All things bright and beautiful: (2017) 8-days tour of Osaka/Kyoto region 8日大阪/京都自由行. Day 6 --- Arashiyama/ Kyoto 嵐山/京都

As this was our second tour of the Kansai region of Japan, we had planned our itinerary with as little overlap with our previous trip as possible. We mostly managed to do that, except that we decided to visit Arashiyama 嵐山 for a second time.

The picturesque Arashiyama certainly merits multiple visits, as it offers distinct scenery in different seasons. Besides, one of the reasons for our second visit was to take a ride on the famous Sagano Scenic Train.

Moss garden at Gio-ji 祇王寺

There are trains operated by several companies that go to Arashiyama from Kyoto: the JR Sagano line, the Hankyu Kyoto Main Line and the Keifuku Randen Tramline (from Omiya station). This gives visitors many possibilities in planning a day-trip. For us, our itinerary was:

1. Take JR Sagano Line: Kyoto Station to Saga-Arashiyama 嵯峨嵐山駅.
2. Take Sagano Scenic Train: Saga torokko station 小火車嵯峨站 to Kameoka station 亀岡.
3. Walk from Kameoka to Umahori station 馬堀駅.
4. Take JR from Umahori station 馬堀駅 to Saga-Arashiyama.
5. Tour of Arashiyama.
6. Take Hankyu Kyoto Main Line: Arashiyama to Kawaramachi Station 河原町駅.
7. Look around Kawaramachi and Ponto-cho 先斗町. Dinner near Ponto-cho.
8. Take bus back to Kyoto Station.

It did look like a very full day!

Even though we purchased tickets for the Sagano Scenic train a couple of days in advance, we only managed to get one-way tickets. Fortunately, for the return journey to Arashiyama, there is a very viable option of taking the JR train from Umahori station, which is a 15-20 minutes' walk from Kameoka.

The Saga torokko station is right beside the JR Saga-Arashiyama station.

Saga torokko station 小火車嵯峨站

Sagano Scenic Train 嵯峨野遊覽小火車

The train makes a stop at Hozukyo station 保津峡駅. The stop is rather brief, just about enough for one to take a photo of the interesting tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog, 狸) sculpture by the platform from the train window.

Tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog, 狸) sculpture at Hozukyo station 保津峡駅

Another tanuki (Japanese raccoon dog, 狸) sculpture, at Kameoka station 亀岡

Paddy field at the rural Kameoka 亀岡

Shrine at Kameoka 亀岡

Umahori station 馬堀駅 is a short walk from Kameoka. From there, we took the JR train back to Arashiyama.

Umahori station 馬堀駅

Back in Arashiyama, we first headed for the famous and popular bamboo grove. The remarkable bamboo grove looks almost the same in summer as in winter.

Arashiyama bamboo grove 嵐山

Bamboo grove, Arashiyama 嵐山

Arashiyama bamboo grove 嵐山

Buddhist temples are bountiful in Arashiyama. We didn't have in mind any particular one to visit, so we just followed a tourist map, intending to see one or two of them.

Nison-in Temple 二尊院

There was a combo entrance ticket that covered the temples Gio-ji 祇王寺 and Daikakuji 大覺寺. We thought it was better value than visiting just one temple and as it looked on the map a fairly walkable distance between the two temples, decided to go for the combo. Later, we would find that the walk to Daikakuji was actually quite a bit longer and more strenuous than we thought, especially in the hot weather!

Map showing the walking path between two temples: Gio-ji 祇王寺 and Daikakuji 大覺寺

We were really glad to have visited Gio-ji, for it opened our eyes as we saw for the first time the beauty of a Japanese moss garden.

Moss garden at Gio-ji 祇王寺

Moss diversity at Gio-ji 祇王寺

The walk to Daikakuji Temple 大覺寺 was more tiring than we had expected.

Daikakuji Temple 大覺寺

Daikakuji 大覺寺

After visiting Daikakuji, we decided it would be too tiring to walk back to Arashiyama . Fortunately, there was a bus terminal not too far from the temple. From there, we took a bus back to the town centre.

Apart from the bamboo grove, the temple Tenryu-ji 天龍寺 was one of the very few places that we revisited in this trip to Kansai.

Tenryu-ji 天龍寺

Hydrangea 紫陽花 / 繡球花 at Tenryu-ji 天龍寺. We saw plenty of hydrangea flowers in this trip.

Hydrangea 紫陽花 / 繡球花 at Tenryu-ji 天龍寺

Sogen Pond 曹原池 at Tenryu-ji 天龍寺

For our return journey back to central Kyoto, we took the Hankyu Kyoto Main Line to Kawaramachi Station 河原町駅. The Hankyu Arashiyama station is on the opposite side of the Kastura River 桂川, which can be crossed via the landmark Togetsukyo Bridge 渡月橋.

The landmark Togetsukyo Bridge (Moon Crossing Bridge) 渡月橋 over the Katsura River 桂川

Togetsukyo Bridge (Moon Crossing Bridge) 渡月橋

The reason why we took the train to Kawaramachi Station instead of Kyoto Station was that we wanted to look around the Ponto-cho 先斗町 area, a famed restaurant-lined alley running parallel to Kamogawa (Kamo River) 鴨川. The bank of Kamogawa is itself famous for Kawayuka dinning (Riverside Summer Terrace Dining) in the summer season.

As it was still too early for dinner when we got to Kawaramachi, we had some time to walk around the area.

Kawayuka (Riverside Summer Terrace Dining) along Kamogawa (Kamo River) 鴨川, Kyoto

Street scene near Kawaramachi, as viewed from Shijo Bridge 四条大橋

Ponto-cho 先斗町

Restaurant on Ponto-cho 先斗町

Narrow side alley on Ponto-cho 先斗町

On Ponto-cho 先斗町 there is the Ponto-cho Kaburenjo Theatre, where a place where the geisha practice.

A friend suggested us to look out for historic sites associated with Sakamoto Ryoma 坂本龍馬, a prominent figure in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. One of such sites is Suya 酢屋, located near the northern end of Ponto-cho and where Sakamoto Ryoma had resided before his murder in Kyoto.