Day 6 was a day I’d really been looking forward to—a mountain hike around Kibune, outside Kyoto. We caught a train to the end of the line, then hopped onto a scenic train for the trip up into the mountains.
We’d expected it to be busy with local visitors over the weekend, but yesterday’s wet weather and the promise of more rain seemed to have kept the crowds away. As it turned out, we had bright sunshine for most of the day. No complaints from us!
At the start of the hike, we spotted a cable car that seemed to go almost straight up the mountainside. It moved pretty quickly too! We hadn’t realised it would save us about 400 metres of climbing, but we were certainly glad it did. The rest of the climb was still tiring enough, so stopping to look around the temples and shrines gave us some welcome breaks.
One thing I noticed again was how little birdsong there was, even in the mountains. That was a shame, but the views were beautiful. There was plenty to stop and admire as we made our way up.
Once we reached the top, we took it slow and easy down the other side. The path led through a beautiful cedar forest, with lovely views along the way. It was a peaceful walk, and we were back down just before lunchtime.
We had a look at the cafés, but almost $60 for a small lunch plate was a bit much for us. We decided to give that a miss and start the two-kilometre walk back to the station instead.
The narrow, sealed road followed the river, making it an enjoyable walk. We did stop at a little riverside café for ice cream—$2.50 each, and very nice it was too!
To our surprise, we were back at the station by about one. It would take another hour to get into town, so we chose a train that would take us near Nishiki Market again. Jen could have another browse through the fabric shops and unwind, while I went exploring for something to eat.
I wandered through the backstreets, enjoying grilled octopus, including baby octopus, and grilled scallops with the roe still attached. There was also some delicious sushi topped with roe. Between Jen’s fabric shopping and my food stops, we were both quite happy!
We got back to our accommodation around half past four and put our feet up for a while. Later, we headed to the mall’s food hall for dinner.
I had a lovely bowl of ramen, while Jen went for a grilled porterhouse steak. She found that the grill stayed so hot that leaving the steak on it a little longer cooked it more than she’d wanted.
All in all, it was a great day: a mountain hike, beautiful forest scenery, some fabric browsing for Jen and plenty of good food for me. Just the sort of day I’d been hoping for.
