Day 5: Shifting to the Hills
Today was our last day in Kyoto, and similarly then our first day in Takayama. There's a whole lot of this trip left (including a tack-on of Ho Chi Minh City and Singapore on the back-end), but already I'm feeling a pang of sadness leaving Kyoto. From my trip in 2013, it was my favorite city. So far my opinion of Kyoto has only been heightened, and the last few stops today are part of that as well.
First was a trip to two temples on the East side of the city - further east than Gion. They are a bit up a hill (and the second includes a fair bit of stairs to reach) and that added greenery plays an important role at both. The first was the Shoren-In Temple, which is very different than the giant Hokan-Ji or Todai-Ji (or similarly the Chion-In to come). It was reserved (though there was active construction shrounding the main hall), but special in that way. There is a quick tour of each room adorned subtly with ratan mats and great artwork - showcasing the delicate nature of the work. The gardens around it were quite serene as well, with small touches of pagodas, bamboo shoots, incense holders and the rest. More than anything, the Shoren-In was peaceful, shaded and small, in the best way.
Down the street is the Chion-In, which is very much not these things - it is more similar to say the Todai-Ji in Nara, with giant halls and temples, large open space, ornate fountains and the rest. But what sets it apart, or at least makes it super unique, is how it was built into the hills - with mini temples raised up on the cliff face, great sightlines of the city underneath. The open layout did amplify the heat, but every now and then a breeze would come by and improve conditions a bit.
The best parts of the sight was the sheer regality of the main hall, and the main entry gate, along with the incredibly ornate interior of the hall (as is standard, no pictures were allowed). There were two beautiful fountains on either side, and as is traditional the big bell stand. The Chion-In is one of Kyoto's best sights all in all - and given what it has to compete with, that is saying a whole lot.
The final stop in Kyoto before heading to the train station, was lunch at Musashi Sushi, a Kaitensushi spot - meaning a conveyor belt sushi restaurant. Generally these conveyor belt sushi spots are a bit frowned upon by sushi snobs, but thsi one was different - as its higher ratings than most conveyor belt spots attested. The setup was the same, with a conveyor belt going around with sushi on differnt color plates - each color matching a specific price point. The cheapest were around $1, the most expensive $8 for two nigiri. We each had about 10 plates, the most expensive being a $5 medium-fatty bluefin tuna (which was excellent). In reality all teh sushi was great - and they had a great little tea tap at each seat giving you unlimtied access to really nice green tea. We had to rush a bit given timing of catching the 1:30pm train out of Kyoto, but it was a rushed meal well spent.
The train journey to Takayama went off without a hitch, as is to be expected when using Japan Rail. The trains run on time to the second, the line up perfectly at teh station with the car markings. First was a Shinkansen from Kyoto to Nagoya, and then a 2.5hr journey on a JR Central train to Takayam from Nagoya. If anything, the train from Nagoya to Takayama was fancier than the Shinkansen, though I figure it was slower.
The train journey did give me a first view of the Japanese forest that are on the perimeter of the Japanese Alps that Takayama touches briefly. The views are gorgeous - conifer hills, rolling waters with some rapids - this easily could be taking a train ride between Portland and Seattle or something like this. On the way the wifi worked well, allowing us to check the weather and altering our plans for our two days in the hills, swapping to do the Kamikochi firest tomorrow instead of Thursday.
Takayama itself is a city, but a small, walkable one that notably is a good 20 degrees cooler than Kyoto. The first impression of the place is amazing - pristinely clean, great little shops and restaurants, great architecture, all of it. We had an hour or so to kill before dinner (our one fancy dinner in Takayama) and went to Als' Brewer's Beer Stand, which is a beer bar that was just perfect in every way. Great decor, great beers on tap, great everything. Sadly it closes at 10pm, but will service us perfectly for the late afternoon refueling. On just the walk there and back (6 min each way) I've already pegged Takayama squarely in the Luang Prabang sense of "so cool I'm here" category. Now, it is definitely bigger than Luang Prabang, and unlike the Laotian wonderland, there is a thriving nightlife scene (numerous places open to 2-3am - in Japan it is hard not to....), but all the same in terms of how cool the place is.
Our dinner in Takayama was excellent, an Omakase tasting
menu at a place called Sakana, situated up a hill a bit away from the city. It did
require us having to taxi there and back, and taxis in Takayama are quite
expensive. Luckily though most of the real sights in the city are all within
walking distance of each other. Anyway, the cost was more than worth it. Sakana
was much like the Izakaya from yesterday in Kyoto, but supercharged. The food
spectacular, presented impeccably well, and with a nice sake pairing on the
side. Again, for these more special tasting menu meals, I’ll do a proper write-up
of the restaurants later.
Afterwards we headed back to Al’s Beerstand, which we unfortunately
learned would be closed both tomorrow and Wednesday. There are a couple other craft
options in the city but neither looked or appealed as much as Al’s, so this is
a bit sad. While there we chatted up a Dutch guy who was having his “night off”,
with wife and three kids back at the hotel. We learned he used to co-own a
craft brewery in the Netherlands which Heineken just bought, so now he’s taking
a year off. From Al’s we headed to one more spot named Rum Dance Hall (this is
the English translation), but is really a cool, dim bar serving up all types of
alcohol (large whiskey selection) with a wall of LPs and record player as the
mood music. The place was great and open late and we made it till about 1am
before calling it quits – Takayama off to a great start
