Osaka & Kyoto May 2018: Arashiyama Bamboo grove, Eizan railway and Hiking

From Kyoto, it is possible to visit places like the Arashiyama Bamboo grove and go hiking at Kurama and Kibune. While I love to enjoy being in the nature, I am seldom so adventurous in my travels and it was a fun experience.

Arashiyama Bamboo Grove

Arashiyama has many temples and their accompanying gardens. Along the way, it is full of bamboo, forming the famous Arashiyama bamboo grove. Once inside the grove, we could enjoy the cooling sensation provided by the shade of the bamboo grove from the sun. Even though the photos look very zen-like and free of crowds, in actual fact, the photos are taken upwards at an angle to avoid taking photos of other people.

Tenryuji Temple garden

After taking enough good photos of the bamboo grove, visitors have the option of visiting some of the temples and their accompanying gardens. So we visited the Tenryuji-temple's garden for around 500 yen each. To enter the temple, additional fee is required. 

The garden is not unlike Singapore's own Japanese garden in terms of the horticulture. But it was interesting still, although in my personal opinion, someone with an avid love of flowers would be able to appreciate it more. Even so, I took quite a lot of photos and share some here. 

 The largest bonsai I ever saw

Beautiful and clean lake with a mountain in the background.

Some interesting flora in the gardens

While on our way out, we also saw a small dam.

Kurama and Kibune

Eizan railway

Then we were on our way to Kurama and Kibune. We took the Eizan railway to reach Kurama. The Eizan railway passes through some villages and quiet residential areas. The highlight of the train ride was the green corridor, where the railway is flanked on 2 sides by a green forest. Of course, if you visit in autumn, then the corridor would be in the beautiful autumnal red and orange colours. The train also slows down along the green corridor for the passengers to take photos and enjoy the greenery.

Kurama and lunch at Hirobun

Upon reaching the train station, we took a bus to reach Kurama. The bus timing was synchronised with the train arrival, so visitors did not have to wait for the bus to arrive. 

We stopped at a temple before heading to Hirobun for lunch. 

Along the way, we could see many restaurants along the river and the diners sat on the bridge for their meal. Hirobun also works on the similar concept, serving Nagashi Somen (wheat noodles). Once there, we were asked to wait for the previous batch of diners to complete their meal. Then it was our turn. A bowl of dashi stock (dipping for the noodles) and dessert (matcha warabi-mochi) was served. And.. the food? the somen is coming in batches in the pipe in front of us. We have to catch the noodles as they flow down in the spring water flowing along the pipes! Not to forget, we were sitting in front of a roaring waterfall. It was really so fun and interactive. Once the red noodles are served, it signifies that the meal is completed.

Hike from Kurama to Kibune

Our bellies satisfied, we started our hike from Kurama to Kibune. The lady at the counter informed us it would be a 1.5 hours hike and there were also walking sticks that we could take to help us along the hike. It is also possible to start the hike in Kibune and go to Kurama.

If you were thinking that this is some hike along a gentle path, you are wrong. There are many stairs to climb to the top of the mountain and back down again. It was definitely quite challenging especially my legs were still aching from climbing Fushimi Inari-Taisha the day before. But there is no rush, so we could do the hike slowly. Along the way we also met and greeted some hikers coming from the other side, Kibune. 

Along the hike we could see some cedar tree roots and there were also many small shrines. It was quite cooling in the forest so despite the 'strenuous' activity, we hardly sweated. We knew that we were reaching Kibune when we reached a large temple, Kurama dera. 

Then it was time to head back to the Eizan Railway to Kyoto.