Today was for a walk in the mountains, a hike between two villages: Kibune and Kurama. The route includes many points of interest tucked into idyllic nature, and came up as a day trip idea during our pre-trip research. I had asked our Kyoto Free Walking Tour guide about it back on the 13th and he endorsed it. Most people walk from Kurama to Kibune, but I came across recommendations online to do the opposite direction for less overlap with other people, and a more gradual upward slope at the start so that’s what we did.
Google Maps helped us navigate to Kibuneguchi Station via a city bus and the Eizan Kurama line. We encountered this sign when we got off at Kibuneguchi Station and it gives a good overview of the situation. The hiking route we were taking was between Kifune-jinja Shrine and Kurama Station (the dotted line, top to bottom), but our arrival point was the station at the bottom left of this sign with the red triangle.
There was a bus up to the village/Kifune Shrine where the trail starts, but we elected to walk the 1.2 miles along the road instead. It was along a very narrow shoulder, but a few others were doing it as well so we felt safe. Along the way we had lovely views of a river with the occasional waterfall.
About halfway to Kifune Shrine we stopped for cold drinks at Kokon Fujiya and paid the extra ~$6 to sit on the tatami mats on the platform next to the river. It was lovely and worth every penny. One of us was a bit slow getting down and back up again.
We walked around Kifune Shrine, then crossed the red bridge to pay our entry fee of 500 yen per person (around $3.30 USD each) at the booth. The fee included an English language brochure of the route that detailed the numbered sites that we would see, and help me answer the age old question “ARE WE THERE YET???” along the way when I was sweating my ass off.
There were also loaner walking sticks on offer at the entry booth. I hesitated to grab one but a domestic traveler who was just ending their hike recommended it so I went for it. Very good advice! As you can see, the stick doubles as a way to demand an end-of-hike ice cream from your partner to keep your motivation up.
The route started with a nearly consistent uphill climb of 573 m on a forest trail. It was very sweaty, although not as sweaty as our Fushimi Inari experience. Less mozzies, too.
At the Nishi-mon/Western Gate (site #40) we were able to sit for a break on a bench. The hike felt like much less of a slog after that since the climb was much more gradual from there to the highest site (#35), and there were more sites for our entertainment between #40 and the end of the route. The downhill to Kurama felt like a breeze. There’s a cable car option for part of that final descent (or ascent if you begin in Kurama), but we were happy to walk.
We really enjoyed this experience. Scott said it was his favorite part of our Kyoto trip thus far and I agreed. Here’s a massive photo dump of our hike. These are not in order… like, at all. I think they give a great idea of how much variety there is along this trail.
Kurama village was largely devoid of tourists when we arrived. We got that post-hike ice cream that always tastes so amazing.
Then we found this famous Tengu fellow at the Kurama train station before heading back to central Kyoto. My nose naturally veers left, so I tried his upward slope on for size.
Back in Kyoto we headed to the Furukawacho Shopping Street because it housed a restaurant recommendation from our Free Walking Tour guide. While we waited for the restaurant to open we wandered nearby and encountered Wire & Days just two doors down – a little boutique shop of handmade wire tchotchkes. We found a cute thank you gift for our friend/petsitter back home, and also purchased a “WELCOME” sign for ourselves. Lovely shop, and I’m a sucker for souvenirs that you can actually see being made at the same time! I learned later (due to unfortunate circumstances) that their shipping rates to the US are very reasonable, so I would even recommend purchasing online if you see something you like!
Alas the restaurant opened and we discovered yet again that our Free Walking Tour guide gives great recommendations. His favorite ramen spot: Gion Shirokawa Ramen. It was super tasty, and we got several items for about $18 USD.
We finished our evening a couple of blocks down at Beer Komachi with tasty pints in an all too familiar craft beer environment.
This was one of those perfect slow travel days. If we had only done the 2-3 nights in Kyoto like a lot of standard 2-week itineraries recommend, we would have missed out on this particularly awesome day.
Kjar-ied Away 