michelle, but I’m going to say quite ugly. It’s an ugly It’s an ugly city in a way, isn’t it? They quite often are when they’ve got very pretty parts to them that everybody goes to. Yeah, we found this in Bordeaux in France as well, didn’t we? It was possibly one of the ugliest cities I’ve been to. But very pretty in parts. Yeah, just in the center. But yeah, look at this uh brutalist piece of architecture to the right. Pretty much all over us. But you know, if you’re thinking of coming to Kyoto, I highly suggest that you spend the extra money and make sure you’re as close to the heart and the center. Now, there’s a lot of uh a lot of stuff in the news lately about Kyoto being over touristed, and it’s another reason why we didn’t go into the heart of Kyoto on this particular trip is because there is um and I’d love to hear hear your thoughts on this. Uh there’s a lot of bad press about tourists in Japan, particularly in Tokyo and Kyoto and Osaka. And it’s one of the reasons Michelle and I tend to not come to these cities. We we prefer the smaller cities. So, if you’ve been following this journey at all, you have been going to parts of Japan that ordinarily tourists don’t don’t go to. And consequently, looks like looks like this uh set of containers are going the same direction as us. Yeah, they’re going to our and consequently we found everybody really friendly towards tourists and really, you know, welcoming. Um, share your stories. If you’ve been to Japan in uh recent years and you’ve got a story you want to share, put that down in the comments. If you’re planning on coming here, let us know about your concerns or or your desires. Uh, if I had one thing to say, I would say if you’re coming to Japan, visit visit parts of Japan that people don’t normally visit. Um, so I suppose it’s one of the most uh touristed uh I Tokyo Kyoto. It’s got to be second to Tokyo, I imagine, because everybody everybody you meet who’s who’s come to Japan has come to it seems. Oh, there’s a lot of the scooters there right outside the family mark. I’ve not seen many of those when we’ve been in war, Japan. No. And I didn’t see many of those in uh Osaka either. So, they’ve obviously got a scooter hire system. I think this is indicative of the number of transient people that are in the in the city. Yeah. They want to get around. Interesting. Japan waste. We can do it. Recycle it and waste management. Not a word of Japanese written on the side of that vehicle. Yeah. And yet, frankly, if you’re coming to Japan, please do learn a little bit of Japanese. There’s very little English spoken on the streets. Um, yeah, of the countries we’ve been to, this is one where you really do need to make the effort because yeah, um, it does seem very few people speak Japanese. You see the scooter there? Yeah. dodging in an out. Look, there he goes on the inside. Probably a tourist renting, haven’t we? Maybe. It’s probably not a local. No. Have we forgotten ice by Michelle? Well, we haven’t. And we have um have not seen our red Tory gate or my green K car. Well, we we’ll put it on a pause. You You’ll keep a lookout. There’s so much going on outside the window at the moment that um Absolutely. And postman the post van hasn’t been around. No, I haven’t seen a post van yet. I think that’s that’s what we’ve got. I like this area of Kyoto. This is nice. I mean, there’s a, you know, a non cutesy sort of Kyoto. This is quite pretty. You know, you’re not far from the uh the center cuz the tram lights are around, aren’t they? So, a lot of the Rioans tend to be outside of the city centers um because they’re often near the hot springs. People do like when they stay in these uh places to have a a natural if possible on the ones that don’t have natural will often create their own um hot baths. And we stayed in uh a place in Osaka uh once that had uh its own onsen but it was uh just a hot bath. It was just a hot bath. So we have got 7 km on this road. Yeah. Now, I can’t believe I’m sure somebody has seen a green K car. Um, I’ve been keeping a lookout, but I might have missed it. I just can’t imagine in this in this much distance that no green K car has uh seen lots of green cars. Yeah. Another little red light coming up. I tell you what, I find tricky in Japan. I’m used to it now and I don’t know what other countries do this this strange sort of um you’ll see a big red light ahead of you like this on the traffic light and just maybe two a green arrow next to it. Okay. So, we got a big crossing. Yeah. And we’re right at the front. So, you’re getting see who’s crossing the bicycles. See how many tourists are here coming through. Now do remember it’s not just tourists because they are European. There are a lot of Japanese, Korean, Chinese, uh, Southeast Asian tourists that come to this part of the world as well. So for us, we can say, okay, European, European, European. You can kind of tell if you if you’ve been and lived in this region as we have, you can kind of tell who’s not not a a proper proper local. Mhm. I’m deliberately being quiet cuz it’s quite interesting to I do find it fascinating when I’m driving in these cities. It kind of your eyes are sort of feasting so much stuff, you know. I wonder if anyone can tell us why some of the vehicles have black number plates, not just the post vehicles, but I’ve seen a few in this city where they have the black number plates with yellow writing, I think it is. Um, for instance, that taxi there had a green number plate with white writing. So, there must be a system designs of the number plates change. Yeah. Okay. Another stop. Green bus. It says seem to be green. Kyoto buses. I’m not trying to think if we ever went on a coyoto bus when we were here last time. Can’t remember. No, we definitely went on the trains and they were superb. Actually, if you want to check out the video where we I’ll link that down below or I’ll ask Michelle to um uh add it to the description when she’s writ Michelle writes the descriptions below the video. So, maybe you can just check out below. Now, interesting that scooter. I see what he was doing. I’m stopping to let the lady almost completely cross before. That’s so Japanese and so polite. Now we’re getting to the outskirts of Kyoto. Now you can feel that we’re getting it’s getting a bit more leafy green. There’s some mountains just ahead of us. We’re definitely probably a fairly long walk to uh the the traditional old center of Tio Kyoto. So I spy with my little line. I’m going to add another one in. Okay. I’d like to see if you spot a motorbike with a pillion passenger. Okay. So two on a bike. Two on a bike cuz I’ve not seen one that I can remember anyway. No. Seem to mainly be one up. Looks like a little man on that hill. Oh yeah, like a like a white man. But you know Oh, starfish. Starfish. That was my other thing. It definitely is, isn’t it? Somebody’s come out a shape. Yeah, it probably is the sign the the character for big. I think that’s the character the Chinese character for big. Okay. So, am I right? Please say in the comments. Is it is it a a landmark or is it just coincidence from the angle we were at? Could you even see it on this camera? Okay. I wonder what district of Kyoto we’re in now. Don’t know, but we’re right on the outskirts, I believe. You better stay in this lane. We’ll do a fight with him. I’m surprised with this this car in front indicating right he hasn’t chosen to go in the right lane which is completely empty. Yeah, maybe he just forgot it’s on. Maybe he’s got an early left to do as he I I doubt it though. Tend to find people don’t do the obvious blatantly obvious when driving here. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free take out. Okay. Indian dining. Ganesha’s Indian dining. So, if you want to know where we are on the map, Kyoto Ganesha’s Indian Dining. Vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free food. Yes. So, see this car? Yes. What’s he going to do? Wants to go right. He’s in the wrong lane. Oh, he’s just forgotten to turn his indicator off. Lordy lordy. Well, we should have known, shouldn’t we? Yeah, absolutely. remember now. It’s so typical. You’re wondering what on earth they doing. Well, this is a quite a touristic section of town. Trying to keep my eyes on the road and still marvel at the things down the little side roads. Um to the right and left of me there’s some quite old traditional streets. So we may not be as far from the center as I thought. I can’t read that. No tourists around. So there must be some There’s a lot of tourists. This must be part of the heart of the city. What did you spot, Michelle? I spotted a green cake there. Okay, well done. Sort of a minty green. You don’t win. Someone else spotted it. Don’t say where it was because uh and you probably all say, “No, we saw one hours ago.” You probably did. You probably did. I’d be surprised. Um it’s not an uncommon color. Um I think I was looking more for the really bright poppy green cuz uh haven’t seen any of those. I think we’re not far from a fairly heavily touristed area because Yeah. going to say it’s on the street you’re getting great deal of Europeans here. The lady crossing the road is blind I think. Um partially sighted maybe. You think we’d have seen a toy gate in Kyoto, wouldn’t you? I think if we were walking you would see them more, you know, if you’re on the smaller laneways between, you’d see them more frequently. Um maybe we’re we’re hoping for a bit too much by seeing them just on the roadside. Or maybe somebody’s already spotted again two or three of them. Same and saying to us, “What on earth you want now, you two? You’re not seeing them. What are you looking at? White, black, white, black, white, black. It’s a common color vehicle. However, I think generally now, see, these are the traffic lights I’m talking about. Yeah, there’s a there’s a big red light and just a tiny green arrow and it feels like you shouldn’t be crossing them when you’re coming up to them from a distance. They often look as if they’re a red light. Now, there is a an element I think of Japan being one of those countries where people do enjoy colorful cars. Yes. But I think Shia just pointed out that generically across across uh the board there still the two common colors are white and black. White and black. That’s a proper old British Mini. Leland Mini. It’s a nice one, isn’t it? Look how low the Mini Even smaller than the K car. I mean, we talk about the K cars being tiny. The Mini actually is a a dwarf next to most of the K cars. It’s obviously got a bigger engine. It probably does have a bit I think the Mini got a 1100 1200cc engine. So, they’re pretty fast. When you’re driving those cars, it feels like you’re sat on the road. That’s the lowest position to be sat. I mean, the guy’s head is probably only about where our waists are, but that’s a cornare Mayfair mini. It’s even on his petrol cap. He’s got a Union Jack. Union Jack. Looks like a metal flame. That’s to remind when he takes the cap off only to put British for fuel in it. You know, like they have uh only but diesel or remember to use certain gas. Yeah. He will feel a little bit like he’s riding a go-kart. He’s all over the place, isn’t he? Yeah. Like this bit of the road. Yeah. I don’t know who’s turning then. Hope he’s not just on the phone. No, he’s getting ready to turn. He just He’s getting his eye in. Lining the car up. It’s a big kai, so you got to line it up. Heavy steering on the old Benny’s. We’re heading to the area out to the left. So, I spy with my little eye. I actually would like to see a yellow K car. Okay. But I’d like to see, and I don’t know if people are familiar with the brands at all. I want to see a yellow Hustler. Hustler. One of our favorite cars. I don’t think we’ve ever seen the Hustler in a nice buy, have we? No. Well, I see them frequently. Not when we’re driving. They’re not When we said yellow, it’s never been a Hustler. So, a Hustler. If you just Google quickly, actually, that orange one was a Hustler. Just went by. So, a yellow version of that. If you just want to Google a yellow Suzuki Hustler, you will see roughly what we’re looking for. So, not just a pale yellow. and a wishy-washy yellow, which there are lots of. But you’ll have to pause the video before if you’re going to Google cuz you might miss it. These little old shops selling knickknacks. I never thought when I started this that we’d be stop, start, stop, start. And of course, we are in a city, so I hope it’s not too boring for everyone. I think you thought we were going to be out of it quicker than we were. I thought we were scooting around the outside of Kyoto, so we’d be flowing. But, uh, my apologies for the stop starts. Um, I don’t find them that frustrating. No, cuz it means you can look at other things. Yeah, but as a viewer, you might let us know. So, we still got four things on our ice spy. Oh, num name them to me as well. The Tory gate, red, the K car, yellow hustler. Mhm. Two people on a motorbike. Okay. And good old postman Pan. Okay. I think he’s working today. Let’s just put over here. That’s probably a good move. We get ahead of all the buses. And we have Sometimes you make a right move, don’t you? Now, that’s a little Suzuki Hustler, and it’s on the edge of being yellow. It’s sort of creamy colored. Doesn’t count, by the way. That was actually a Suzuki Hustler. So, if you on the left, yellow, bright yellow poppy. Yeah. Not poppy. Sunflower. Not poppy. I meant as in poppy color. Yeah. Oh, look. We’re going out. Little river with some Yeah. Nice bit of camping on the side of it. A lot of this in Osaka and Kyoto are not just cars that randomly stop uh on the side of roads. Quite often they’ll stop at traffic lights and they’ll stop on uh pedestrian crossings. So you do have to be aware of that. So we’ve got a left turn coming up yet. Actually, it’s a bend, so I don’t need to worry. Okay. Don’t need to worry. My apologies if I keep going quiet cuz I’m just sort of trying to keep an eye on the roads. There’s that white thing to the left of us. Okay. So, that’s one of those scooters. Oh, yeah. Like a delivery sort of. Yeah. I’m not sure if the camera can pick that up, but it’s one of the Honda little deliveroos or Honda um with a covered in area. So, even if it’s raining and blowing a gale, they get a nice dry ride. I think they’re rather cool, actually. We’re at the front of the traffic lights again, which is good. fortuitous. You might actually spot a yellow hustler or two on a bike, motorbike, or even a postman pat. Absolutely. Red vehicle. Probably not a Tory gate, though. I don’t think Tory gates are likely to drive past. You never know. It might be on the back of a truck float. Yeah. Going to a festival. Yeah. Something we have seen. Yes. So, uh not impossible. So, if this little if it’s not in the left side of the scene. There it is. Now, I’ll just let it go ahead. So, it’s a two wheels at the back. Kind of weird sort of gyroscopic uh self-leveling as well. Kind of fun little bites. Traffic’s calming down now. Now, if you just want to actually have a drive-thru Kyoto and you don’t want our nattering, you could actually just watch this back and just put a nice little bit of easygoing music and uh and play it back without the talk. Another interesting little part of town. Kyoto co-op. White jacks positioned. There’s a big guy on a scooter just went by on the right and then a thin skinny guy on a bicycle to the left. Um, and then left just after this bridge. Is it a left or is a left? Now to a left coming up right here at the water’s edge. Yeah. Did you spot that? I’m not uh fat shaming the guy. He was a big big fella, large size, but it was just almost at the same time there was this very sort of willowy cyclist. Oh, let me just turn the indicator off. Nobody wants to listen to that. And that’s something ahead of us that Michelle and I would love to have a couple of Honda uh Super Cups. Um again, you can get them in really colorful colors and just maybe go around a country on a couple of Super Cups. That would be fun, wouldn’t it? So, that’s a 110cc. So, it’s pretty pretty uh pretty powerful for a small bike. Actually, I’d still love to do that. We we certainly got to be thinking about um one day doing a a tour of some country. So, we’ll just uh we’ll just ignore the red lights, shall we? We just stop in the middle of the road. And then we just stop there then. There you go. Now, he doesn’t look Japanese to me. I’m going to be a bit racist here and say that guy was not a local. That did cross my mind, but I wasn’t going to say. No, I could see. You can kind of tell if you Sorry, I’m not uh we’ve just we’ve just lived and traveled in this this region to we don’t think everybody looks like they come from the same country. That guy was definitely not Japanese. Okay, so we got a nice little river to the side of us here. It’s flowing quite fast. So, how many kilometers to to the reopen? Uh, it doesn’t say toes on there. This is 23 minutes. 23 minutes. Okay. About uh 30 km or so, maybe. I don’t know. You never know, do you? Sometimes it’s not many kilometers and it seems to take a long time. But there’s a nice little yellow cake car. Not the one we’re looking for, but it’s a nice uh yellow K car. And there’s a cool little cam. That one I would say is on a Yeah, it’s on on a high ace. It’s It could be a cam road, but uh maybe somebody who knows the vehicles better than I. The body shape looks a bit like a Can you see the right have a little look see if uh Can we see Michelle? It’s green. No, can’t see it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. There’s two or three camels there. Yeah, I saw one before that got hidden. Yeah, I saw one. A lot of we in this river. That truck in front of us is very smoky. Is into a lot of dirty smoke. So, this river obviously comes down from the hills ahead of us will be a lot heavier uh in the winter months with the snow. Yeah. But it’s even now it’s got quite it has got quite st. So, if you are shouting at the screen right now, did you see it? Did you see it? We did. We did. But did you see it? What we talking about? Yeah. We won’t say just yet. Go a little further. Get down in the comments if you spotted one of the eye spies, which is now ticked and done. So, we’re heading up into these mountains a little bit because that’s where So, these watersh are probably where the Rioan the hot waters of the mountains and the um onsent the onsent come from. Yeah. On 77 for fuel. I never even thought to look how much fuel. We’re doing okay. We got got enough. These traffic lights again. Yeah, this is a nice little suburb. Got this little house here on the left. It’s very pretty. Very pretty indeed. It’s up on It’s like a temple, isn’t it? Yeah, that’s like a um Tory gate, but it’s not. That made out of trees, but it wasn’t red. People can’t see it. I know. Can’t describe it. Now, was that uh a hustler? It was. Do you think it was? It was. Okay. So, the eagle eyes of you may have already written in the comments, I don’t know, uh 20 minutes in or however long the video timeline is at the moment. There was a yellow in 200 me Suzuki Hustler. Super. No traffic lights there. That’s unusual. Yeah. Allowing people to use their own judgment to get onto a road. How at the light, turn left. Avanguard daring. So that was the yellow of the Suzuki hustler. I wasn’t 100% sure whether that might have been a datu, but you think it was it had a little bit longer. Okay. I only caught it out by I was looking at that uh oncoming little set of uh buildings that were coming up. So So that is one of our favorite little cars, that yellow Suzuki Hustler. I think it’s a lot of fun. It’s quite a common color, isn’t it, for the hustler? It’s a popular color. I think people It’s a favorite color along with the red and the orange. You got a turn here coming up. Look, have we? So, oddly enough, guess what? We’re turning behind. Look at that. One of those. One of those. That is One of our favorite cars in Japan, the Suzuki Hustler. It’s a K car. Little small 660cc engine. Yeah. Um, excellent color. So, here you see we’ve got the green lights, but the red light at the top. It is very confusing. Oh, we’re going into this valley. This is interesting. I know the the the town we’re heading to is a really old traditional Japanese town for one of an onset town. So yeah, we should expect it to change geographically and topographically or This is nice, isn’t it? It’s very good. Then over the river. Now, I think we’re going to be arriving a little bit too early to to check in. So, um we’ll probably have to end the video at the end of this drive and maybe do another video um of the actual place and what it’s all about on the next episode. So, what ice spies have we got left, Michelle? Two people on a bike. Yep. And our red to our red Tory gate. Because you going to tell them what it was that we saw that you said you weren’t going to say that we saw. What did you see? Postman pack. We did see the postman pack. Yeah. We never let on. It was a long time ago, wasn’t it? It was a long time ago. Here’s another one of those little Hondas uh little um motorbikes. And that’s a postman Pat. I’ve seen a couple of those. Posties either have those little K cars or they have the the little motorbikes, don’t they? They do. You know you’re getting out to the country when the road’s bumping around. They’ve resurfaced the right side but not the left. Left side. Okay. So, the scenery has changed. We are 15 20 minutes out of Kyoto Center. 8 km to go. And look how it is changing. That was another little mini on the left. We might see our tour gate out here. We hopefully will. Hopefully we’ll get a tour gate. I’ve seen a couple off to the side, but again being stoned and you’ve not been able to see them, so they wouldn’t have counted. Now, I was really um wanting to do a reokon away from the tourist areas uh because I know that uh around Kyoto, they can be quite popular and and quite expensive. But I’m also hopeful this place is going to be super nice. It’s got good reviews online and um used to having uh European guests, so maybe a little bit of English spoken. Mhm. Uh not that it matters. We can we can get by. I suppose I’m I’m anxious, Michelle, a little bit that because it’s a weekend. Yes. And it’s in Kyoto that it could be a little bit too too touristic. bottoms out. We’ll go with the flow. We go with the flow like this river. Keep crossing over it. We do. We’re crossing going back over twice in the next. You see these bumps in the middle of the road. They are not just like small cats. They’re almost like curb stones. They’d wake you up. Yeah. I’ve never I’ve never touched on to them, but I can imagine if your wheel goes over there, you you’re going to get the most horrendous uh jolt. They’re they’re quite sharp edged. If you look, there’s quite a sharp edge to them. And they’re a good Oh, they’re a good inch and a half, maybe four or five cm tall. Yeah. Tunnel. So I like to ask questions of people also if they’ve ever come to Japan or if they are Japanese and living in Japan whether they’ve stayed in a riokun and what their experiences have been. Uh do they think it’s worth it because you’re paying I would say on on average about uh 10 to 15,000 yen per person. Yeah. So that’s the nor you’re not going to get much less than that uh cost and it can be much more expensive. I mean, some of them can be 20, 30, 40, 50,000 yen, but but on average, you’re not going to get much less than uh 10 to 15,000 yen per person. Yeah. And and even if there are two of you, you do have to pay twice. Uh the experience you’re getting for that is really you’re paying to stay in a old traditional property. Now, I I have to say that we’ve had that experience staying with Max in that beautiful old home in um uh Igata. Um so, Max, if you’re listening, you could give this experience. I’m sure your home is so beautiful. And uh you haven’t got an onsen. No. But maybe you could uh could put a hot tub in. Oh, it’s changing now, isn’t it? Sure is. You just scoot back to the beginning of this video, first 5 minutes, and see the traffic we were in. Now, see how quickly we’ve moved to no traffic, very quiet, mystical, beautiful mountain views, older properties, a lot less traffic lights. It’s uh it’s remarkable. These ones just flashing. Yeah, these flashing means just give way. Basically, use common sense. They’re simple rules. Um, we’re on the main road, so we get right of way over cars coming onto the road. And, uh, you should give way to traffic, depending on the circumstances, of course. I have no idea what to expect. So, you you people are seeing exactly what we’re seeing really. Um the river to the left is probably still the same river that we were seeing down in the lower levels. Y but this is it looks fresher and cleaner now. Show what I mean, Michelle? It was a little bit mucky as uh as it got down to the city, but if you can see down there now, it’s more like um a mountain river. There’s still quite a few we’ve got a little bit of rain on the windscreen. Now, that to me feels more like a missile or cloud moisture. Yeah, rain. So, I might just put the intermittent wipers on so you don’t get too much water in front of the camera lens. So, we are about 7 minutes away from our destination. And I am sorry to say, well, I’m not sorry to say because uh let me hold that thought. Hold that thought for a minute. Pretty trees. There’s still some blossom up here, isn’t there? Yeah. I don’t know whether it’s an early sort of autumn blossom. I don’t know. Summer blossom. Trees up there. It is, isn’t it? Over the river again. Royal Garden Tennis Club. be pretty. Yeah. I can’t get how much it’s changed. It’s uh this is where I like driving in Japan. Yes. I will uh tolerate the cities occasionally, but uh this is where I really enjoy. Now, you’ll notice, Michelle, quite often when places are are quite old, the paints fade. Yes. Yes. So, the beautiful Tory gate that I saw just a moment ago. I had to look and look and look. What was he pointing at? And then I realized it was barely red, but it was a red one. It was a almost pink. Bit like those bridges we’ve been in there in the past where they sort of faded so much, but no, it was technically a red Tory gate. Oh, no. was a red. Absolutely. Absolutely red to gate and it was huge. It was but the red had faded so much. So much. It’s not often that you see a to a touring game with faded red paint. Usually the locals are out there, I think, painting up, but I I think that’s an aesthetic they’re going for really. Wow. Pretty little valley. Yeah. 10, 15, 20 minutes outside of Kyoto Center. Everything’s changed, huh? Everything’s changed. So to the left of us, there’s a big flat area of ground, rice fields and rice patties. We’re turning towards that now. Left turn coming up, I think, at the lights. Turn left signs for Temple. Jakoin Temple. Oh, he’s not very happy, is he? He’s not. He’s crossing crossing the road. He looks like I don’t want to go to school. You’re going to school? I don’t want to go to school. Green. The little boy crossing the pedestrian crossing there. In 300 m, turn right. So, the only ice spy we haven’t spotted is two on a motorbike. Uh, maybe other people have. Maybe they have. We’ve been busy looking at other things. Absorbing. Now, I want to just point out and I I would use this as an ice spy. I’m just going to reverse up a little bit cuz cuz I can because it’s quiet enough and we are probably way too we haven’t done it this journey yet. But uh this to the right of us, this character a tanaka. This is a a Japanese sort of lucky symbol. I don’t know if you can see to the right there, there’s a tanica. It’s I’ve been I’m kind of falling in love with the character. It’s It’s a lucky character. It’s a sort of wild dog. It’s not a from the dog family. Okay. But it’s a sort of I don’t know badger dog or a don’t know how to explain it. Um and they’ve got a great history in Japan. Phenomenal history of being sort of tricksters and uh Turn right. Okay, more and more rain. Definitely is rain. We are definitely early. So, will we be able to take shelter? I think we will. Oh, that boy looks a little happier. He’s a happier one, isn’t he? It’s like 600 m. Turn left. I think someone was having a laugh. Having a laugh with us there. Here we go. Forget that eye spy. Now, let’s look for our place. First one to spot it. Well, nobody know. We don’t know what it looks like. They don’t know what it looks like. I can’t remember the name cuz it’s very long. No, but still first one to spot it. Oh dear. He’s forgotten his bag. Yeah, he’s not forgotten his zebra crossing. There’s no crossing there. He’s just like random child. Okay. So, we’re way out in the boondocks now. Yeah. Apparently, this is a very old traditional home. Turn left. Oh, turn left here. Up here, I think. So, yeah. Very old traditional home. 600 m. Continue straight. Oh, now it’s getting interesting, right? Definitely. There’s places to park, isn’t there, Michelle? I do hope so. We did. We had to find a place also that had parking. We did. And um it lists as having parking. I believe they collect you if you haven’t got a car. Right. Okay. I don’t know where they collect you from. It’s on this road now. So, this little boy’s whistling. Whistling away. This is cool, isn’t it? This is cool. Michelle, sun’s come out. We’re about 400 m from our place now. I don’t know the I can’t recall the name. Yeah, let’s pull over and let this uh let this little car go by. This little car go by. Are they people arriving or leaving for marbles? Maybe. I don’t know. I mean, there are other homes up here. So, yeah. Can’t assume everybody was staying in the same place. How bizarre. Dooby doo doo. He’s hiding behind the post. Determined. Determined. Look. I think that’s just indicating there are children around. I think so. Yeah. You want me a car here, would you? No. I suppose we’d work it out. Yeah. Now, oh dear. We’re right at the end. Car come in. Where’s he? They can go in that way. Left space next to you. Oh, he’s going back. No, no, he’s going back. They’re going to go back. So, I think maybe that car park in space is where we’ve got to be. That’s where we are. Yeah, maybe. Yeah. No, that’s 300. Don’t know. Don’t know. They’re welcome. Possibly. I’m not sure. No, this is a car park. Mhm. Go a bit further up a little. Yeah. He’s after doesn’t look like our place, does it? So, no. But your guess is as good as mine at the moment. So, oh no is the name. That guy wanted us to park there so we can take money. Oh, that maybe looks a bit more like what my pictures are like perhaps as a tanica. Mhm. Maybe. Let’s have a look. We’re going to stop here and we will catch you on the next video because we’ve got to work out if we’re in the right place, if we’re in the right spot or not. Um, hope you’ve enjoyed the drive. Love to you all from Michelle and I and we’ll see you on the next one. Just a moment. Let me just get in the parking bay. There’s one of your little doggy lucky charmings from Michelle and I. If you want to see a Rayoken and what it’s like and even if we’re at the right place, see you in the next episode. Take care. Bye. All we need is a place to be and a few good friends for some company. If you’d like to stay, you don’t have to leave. We’ll leave the lights on and the door unlocked. If you drop on by, you don’t have to knock. We’re happy to share whatever we’ve got.

After a few days editing in a quirky Kyoto love hotel, we hit the road for a short drive through the city and into the mountains, heading toward a peaceful ryokan.

This video is all about the journey: weaving through neon intersections, leafy backroads, riverside corners, and hidden corners of Kyoto you won’t find on postcards. It’s modern, messy, charming, and full of surprises.

Expect:
🚗 Silly road games & real travel talk
🏯 Honest thoughts on overtourism
🌿 Streets, scenery, and moments you won’t find in guidebooks
♨️ A teaser of the ryokan we’re heading to in the next video → https://youtu.be/Oc05F7fopmc

Whether you love Japan, road trips, or travel storytelling — join us for this Kyoto adventure.

00:00 Leaving the Love Hotel
02:10 Kyoto Streets & Small Talk
04:30 What’s a Ryokan Really Like?
07:00 The Real Kyoto — Not Just Temples
10:20 Traffic, Food & Ramen Talk
13:15 Kyoto’s Hidden Side1
6:00 Language & Locals
18:30 Road Games & Laughs
24:00 Outskirts of Kyoto
35:00 River Views & Ryokan Arrival

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