Kurama dera-Kibune-Home

There is a trail from the small mountain town of Kurama-dera to Kibune that takes about 90 minutes to walk. We decided to check it out on the afternoon of 5/20 immediately following the bike return.

The train that takes you up has only two cars and feels a bit like a cable car rattling its way up the mountain, going over bridges where the ground plunges far below. When we approached a particularly leafy wooded section, all the passengers rushed to the front of the car for photos and videos, but we didn't manage to capture any of it.

Because it was later in the afternoon, and the path included stairs, stairs, and more stairs, we only did a portion, but it was worth the trip. Again, few people this high up. Just ourselves and huge cedars and many shrines and temples.

At the start of the trail is a large Tengu sculpture. Tengu is a minor Shinto supernatural deity, representing the duality of good and evil, and is thought to protect one from evil spirits.

On 5/21, we visited the Saiin Kasuga Jinja shrine, which is known for being decorated with hanging wisteria. However, we didn't consider that it's out of season, and the shrine is quite small, so we didn't take photos. It was fun to walk around the Saiin neighborhood though. Then we headed back for a quick walk along the river way once more before catching a bus to Itami airport in Osaka.

While we got very comfortable finding our way on the many, many train and subway lines to the different destinations, we still stumbled through getting around inside the Kyoto station because it's very large. On our final arrival to the station on a line we hadn't ridden before, we were like rats in a maze trying to find our way to the proper exit we needed. It took about 15 minutes and was both frustrating and comical.

We have now arrived back home. Only 3 lbs gained... and that's with walking at least 20k steps each day but also nonstop snacking. 🤭 We are so grateful for a very full and enjoyable trip to Japan. The country is so clean and orderly, and the people friendly and welcoming. It was a real pleasure to visit.Lue lisää