Snow, Onsen and Crab!

[rbjhan]

The Sacred Horse!
Don't ask, it's just what the sign says


No idea what's the proper name in English...they were on their way to some ceremony no doubt.


*Kamigamo, together with Shimogamo, are the two most important Shinto Shrines in Kyoto, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
The two together hold one of Kyoto's 3 most important festivals, Aoi Matsuri in May each year.
The other two are Gion Matsuri (probably most famous) and Jidai Matsuri(October, Heinan Jingu) . It is said that Aoi Matsuri dated back to the 7th century.

There were this long queue to get in the main Shrine.....yeah I noped out of it faster than you think.


I did get two shuins though! One is the normal one and this beauty!
That's Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji.


They are big on wedding business clearly...I do love the Shiromuku dress!



The bathroom sign was cute.
I thought about going to the men's side to take a picture too but decided against it

 

[rbjhan]

Took another bus back to Shijo Karasuma.

Obviously I must visit the Traveler's Factory Kyoto shop!


Bought an insert and some small things, very proud of my self-control!

Lunch.


I love matcha, so next stop was Ippodo Tea.

But walked past this shrine, holy xx_ it's more popular than Kinkakuji


Ah, I saw the name....Mikane Jinja, so basically Shrine of Gold?
I did a bit of research after getting back home. Apparently this shrine used to be for those who work with metal, but nowadasy people come to pray for financial success. Some bring their money/cards/lotto tickets etc to wash in the fountain....

 

[rbjhan]

Clearly me not praying in Mikane Jinja meant my wallet would suffer! (you didn't think I would join that queue right?)

Was not that bad


I ordered the special matcha




Also bought these


Total hit to the wallet was less than 7000 Yen

 

[rbjhan]

After Ippodo I went to the shops near Sanjo Kawaramachi.

Kyukyodo, this shop sells paper, yes only paper - plus notebooks and envelopes...you get the idea.


I did mention stationery is big in Japan right?


LOFT




So what did I get?
I bet none of you know what this is


SPY X FAMILY, my new favourite!


Don't ask why I need so many blue inks....

 

[rbjhan]

Back to Kyoto Station for dinner.






End of day 11.

 

[rbjhan]

Forecast for Monday morning (when I checked Sunday night) was snow from 5am onwards...
I was debating whether to get up at some ungodly hour to go to Kiyomizudera as they open at 6am....

Woke up that morning and the forecast had been changed to 7am.....later 8am.....
So I actually had time to have a leisurely breakfast
Yes I gave up on the coffee, Starbucks was in fact not so bad


Ah the snow finally came after 9!


Checked out, shipped luggage to next hotel, stored the weekender in locker and off to Kiyomizudera!

Anyone been to Kyoto lately? Damn the buses are chokers all the time!
Well except for this special tourist bus....(or if you go to Kamigamo Jinja ha ha)


Why?


Obviously people have reasons to save 270 Yen, but for me at least, this bus was well worth it.
*It makes no other stops, straight to Gojozaka.

Oh and on my way back, I took a normal bus and saw these lovely people:


Note on the outside of the bus, it's painted in big letter and multiple languages something like this:
DO NOT BRING YOUR SUITCASES ONTO THE BUS

Have they no shame?!
The answer is clearly not....

 

[rbjhan]

As we were discussing winter footwear, I thought about this day... @ShelleyB

Talk about impractical! But hey good for photos, that's worth it right? /s
If you are telling me I can only wear some thing socks to go out in this weather, I'd escape to the onsen and never come out, probably


Long weekend + snow + Kiyomizudera = 1 million people!


But but but....
TOTALLY WORTH IT

That's Koyasu Pagoda...

 

[rbjhan]

Good thing they closed this area or people would be falling left right and centre...judging by the shoes I saw...


Instead everyone was at Okunoin.





I declared this the best trip ever.

 

[rbjhan]

Went to Koyasu Pagoda, snow was really heavy!
My friend said this photo should be named "Wuthering Heights"




Happy happy happy!

 

[ShelleyB]

Talk about impractical! But hey good for photos, that's worth it right?

Since being in photos is not my thing (only taking them) the photogenic level of the shoes is not so important to me. The fact that I would probably trip and break my ankle in those ranks a little higher on my list of things to consider.

 

[rbjhan]

Since being in photos is not my thing (only taking them) the photogenic level of the shoes is not so important to me. The fact that I would probably trip and break my ankle in those ranks a little higher on my list of things to consider.

Ha ha those in Kimonos are the next level impractical. I don't want to know how they keep warm ( or not!）

But if you look closely at the photos, like the one on the bus or at the gate...so many everyday shoes...I'm sure they'd been soaked through on that particular day, the snow was no joke! Just why??

 

[rbjhan]

So I was actually going to Kinosaki onsen this day.
I had a major (to me) brain fart for some reason. My train was scheduled to depart at 12.25, but I thought it was 12.45!
Ah yes, I missed my special special train Tango no Umi

丹後の海 - 京都丹後鉄道（丹鉄/たんてつ）

京都丹後鉄道で『海の京都』をイメージした新しい特急列車が登場！

trains.willer.co.jp

Had to visit the Midori no Madoguchi at Kyoto Station to make another reservation.
Ah but there was no one in the line! I had no idea why but hey, never argue with good luck.

Ended up on the Ltd Exp Kinosaki at 13.25.
Exterior was very pretty


Sadly the interior was....nothing to write home about....


Lunch was traditional Kyoto mackerel pressed sushi.

 

[rbjhan]

Kinosaki onsen, in Hyogo Prefecture, sits on the coast of the Sea of Japan.
It is one of the top onsen towns in Kansai, famous for its seven public onsens and ryokan guests strolling around town in yukata and geta.

Right outside the station there's this bus taking everyone to their ryokans, free.


I booked a ryokan right by the river, Kawaguchiya Honkan.

Lobby


My room was on the 3rd floor, no lift.
It was the right size for one person. But I'm not exactly sure where the second futon would go if there's a 2nd guest??


Bathroom


Balcony


And river view!


Edit, I was VERY curious after writing this. Went to check reviews and turned out that when two people are staying in this room, you don't get the table

 

[rbjhan]

Staff took me around and explained how things work in detail ( she was very happy when I said Japanese was fine).
So there's the extra layers for winter:


Let me explain:
You have the ryokan yukata (different from summer yukakta Japanese people wear to festivals), then the full length Tanzen for colder times, wear on top of yukata using the same belt and the jacket like Haori as the outer most layer.
Note the Tanzen is not a coat, it must be tied with a belt in the same way as yukata and cannot be worn outside of the Haori.

How warm are these? Well let's just say I was wearing my down coat the whole time in Kinosaki


And only six public onsens available as one was under renovation.
* all ryokan guests receive one free pass to visit all public onsens in town.


So I visited the highly regarded Goshonoyu.


It was popular alright, almost couldn't find a locker in the dressing room!
I didn't feel like going to another one afterwards....

Ah, the yukata....somehow this garment has the special self-heating effect (only if you are Japanese) coz no other explanations as to why or how they can do this! - me in the down coat taking this picture...


The town is centred around this river lined with willow trees.
Very pretty.
Also very cold on that day!


Edit, forgot to add, you can check all the onsen status on the offcial "Visit Kinosaki" website.
Right now is dinner time so the baths are not busy.
*you need to scan the pass to get in so they have real time data!

 

[rbjhan]

Well we finally come to the "crab" part of the title
Don't worry, it's always the plan this way....Sea of Japan coast is where you go to eat crab in winter.

I booked a "no meals" plan with the ryokan and later emailed them to add breakfast.

The plan was always try to find dinner myself.
Found this place from a Japanese blogger.


Menu


Of course I ordered the A set
So half crab sashimi, half grilled, and one whole crab boiled.

Sashimi




Grilled


Soup


Boiled.


Crab miso


This was like the budget version of a full course crab dinner. For that price can't complain though!

 

[rbjhan]

Did I say the town was very pretty?


Jizo-yu, another onsen.


Kinosaki onsen is very popular with domestic and international tourists alike, there are many new shops/ryokans opening up.


I imagined the willows will be stunning in spring/summer


Back to Kawaguchiya Honkan.


Good night.

 

[rbjhan]

The next morning I woke up very early, decided to go out for a stroll.



Kinosaki is all about the old time onsen town feel, so even the Family Mart needs to get in line


Main street leading to the station, too early for shops to open.


Except the fish monger ofc!


Just outside the station there's a display board of every ryokan's geta.


Really love this photo!

 

[rbjhan]

Breakfast time!


Dashimaki tamago (as opposed to the sweet taste tamago yaki) was delicious.






1100 Yen I think it's very fair price.

 

[rbjhan]

By 9am the sun came out!


Oooh it's going to be a lovely day!


During planning I wasn't so sure what to do this day.
I needed to be at Amino at 3.30pm for the ryokan pick up, but that was only about 30KM away.

Nearby Toyooka is famous for their handbags....it was tempting before I bought that bag in Tokyo....hmmm...

Seeing the weather this nice though, decided to stay in Kinosaki and go to the Kinosaki Ropeway.

 

[rbjhan]

The ropeway station was at the other end of town furthest away from JR station.

So I took the scenic way there


Including a foot bath!




Some temple...


Mandara-yu, another onsen.