Touching down Osaka, its a straightforward affair to get the bus to Kyoto from Kansai Airport. The booth is just outside, 2,500 yen / pax for the limo bus ticket and no extra charge for the bikes in the box. Its about 2 hour ride to Kyoto.



The whole Japanese bus limo team runs like clockwork. One guy looks at your ticket and stamps it. One guy takes your luggage and sticks a tag on it. One guy takes the luggage from tagger guy and passes it to the loading guy. Loading guy takes it and loads it into the bus. In Malaysia, you'd have one guy to do all of that and he drives the bus too! hahaha.

Eventually the bus regurgitates everyone in mid smack Kyoto. Thank god for offline Google map, we managed to get our bearings quickly and estimated oh an hour's ride to the Ryokan. Once we finished assembling the bikes we were left with the cardboard boxes. By previous experience, hey-ho no problemo - I'd just chuck them into the nearest bin, i said to myself. But lo and behold, there was no bin in sight. Tried hand signing to the passing public but they'd just smile nod and walked on by. We tried cutting them into tiny pieces to carry it with us but it was just taking too long. All I had was a 2 inch Victorinox blade and it was a fillet knife, not a box cutter.

So when all else fails I tried to Google this shit. Switching on my wifi, I can see a faint signal coming from a nearby hotel. Walked over and it turned that the very helpful (and friendly too) concierge was only too happy to get rid the bike box for us. Wow, an ordeal sorted.



Roadside assembly. By experience, always pack your shit separately - compartmentalise if possible. I got these plastic boxes for my tool + bike stuff, and another box for clothes and other quick access stuff in zip locked bags. Last thing you want is an emergency repairs, by the road side, in the rain, and water getting into everything that's not packed as you're rummaging through your panniers for the chain link.



This is our destination, our Ryokan for the next 2 days; Bifuku Roujiya. It doesn't have designated bicycle parking but because it's Japan, we trust that the Japanese won't just go around stealing stuff. We locked both our bikes outside the Ryokan for two nights and it was still there in the morning. HURRAH! Alternatively, across the street is their sister's breakfast and bed place that had a bike parking, but it was jam packed when we got there.



Anyways, this place is neat. It's in the middle of town and within walking distance to Sanjo road; lined with plenty of eateries, pubs and a food market. Its quiet at night, shared single ground floor toilet, with water heater, wifi and a small kitchenette with microwave and hot water dispenser. Each room is lined with tatami mat and has that Japanese bedding and thick warm blankets. The walls are paper thin so even if you fart, your neighbors can easily guess what you had for lunch. The only problem is that we cant lock the doors.



The next day we started early and went exploring on our bikes. Kyoto is one of the world’s greatest bicycle city, evidenced by the yuge, well maintained interconnected cycling lanes, largely flat and importantly - sane able minded car drivers.



No helmets required here, but you may get a fine if you don't have a bell on your bike. RING! RING!



Loads of bike stores in and around Kyoto with bargains abound! You can even get a single speeder with a fanny slope old ladies bike from as low as 2,500 yen. Oh yea Google that conversion.



So we've decided to do the tourist thing and head towards the Arashiyama Bamboo Grove via Kyoto's housing alley ways. We kinda just kept to the general direction of the grove and hopefully we'll get there!



A local mom and pop konbini - a convenience store. I find it cheaper than the Watson / 7-11 store chain but there's not much choices. Lots of junk food, instant ramen, magazines - probably aimed towards the after school crowd.



I'd like to note that since Kyoto is such a bike friendly place with bicycle amenities and such, having a bike stand is a major prerequisite when ever you need to park your bike. Through out the tour, we faced many amusing situation where we awkwardly have to find a wall to propped up our loaded bikes. Whereby we are risking a fine or confiscation / tow-away as we've parked our bikes outside the designated bicycle parking.



Whoa Google Map says we're close!



Not really sure where this will path will lead but godamn the scenery is captivating. Whoa look at the huge broccoli forest.



Once we crossed into the grove and the shadow of the forest enveloped around us, everything just fades away - replaced by an air of serenity and tranquility. Event the scent changes, the crisp smell of dewy foliage mixed with the distinct aroma of fetid earth permeated the senses. The stillness was only broken by the gentle winds swaying in its caress, ruffling the trees and the occasional oars gliding through the river.



The bike lane extends all the way into the grove! 



Since we entered via the rear entrance *cough* there was no bicycle parking at the end of the path. So we had to park and lock our bikes stealthily as possible. Climbing a decent amount of distance on ancient stony steps you'll be greeted by this eye watering spectacular view. This is the highest point of Arashiyama park.



Every Spring, a wave of flowers sweeps across Japan. The Sakura Zensen begins in Okinawa and moves north to the very tip of Hokkaido. Gnarled cherry trees, ignored most of the year, burst into bloom like fountains turned suddenly on. So we're a few weeks late as the blooming has moved northwards. Let's see if we can catch up with the Zensen!



The bamboo forest! Arashiyama Sagano Bamboo Grove. Nampak macam cool, but there's actually truckloads of people here. The wife had to linger at the spot for a good 5 minutes before there's a gap that i can actually take this photo without people walking into the shot. 



Dont forget to look up!



Nonomiya-jinja Shrine, a small temple located off the path to the bamboo groove. It was dedicated to the Sun Goddess and to the deity of fire. Once filled with imperial princesses who were sent by their emperors to reside here to purify themselves, today it’s filled with modern princesses chasing after the next selfie moment. Oh yeah, people do come here to seek purity and perhaps to find love.



Its also known as The Temple of Wishes. Visitors can buy these tiny wooden plaque, put down what their heart's desire and hang it on the hooks provided.



So what is it? The pricier the plaque the faster your wish would be granted? I thought about buying the 500 yen good luck trinket but its just folded paper origami thing and its RM20 bucks, i reckon i'd be better off buying ICE CREAAAM. 



I wonder what happened to the rest of the wish plaque? Is there a sacred plaque bin? 



Ohai!



Ohai again!



Softo-kerim, 250 Yen. Tax included.

An astonishing number of international and local tourist coming in by the front entrance. There's alot of eateries, souvenir stalls and some random traditional Japanese clothing store. 



Yay for the Japanese! Our bikes are still where we left 'em. 



Oh boy we were glad that we entered the park from the rear instead of the jostling bustling front entrance. Cray cray jam packed with all sort of visitors and people were lining up for novelty touristic food, although later we realised the exact same food was available in town. Minus the crowd and cheaper too!!



Looks like this is the preferred entrance by the locals. 



On the way back we decided to ride using a different route, taking the road parallel to the river that we were guessing would bring us back to downtown Kyoto.



The Japanese really know how to live. Quiet neighborhood, quaint little houses.



Little houses with colourful tiny flowers are a reoccurring theme in every neighborhood we came across.



A different kind of perspective ain't it? These guys merged their fruits and vegetable backyards plots and build a shared tennis court side by side.



Our first encounter of the famous Japanese bicycle highway. A shared pedestrian and bicycle pathway thats totally segregated from motorised vehicular lane. This is so good, it makes cycling really safe and as the bicycle highway stretches the whole length of Japan, you can cycle across neighborhood, township and even to the next state - making everything accessible. Unlike in Kuala Lumpur, although the next township is only 5km away, we need to drive over because an expressway sits between the neighborhood making it almost suicidal just trying to cycle from Taman Tun to Bangsar.



A random full blooming Sakura tree that didnt get the memo to start moving north.



Making our way back to Kyoto via the bicycle highway. To access the route on Google Map, use the bicycle or the walker option.



This is amazing. The elderly in Japan living healthily and maybe even independently by riding along the bicycle highway and the connectivity means everyone from everywhere is able to go anywhere, even for a meet up for a lepak session by the park. When's the last time your elderly parents took a bicycle out for grocery shopping and later to hang out with their friends?



Our 15km scenery from Arashiyama to Kyoto. 



An unplanned excursion, we came to a busy section of the city and stumbled upon an underground bicycle parking. Awesome wei. Somehow, when exiting the parking we ended up at the Nishiki Market.



Google says this 400 meter long market have been around since the 1615. Almost all of the produce from the 100 over stalls here is locally grown. Every step offering new sights and smell and an overwhelming choice of noms. Shop assistants call for your attention as the passing scents draw you towards them. This is certainly an experience to be savored.



WOWOWOW!! Sashimi satay! Couldnt get any fresher than this. No, thats not rambutan - that's sea anemone.



Fek, habis duit aku.



We weren't too sure what this was, but the shop guys was trying to convince us to try the testers. Seeing the wife in hijab, proceeded to tell us that it's vegetarian friendly, with only some variety contained sardines and prawns. Turns out it was surprisingly tasty with an astonishingly intense flavour.

The shop guy even gave me a "told-ya-so" eyebrow bounce when i did a this-is-MF-good face scrunch. Its actually ready to eat vegetable paste - a combination of seaweed, bamboo shoots, green spring onion, garlic or mushroom. It was either sweet, sour and my favourite - tongue burning spicy, a combination of chili oil and Japanese pepper. The paste is an add on to any meal, so we bought 3 different combinations for our bike trip. Easy, the best decision we ever made. Made all the bland kombini sourced onigiri we had while camping tasted spectacular.



Tsukemono, pickled vegetables - sold from barrels and trays, still sitting in the salt water and rice brines they were pickled in. Not really my cup of tea but the miso, salt, soy sauce or rice brines pickling gives it a nice sharpness to any meal.



We practically gave this matcha shop all our money. It was SO GOOD. The matcha was so thick and bursting with flavour.



The Japanese find it inappropriate to eat while walking. The shop was puny and there was alot of customers jostling for space while we were shoulder to shoulder trying to enjoy the matcha ice cream mochi!




Oh hello vegetable fritters with salmon, tuna and prawn fillings!



Tucked at the eastern end of Nishiki market is a wall of lantern, indicating the entrance to the Tenmangu Shrine. Built over a thousand years ago this temple enshrines the god of learning, making it a popular place to pray for luck in studying and passing exams. Just like the Shrine at Bamboo Grove, you can also buy a plum shaped wooden thingamajig that you can write your wish and hang it from a tree.

There's also a bull head that you can rub, supposedly for good luck.



So within walking distance was Gion, the famous geisha district. However Gion is also well known for its collection of old school streets defined by their old wooden buildings, tea houses and exclusive atas Japanese restaurants. Its certainly an odd idea, prime land in the middle of the city occupied by old relic ancient houses whereby in Kuala Lumpur they'll easily bulldoze these historic relics for overpriced condominiums. Or malls!



Actually there's nothing else you can do here except sight seeing and check out these old buildings.



Pretty cool. Ada secret garden. 



If you like checking out buildings with these unique wooden facade you can get lost for hours in Gion's alleyways. The smell of cooking emanating from the restaurants pun best. Tak sure la bau babi ke tak. 



Its funny as there were signboards here saying that its rude to grab someone in a Kimono suddenly for a selfie without permission. And it was written in Chinese. Hahahahahaha