🇯🇵 We took Japans BEST train (And it was only $5!!)

🇯🇵 We took Japans BEST train (And it was only $5!!)

Hey, patient boys get the cookies. Grabbing my jacket. You are hectic. Good morning from Kyoto, Japan. Today we’re going to be taking in some of the main highlights here, finding something to eat, and this afternoon catching a very fancy train to see some deer in the park. If you’re new here, we’re Jordan and Emily, a couple on a mission to see 100 countries. And today we’re in country 54, Japan. [Music] Fun fact, when you’re in Japan, the red section is the hot options. Blue is the cold. Jordan didn’t know that until way too late in this trip. Mean, get coffee for it every morning. Get ridicued. Classic. I should have hot coffee and vending machines everywhere. We are cramming a lot into the next 10 hours in Kyoto, but it’s literally all the time we have in the city. So, we are starting by going to see one of the most popular shrines in the country. I think there’s going to be a million people there. Dog, he’s so cute. Oh, do you see the fluff behind his ears? Wow, that was a good one. That was a good one. Great start to the park. [Music] Japan is freaking crazy. We were just saying how crazy it is that you get like accustomed to where you are like seeing all of this cool architecture. We’re kind of used to it now. But this is a building from 858. What? What? What the heck? I was like, “Oh, that building looks cool. I’ll get a shot of it.” 858 is insane. construction occurred sometime between the years 858 and 876 and then it got moved here in 1572. Holy jamoly. I know. We had every intention of continuing this video by just getting on public transport and going to the shrine. But I can’t not speak about places like that. It’s just a shrine built in 850 surrounded by modern buildings. Like it’s just insane how much history is scattered around the streets of this country. Apparently, Kyoto has hundreds of little shrines, monuments, and buildings like that everywhere. Okay, now we’re going to the bigger shrine. Station number KH34. [Music] We read online that this place can get absolutely bonkers wallto-wall with people and that people come here super early to try and beat the crowds. So, we kind of thought there’s no point coming early cuz we’re not going to get it to ourselves anyway, which if you know us is very unlike us. We tend to get places early to try and avoid the crowds, but it’s honestly not that busy. I think I had really crazy expectations of how busy it was going to be, so it’s quite nice. Do you have any facts? Yeah, got so many facts. Always. I’m always prepared on deck. So, this is a Shinto shrine. It’s the Fushimi Anari shrine. Apparently, in the Shinto religion, it’s kind of different to what you would expect the standard religion to be. It’s more like Greek mythology. There’s no religious figure and there’s no text, like no scripture like the Bible or the Quran. So, instead of like an actual god they worship, they worship different deities. This shrine was dedicated to the rice and prosperity deity. That’s the Inari part of the name cuz it’s Fushini Anari Taka. I’ll cut that bit out. Real quick, we wanted to talk about something that actually saved us in Japan. When we first arrived, I was honestly a little nervous. Japan’s train stations are massive. The streets are packed. And if we got separated, I honestly don’t know how we would have found each other without a connection. That is where Aerog came in. It’s a super easy eSIM app, which if you didn’t know, is basically a digital SIM card that you install straight onto your phone. No more hunting down SIM cards at the airport or dealing with those weird roaming feeds. You just pick your country, choose your data plan, and boom, you’re connected the moment you land. We like to download and activate the SIM before we even board the plane. That means that when we land, we are connected before we even pass through immigration. And if you’re visiting multiple countries, they’ve got regional plans, too. That’s one eim that works across Europe or one card download that works across Asia. This one factor alone saved us so much time not having to find a new eim for every country. It’s more of a convenience than you can imagine. Plus, we always know how much data we have left. No guessing games. If you have a trip coming up, you need to check it out. Just scan the QR code on screen or hit the link in our description and use our code Jordan and Emily to get $3 off your first e. Thanks again for keeping us connected on this trip. All right, let’s get back to the video. Do you know how many there are? Yes. How many? 10,000. 10,000. No one knows the real number or it changes all the time because there’s old ones that get replaced and people buy new ones, which is quite cool because this is a shrine to the prosperity and the rice god. People come and pay tribute and worship the god by erecting one of these to gates. Don’t laugh at the word erecting. It’s a very grownup word. They can cost up to $10,000 to do, but if you look behind, you can see everyone’s name and date enshrined to what they donated. So many they were. So this is like people’s names. Yeah. Wow. Is it like their well wishes as well? As far as I know, it’s just name and date that they bought. That’s so cool. Yeah. Super cool. Fun fact, my love. Thanks. [Music] This is crazy. How are we by ourselves right now? Like honestly, with 10,000 gates, there is a bunch of track. I think it’s 4 km total. And there’s different levels. And it seems like at the start obviously it’s the busiest because it’s the most accessible and as you come up the crowd just thins and thins and thins. There’s definitely something to be said for running up the mountain and trying to get gates by yourself. Jordan keeps wanting us to do that. But we have had it to ourselves a lot of the time. Yeah. I’m just concerned cuz we have so much to do today and there’s only like 10 hours of sunlight. Whereas I’m living in this dream world of like we got time cuz there’s only one thing tied to time today and that’s not until the end of the day. It’s the last thing we’re doing. Yeah. End of the day. It’s like two whatever. It’s 40 minutes one way to get to the top. And the benefit of going all the way up is that you would get it to yourself and we’ve already had that. So I think we’re going to move on. I’m wondering if it’s one of those things that like the pendulum has swung too far and now it’s reversing. Like imagine if we came at 6 trying to beat the crowds. Everyone’s been told to do that. So I almost think that would have been the busier time and then 2 hours or so after they leave is when we got here and it was quiet. Now we’re leaving it is starting to get busy and it is 9:35. So, I’d say aim to get here 7:38ish, maybe earlier. I don’t know. We can’t attest to that. But it was pretty quiet when we were here at 7:30 on a Monday morning. [Music] This is why you get here early. [Music] We’ve made it to Nishki Market, which is one of the most famous markets here. It spans 400 m or five blocks. Hopefully, we can get some food. Is that food market or like knickknacks? Um, it’s kind of an everything market now. [Music] So, this market is super famous as being like the central Kyoto market. started in the 1400s as a fish market and then just expanded into lots of stuff apparently. Still lots of fish. Oh, look at this one. Eel seems very popular. It is packed in here and it’s super early. There is everything you can imagine to buy like from raw ingredients to dishes and hot food. One thing that’s super interesting and unique to hear is you’re not allowed to eat and walk. Yeah, you have to stand still. I guess there’s signs everywhere that say eat your food in front of the store that you purchased it at. Yeah, it’s so strange. Urain for walking while eating drinking. It’s the audio like it’s said to improve manners at the market. But there’s heaps of people cooking stuff. Lots of fish obviously. But yeah, lollies, souvenirs, all sorts. But I think we’re not after seafood and we’re not after lollies or sweets. It is also a bit more expensive than I was anticipating for like street food kind of vibes. Yeah. Oh, I saw one piece of Wagu beef that was $8. I saw that, too. I was going to be like, do you want to get one? Yeah, kind of. But don’t have the budget for that. No. Hello. We got one of the Kobe, but it’s still $10. So, it’s as much as our massive bowls of itchy rum to get this one skewer. So, we’re going to an old favorite instead. Yeah, that’s right. We’re getting into your run again. This is actually our third time we had it in Hiroshima, but each time I go, I learn a little bit more. I get a little bit more confident. So, I know that you can like top up noodles. So, I’m doing that this time. Look at this. We’ve never had to wait in one of these lines. Where do you want to go? This side or that side? Either side. I’m good. Thank you. Thank you. That’s key. I’m going rogue this time. What do you mean? I’ve normally just always gone with the recommended. Mixing it up. What are you getting different? Medium. I’m going for rich, not medium richness. I’m going for half a clove of garlic. I’m going green onion. I’m going pork. I’m going firm noodles. Not mine. Not medium. [Music] My [Music] So this is the Yasaka shrine. This is the same sort of shrine as the first one. It’s Shinto, but this one is dedicated to the deity of storms and whatever that deity’s kids are as well. Oh yeah, it is like it’s not one temple. It seems to be a bunch of shrines and temples within there. There’s also this area where they’re ringing bells, I guess, for like to get rid of normally making a loud sound is to get rid of Yeah. the any bad luck things. Do you want to? Yeah. Do you not want to do it? I’ll do it. From what I understand, just looking at other people, you go up, you make an offering of a coin. There doesn’t seem to be a number anywhere, so I think it can be any coin. And then you ring the rope and it makes a clattering noise. I don’t know. But it looks fun. [Music] I think it is good luck. I don’t know. There’s also a beautiful temple in the middle with all of those lanterns around it. I feel like there’s a lot of subtext and like nuance that we’re missing with this temple. It was only a really quick research and we’re only passing through because we have to go. We have to pick up the pace. Our train leaves in like an hour and a half. From here, we’ve got a 20-minute walk to the train station. We actually made it in pretty good time. So, we uh booked tickets online. They were like 20 bucks each roughly. I can’t really remember. They were this much each. Um, and we got here without a QR code and we’re a bit confused, but apparently what we paid for is just an upgrade for the regular train service. $14 to upgrade. That’s not bad. Yeah. Okay. For both of us. For both of us. $7 each. $7 to upgrade. We still had to scan our speaker cards to get in. So, I’m not sure what the total would be. It’ll be here, but we’re catching the regular train home. So, if that’s a different price, it’ll be here. Anyway, train will be here soon. Should we get another coffee? Yeah, I am very excited. Jordan has me a little nervous though cuz apparently he read online that the deer are a lot more active in the morning and tend to retreat into the forest of an evening and we’re literally going to get there an hour before sunset. So, cross your fingers and toes that we see some deer. Also, I hope there’s a cute toy that we can get Tilly. [Music] This is it. Yay. This is our It’s a sightseeing train. It’s like nothing like a normal commuter train at all. The seats are like facing each other and it’s like more of a dining experience, but still only half an hour. Yeah, we have done a lot of fancy trains in our time and I think this is going to be the nicest quickest one. Yeah. Of the quick journeys we’ve done, this is going to be the fanciest. Absolutely. By heaps. Do you reckon we can hop on now? [Music] I mean, come on. If you’re going to N, is there a better way to get there? Here in our seats, I’m already obsessed. One thing is if you’re getting this train, we were quite confused as to what station it leaves from cuz it just says Kyoto. It doesn’t say a station name, but it’s just the main Kyoto station and you follow the signs to kit something. It was quite simple to find once you enter Kyoto station. I walked up to the car too that has the food thing and it’s like little sweet treats, pork cutlet sandwiches, beer, saki, that sort of stuff. I knew you’d be doing that. So, these are the seats for the journey. They’ve got us facing each other, but there’s also seats that kind of diagonally face out and have a bigger table, which if I was paying more attention, I definitely would have booked them. But it also looks like there’s charging ports as well, so you can spend time here. There’s also free Wi-Fi. Classic Japan. Leaving on the minute. That’s nuts. This is very nice. I’ve got to prepare myself that this isn’t how we’re coming home. No, this like mentally I’ve got to prepare myself. This is designed for sightseeing. Like the windows are just monstrous. I think there’s also a quad that you can book if you’re with more people. Yeah, you I tried to You have to have more people. Oh, why would you have to book four tickets, which makes sense. Uh it’s got a very strong Harry Potter vibe as well. Harry Potter 60s. Harry Potter and 60s me. Yeah. If you get an AI image generator and you say, “Give me a groovy Harry Potter train.” Bam. The train’s not fully booked, so we moved seats to the ones that face out with the bigger table. These fit so much better. [Music] Okay, the sun sets in 1 hour and 15 minutes. We should be about a 5-minute walk away from the park. It’s all happening really fast. I’m also like half asleep. That train was beautiful. Toasty warm. Yeah, I think that’s the park right there. This isn’t even the park. I don’t have anything for you. Hi. They’re just everywhere. The town is overrun. I don’t even think this is that many. I think it’s quiet right now. As soon as we hopped off the train, we bought crackers from the first guy we saw. Two $2 for a whole stack of wafers for them. One just there. Let’s keep going. We’ve come to Nara because this is one of the only places in the world that has wild deer that are kind of tame and it became a huge tourist attraction a few years ago and we had to do it. One of those things that you see them bowing and you’re like I have to experience that. We will get bowed to one way or another. We will. The deer of Nora Park are wild animals. They can occasionally attack people, so please be careful. Yikes. Oh my gosh. Should we see if this guy will bow to Are you going to break a little bit off? Yeah. Yeah. Hello, friend. Would you like some cracker? Yeah. Yummy. Would you like some more? That was very nice. Here you go. You want more? Yeah. Okay. You can have some more. Bow. Bow. Two bows is very nice. You can have some more. Yum. Yum. Yum. Okay. Bye-bye. Thank you so much for eating my cookies. He was the best. Oh, look at this one with a horn. This is so much fun. Yeah. Are you pooping? Are you pooping? Uh, yes, I’m pooping. [Music] I like that he’s like a wonky fella. Yeah, I’m coming. Can you just be nice? Yes. Yummy. Okay. Hey, you’re such a good power. How am I meant to say no? Yes. You say yes, I want some cookie. Yes, I want some more cookie. This place is emblematic of Japan as a whole to me in the fact that I had such high expectations and yet it is still blown them out of the water. It is interesting. Like we travel so much and we get expectations from everywhere and sometimes they’re really high, sometimes really low. This is one of the only places. The expectations have been Sorry. Watch this guy trotten away. He’s after someone. All right. Sorry. This is one of the only places that expectations have been so high and yet they’ve been met and exceeded everywhere. Like everywhere. Everything. It’s just been the best. If this video is proving anything, it’s that you should take a vacation to Japan. Can I have some of your cookies? Bow. Hey, sweetie. Oh, that’s that’s Hey, don’t nibble. Hey, that’s mine. [Music] Mom. Doesn’t want to step up. Good stretch. You love me. Cookie for you. B. Very nice. Cookie for you. Hey, you bit my bum. You did bite my bum. So, I’m mad at you. Don’t do it again. So, we go on this hike when we’re at home in Australia, and it has all of these kangaroos, and we love them. And we figured out the main reason we love them is because their ears remind us of our dogs ears. Yeah. And I think that that’s why we love the deer now as well. Anything like that is the best. They’re just so much fun. I can’t believe how many there are. Also, you don’t have to worry about getting here at like twilight. No, there’s so many deer. So many people feel like it’s going to go on for a while. Yeah. Cheese. Awesome idea. He’s coming. Oh, butt sniffer. Headb butt. Hey, sweetie. Can I get a tiny bow? Yeah. A tiny bow. A tiny bow. A tiny bow. A tiny bow. You can have so much of this. Honestly, I love it here. This is a great way to end Kyodo. Two bits of cookie left. I read online a bunch of people said don’t bother staying at N overnight. I disagree with that. And we’ve been here for less than an hour. I agree. Like if you can stay in one of these traditional looking houses right next to the park. Yeah, that would be so much fun. Wake up in the morning, come hang out with the deer. Go have dinner, come hang out with the deer. Have a cup of tea, hang out with the deer. We also were saying it can’t be too nutritious to have just like the deer biscuits all the time. We would get like a bag of carrots or something. I just don’t know if like I guess the wafers are permitted to a degree. You would think something natural as long as they eat them. Yeah. I don’t know. We do research, but seems like a good idea to me. We’re walking further into the park and then I think we’re going to totle back looking at the shops because I love these guys so much now that it has to be the toy we get for our little niece. That would be awesome. Yeah, we have a rule now that whatever the last country is we visit on a trip, she gets a toy from that country. It has to be relevant. Like we went to New Zealand, we got her a kiwi bird. We went to South America, we got her an alpaca. And I feel like a deer makes sense cuz we’re at Nara. There are so many more over there. Okay, hopefully there’s more cookies we can buy. Oh my gosh, they crossed the road at the zebra crossing. At the deer crossing. Look at him. Oh my goodness. We ran out of cookies twice. We bought more cookies. I can’t stop. There was also one of the deers was crossing this road that we’re crossing right now. stopped right in the middle and then was just like It kind of reminds me of like the moose in B like how they just get roam. True. Yeah, they can do whatever they want this way. Uh, sure. Hang on. Ow. Hang on. Hey, patient boys get the cookies. Grabbing the jacket. You are hectic. But I do love you. What’s your highlight of Kyoto? Probably Nara, which isn’t even Kyoto. So, is that allowed? Yeah. It’s like one of the most popular things to do from Kyoto. And maybe it’s recency bias cuz we’re literally here, but I love them so much. The shrines are amazing. Like the orange, what are they called? Uh, Fushimi Inari. That one that was also amazing. I think like I literally can’t explain it. I have had such high expectations and yet they’re blown out of the water. That doesn’t happen everywhere. It’s rare. Japan, man. Japan, man. Wow, what an end. That was the That is the best. I love it here so much. We had one very persistent deer that just wouldn’t leave Emily alone. He could hear I swear when I unzipped my thing, he’d be like, “Oh, it was funny that he’d always go for the wrong pocket and he’d like rip the pocket. I might have holes in my backpack now.” There’s also a really nice one. He was bowing really politely. It’s a good mix here. Anyway, that’s um that’s it for Nara and Kyoto. It’s been amazing. Tomorrow we’ve Oh, we’ve got to get a train back to Kyoto. And tomorrow we’re getting a train to Osaka. Our final stop on this Japan leg. Last day in Japan. Not only this Japan leg, this trip. Yeah, we’re going home. Yay. For a little bit. Quick reminder, do not get stuck being chased around by deer without having a solid connection to the internet. Download your Aero ESIM before you fly. Use our promo code Jordan and Emily or scan the QR code here to get $3

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in this Japan travel vlog, we take you on an unforgettable journey through Kyoto, exploring its iconic shrines, historic streets, and traditional charm. From the vibrant torii gates of Fushimi Inari to peaceful temple grounds tucked among the trees, Kyoto’s timeless beauty shines through.

Then, we board the luxurious Aoniyoshi Express, a scenic and stylish train ride that feels like stepping into a vintage dream. Our destination? Nara, home to Japan’s famous bowing deer and ancient treasures like Todai-ji Temple.

Whether you’re planning a Kyoto day trip or dreaming of riding one of Japan’s most elegant trains, this travel vlog is packed with inspiration, travel tips, and must-see sights in Kyoto and Nara.

Thanks for watching!

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👋 Hi, we’re Jordan and Emily an Australian couple who decided to risk it all, quit our jobs and travel the world for a year in 2022!
We fell in love with travel, filming, and editing and decided “real life” could wait a little longer. Now, we’re on a mission to visit 100 countries by the end of 2026!

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