We went back to Kyoto for our last day in the Kansai area. But this was no ordinary trip. Oh no, what would a vacation be without a little adventure?
When we got to the Osaka Station, we had to transfer train lines to the JR Kyoto Line. We saw a sign indicating a certain platform was bound for Kyoto so we rode the escalator and checked the train times at the top.
What the... 20 minutes before the next train? We were used to waiting 5, 10 minutes max so 20 was a stretch. But there was no one else on the platform so we thought we could get seats by waiting in our self-created line before the rush of people came.
But no one else came. And the train was progressively delayed. In fact, there were a bunch of people on the adjacent platform, also Kyoto bound, but our pride and our laziness kept us grounded. Besides, our platform had the super express (Hokuto 4!!!) and we didn't want our waiting to be for nothing.
The train finally came! Excited, we boarded and were happy to see a ton of empty seats! Really really nice empty seats. With foot rests, cushions and the works. Wow, what a great train! There was even a bathroom!
Jackpot!
Then Anna broke the news: she had heard on an announcement (something me and Elizabeth missed) that this train was, in fact, a Shinkansen! What the... no wonder there was no one else on board. And, true to its name, it was going to be super rapid. With no stops before reaching Kyoto, there was nothing else we could really do but wait it out.
Guilt eating at our conscious. Or just taking a nap.
About half way through the (luxurious) ride, the ticket man came around to check our tickets. We had purchased ours from our hostel for a discounted price (around 590 yen) but the tickets looked somewhat legit because they said 4000ish yen on them. (Haha, like we could really trick them!) It turns out he tried to tell us that we were on the wrong train, but we acted like dumb gaijin tourists, all confused and only speaking English. A bit flustered, (poor guy..) he told us to wait for a bit but he never came back. We hopped off the train at Kyoto and thankfully didn't have to pay for an otherwise expensive Shinkansen train ticket. Overall with a 40 minute wait and a 20 minute train ride, the amount of time it would have taken to travel by the regular train would have been about the same.
Our actual stop was Inari which is famous for their, you guessed it, inari! (inarizushi and kitsune udon/soba; apparently the kitsune foxes like to eat it) The main attraction, though, was the 1000 Torii of the Inari-Fushimi Taisha Shrine.
Left: a cute couple; Right: me and Anna
There was a lot of hiking but the Torii gates were really cool and we ended up at a cute restaurant near the top of the hill. The gates and trees provided enough shade so overall it was a pleasant and viewtiful walk.
Afterward to refresh ourselves we headed back to Osaka to eat at a yummy parfait place Anna's brother recommended.
Some kind of strawberry yogurt. Fluffy!
After eating we chilled around Osaka until it was time for our night bus back to Tokyo. Overall - it was a very fun and memorable trip. We were able to do a lot of fun things and the weather was always nice. Here are some final thoughts / random take-aways from the trip:
I stood against the back wall to take this pic - it was small but served its purpose.
Hostels are cheap but you really get what you pay for. I thought the shower rooms were decent and we each got a single for a really good rate. This hostel also offered discounts on train tickets which was nice.
People in Kansai (or at least Osaka and Kyoto) stand on the right side of the escalators! And sometimes they stood on both sides, making everyone wait because of their chill-ness. Sometimes we forgot so people in a hurry had to snake around us.
(Multiple sets of) trash cans on the train platforms! You almost never see this in Tokyo - one of our Japanese teachers said it was to prevent people from planting bombs. I liked being able to throw away my trash instead of carrying it around.
On the JR Osaka Loop Line, the priority seating had this cute print to make sure you knew who these seats were designated for. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone really cares (us too sometimes) and people sit on them anyway. But if you're an old person, injured, pregnant, or have a baby then these seats are for you!
Finally, at one of our bus pit stops this fancy bathroom stall had a sign posted just in case you needed help navigating their toilets.
Don't sit on it backwards and definitely don't miss!
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