I was being daft and decided to escape the Tokyo quarantine weekend to go to one of my favourite places in Japan, Kyoto. It was Sakura season, so I was lucky to see some marvellous views and walked aplenty. I cleared about 54,000 steps for this 3 day trip making the sprain on my foot worse that high grade prescription painkillers didn’t do anything anymore. Nevertheless, I was able to visit Kiyomizu-dera (清水寺) to see Guanyin 観音, the Goddess of Mercy and look at the evening views, hiked to the top of Fushimi-inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社), walked along the Philosopher’s Path （哲学の道） and went to see the beautiful Nijo Castle (二条城).
Kyoto for me exudes this air of quiet, dignified grace. Everything about it is elegant and minimal, classy and oh-so refined. If you notice closely, even the signboards for popular shops like Family Mart or Matsuya is understated. But the people are surprisingly funny. Not as crazy as their wild and vibrant neighbour, Osaka, but still, I keep forgetting how Kansai people are all about fun, in their own unique ways.
With the on-going pandemic, most of the places I went were close to empty except for the locals. Unlike the last time I was here in the Autumn of 2016, there was not a tour bus in sight, and the throng of Chinese tourists have vanished . It was quite disconcerting for me to see, and I saw it take a toll dearly on the shops trying to keep their business alive. I did the best I could to pump a little money into the economy.
All in all, it was a great trip. Kyoto has always been close to my heart. Every time I step out of the Shinkansen I would play Air’s Alone in Kyoto (which was quite apt as I travelled alone this time to Kyoto). I was able to talk to some locals in Japanese, a personal must-do when I travel around the country. I still have a problem asking questions and the Kansai dialect is still unfamiliar, but I’ll keep trying.
Some snaps from the trip. The food deserves an entirely different post.
Hello, I am D. 