Japan part 1: Kyoto, temples
Okay, good morning on the first full day in Japan. Um, I’m not sure how much I’m going to show you from last night cuz it wasn’t too exciting. So, maybe we’ll just start the vlog right here. So, you can see we’re at a big Tory gate. Um, today’s going to be all the touristic stuff. We’re in Kyoto and just checking out temples. And the first stop is Fushimi Inari Shrine, which is famous for having like thousands of Tory gates. And uh we tried to get here before the crowds, but that’s not going to happen at any of the sites we’re going to go to today because I think everything’s going to be very crowded. Uh so this is going to be the most touristic spot of this whole trip. I think I should also mention it’s very hot. Um it’s like 8:30 in the morning. So hot and humid and sweaty. It’s basically Cambodian weather here. So I didn’t get an escape from that. Um, may as well tell you right now, my Cambodian barber took off too much hair. I didn’t want to go this short, but that’s okay. So, I’ll get used to it. I feel like I’m back in the military again. [Music] I don’t know what time of day you’d have to come here to avoid the crowds. It’s actually not too busy right now, but still a lot of people. [Music] That’s very [Music] It’s stupid hot out. So sweaty. And the interesting thing is I think this is my third time being at this site, but I’ve never actually gone up the path all the way. I think for whatever reason, whoever I’m with, we just do a quick loop at the beginning to get some pictures and then we leave. So, never actually been up to the top here. So, we’ll see what’s up there. [Music] Well, we’ve already been here for like 2 hours. There’s a lot to see and we’re kind of going at a slow pace cuz it’s hot. Doesn’t help when the weather’s so rough. Um, it’s definitely worth it to come here. We still haven’t made it to the top yet. So, we got to do that quick because there’s still a lot more to do today. [Music] [Music] Yeah, I feel like we’re finally getting close to the top. This feels like boss level architecture coming up here. Well, the top was kind of underwhelming. Um, not anything particularly special. Uh, but the park as a whole is definitely worth coming to just to spend time in the mountains and see all these gates. It’s pretty cool. But, um, and I guess if you’re here, you may as well go to the top, right? So, where the top was not that impressive, the park as a whole was really awesome. So, definitely must do if you’re in Kyoto. But we uh it’s only like 11:00 in the morning. We still have a lot to do. So, let’s go check out some more stuff. [Music] Well, this is nice. There’s a temple that’s not far from uh the crowded place we just came to. It’s a short walk here, but with the heat, it was kind of intense. But now that we’re here, it’s less crowded, very peaceful. So, we’ll try to enjoy this for a little bit. There’s a ton of temples here obviously in Kyoto. You know, being like the cultural capital of Japan. We’re just walking by a bunch of them from the outside. We don’t have time to stop at all of them. So, we’re just going to pop into some of the key temples today. Probably four or five of the big famous ones. walking the streets of Kyoto here between temples and train stations. It’s a really cool atmosphere. It’s a beautiful quiet city, at least parts of it, right? But, um, not really worth filming because as this trip goes on, we’re going to go to some smaller towns. So, maybe I’ll save the, uh, residential areas of filming for that. All right, we just came out of the train station. We’re in the Guon area now, which is probably the most famous neighborhood in Kyoto. uh famous for like night life, but also during the daytime. Uh some of the famous temples are here, but it’s also like good for cafes and restaurants. We’re going to try to have lunch in this area. That didn’t work out for us last night when we ended up at McDonald’s, but uh hopefully we find some good food again here. We’ve had a hell of a time just trying to find some reasonable food around here. Like last night, everything was closing after 9:00 p.m. And right now, it’s 1:00 in the afternoon and a lot of restaurants are closing. And um everything’s pretty expensive cuz we’re in the touristic areas. So, I mean, $15 to $20 per meal, which I don’t really think is reasonable. So, we’re just trying to find some basic options here, but not having much luck. God, most of the restaurants here are like $30, $40 for a meal. It’s [ __ ] crazy. So, we’ll be lucky to find something cheap. I think we’re both exhausted. Um, I’m just I think it’s the heat. It’s killing me. So, we finally found a restaurant has reasonable prices. I have a headache that won’t go away. So, maybe some sake will make it feel better. It’s probably a bad idea, but I’ve been drinking a lot of water. It doesn’t seem to help. So, we’ll try the sake. That’s a damn good sake. I’m no connoisseur, but it’s refreshing. And they give you a good pour. was overflowing into the bowl. So, I don’t know how I’m supposed to drink that, but So, there’s a type of soba noodles that’s popular to be eaten cold, which I’ve never been interested in eating cold noodles until today because it’s like 35° here, which is about 95° F. So, I’m happy to eat cold noodles on a hot day like this. Sure. I don’t know. Mix it. Obviously, very cool streets here with lots of people taking photos, but we’re cruising past all of this. We’ll come back to it later. Um, didn’t even notice that was behind me until I started filming. So, yeah, it’s a really cool area here, but we’re making a straight shot right now to my favorite temple. [Music] I was really hoping that since it’s the hottest point in the day right now, it wouldn’t be so crowded here, but it’s packed with people. [Music] All right, put on your blue tunic cuz we’re going in the water temple. Oh yeah. [Music] Oh my god. [Music] [Music] [Music] It’s so crazy busy here. I can’t say it’s my favorite temple anymore because there’s too many people. A lot of people come here for the sunset. We’re definitely not going to wait for that madness. So, move back in the city and check out some other sites. Yeah. So, this temple is definitely unique and it’s very cool. Uh, you know, the landscapes, the design of it itself. It’s definitely one of the more interesting temples in the city, I think, and that’s why it’s so popular. Um, so is it cool? Yes. Is it my favorite? Maybe not anymore. Yeah, the main fountain area there where people are doing the ceremonial stuff, that used to be like no line. Sometimes you could just walk right up and do it. Now there’s a line of people, so it kind of detracts from the whole experience. Can I change? [Applause] [Applause] Well, that last site was not worth it. We’re both too tired and for the price, it just wasn’t that interesting anyways. So, trying to head back to the Kyoto station, back to the hotel for a little bit. This heat’s killing us. We’re just so exhausted. But we’ll see if we come back out again tonight. This is horrible. Is it Is it real? Yeah, of course it’s real. Why? We walked so much today, like 20 km, that we’re just so worn out from walking in the heat. So, we just had dinner. We finally found a nice Japanese like fast food. Basically, rice bowls, and that’s perfect. That’s all I need. So, I’m happy with that. Um, but we didn’t get a chance to see everything today. So, we will try to see some more temples on the morning that we leave here, which is not tomorrow cuz tomorrow is another plan. Uh, very different from today. So, I don’t want to spoil that. It’s going to be a surprise, but tomorrow is going to be cool. So, stay tuned for that. And, um, we’ll see you then.
Our first full day in Japan. It was HOT, and we didn’t have time to see everything we wanted, but we still have more time in Kyoto.
0:00 intro
1:00 Fushimi Inari Shrine
4:45 Tofuku-ji
6:20 Gion
7:12 lunch
9:15 Kiyomizu-dera
11:50 Kodai-ji / outro
music credit:
Sakura 2020 by Roa Music | https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US
Konnichiwa by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_US
AloJapan.com