KYOTO, Ranked ⛩️
This is how I’d rank every single thing that we got up to in Kyoto over 2 days. Starting at number nine, Fashimi Inari. At night it was empty and usually I’d be stoked about that, but sometimes I think that touristy places need at least some tourist. King Aakuji or the Golden Pavilion is iconic for sure, but you are really just walking around one building and the crowds kind of got on my nerves here. Arashyama is beautiful but quite isolated and there are smaller versions closer that kind of scratch the same itch. Kenji had the sickest roof paintings but it closed a bit early so we kind of got rushed out. There were a lot of very Japanese sounds here at Yasaka Shrine, which was cool. And they had this little market with crazy good street food. The Yasaka Pagod is a classic and iconic, but it was made even better when we found that there was like a matcha ice cream place out the front. Kodai Temple and the Bamboo Grove is an underrated gem with such an intimate feel, and it’s the resting place of this very important guy. Number two, Kio Misadera. Massive history, perfect weather. The fact that it’s 12,200 years old and doesn’t include a single nail is absolutely crazy to me. But my number one, Ponto Alley. It’s this little back street we came across by accident and ended up spending the whole night popping into different spots like bars and isakayas. It was a total happy accident. I’ll be real though, the moments in between seeing the sites, just like being there and getting lost, that’s what made Kyoto cool for us. Sometimes the best plan is no plan. So save this video and then immediately forget about it. Ever seen a Prius with emotions? I meant emissions.
It’d be literally impossible to visit everything in Kyoto in one lifetime, let alone one trip to Japan!
Save this as a bit of a guide to reference when planing (or completely forget about it and explore it blind like we did.
AloJapan.com