Our third day of our New Years Kyoto trip begins with us exploring the other side of Kyoto, mainly seeking out the famous Bamboo Forest!
To the Bamboo Grove!
The illustrious Bamboo Grove To our surprise, Google Maps didn't have the bamboo forest within easy reach. In fact, it said that the bamboo forest was high, up a mountain, and would take a good hike to get to. Somehow, I knew that was incorrect, as many other articles said that the bamboo "groves" were scattered throughout Kyoto. Therefore, I did some more research and found this out:
Finding Tenryu-ji Temple will really help you find where the Bamboo forest is. However, while the temple costs ¥500 to get in, and has some great gardens to explore, the Bamboo Grove is not part of the Temple, and is free.
To access the Bamboo Grove, find Tenryu-ji Temple, and continue north past it. It will be on the left, behind the temple. Again, while the temple is nice, it is not part of the grove and both can be seen separately.
Exploring Arashiyama
While we were in Arashiyama, we picked up some takoyaki, which was quite good. We also explored some of the backstreets, and found the Romance Train (which wasn't running, and won't run until March 1st). We attempted to make our way back to Kiyomizu Dera, but we walked all over Arashiyama so much that we were super tired. Therefore, we explored the Gion Ward to find some Gisha, but trying to find any of them was like trying to find Legendary Pokemon - they're elusive! (and there's not a "Geisha Pokedex" that allowed us to track them...)
Finding a surprise in Gion
Keat found a Ceremonial Arrow Anyway, we followed a crowd and stumbled upon Yasaka Shrine and Keat found a ceremonial arrow (that she had to purchase for ¥3000). Although the Shrine was quite active, the activities were winding down, so we planned on making the trip again in the morning (but we didn't) to see it in the daylight.
Whew! We're tired...
At the end of the night, we wanted to go bowling, so we did at Round One Entertainment in Kyoto, which had arcade games for 3 floors, bowling on 3 floors, bar games, horse racing (digital), and a lot of other things that were really entertaining.
