We sailed into Osaka, which sounds far more glamorous than it actually feels at the hour we arrived (caffeine first, always), and then promptly boarded a bus bound for Kyoto. About 90 minutes later – just enough time to settle in and admire the scenery – we arrived in what might be one of Japan’s most beautifully preserved cities.
Kyoto has that “we’ve been doing this for centuries and doing it well” energy. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which basically means: everywhere you look, something important – or at least very photogenic – is happening.
Our first stop? The famous Golden Pavilion, and let me tell you, it does not do subtle. Sitting peacefully by the water, its upper levels are completely covered in gold leaf. Not gold-ish. Not gold-inspired. Actual gold. It gleams. It shimmers. It practically says, “Yes, I am the moment.”
From there, we shifted gears from dazzling to deeply contemplative at Ryoan-ji, home to what is considered Japan’s finest Zen rock garden. Now, at first glance: rocks and gravel. But then you sit. And you look. And you start to quietly think. The garden is carefully arranged so that, no matter where you stand, you can never see all 15 rocks at once. Which feels like a metaphor for life, or at least for trying to find your travel companion in a crowd.
Also worth noting: shoes off to enter, and a fair number of steps to get there. Let’s just say this part of the day doubled as our workout.
Lunch followed (mercifully involving sitting down), at a local restaurant where we refueled and rested our feet with a large, traditional, bento box meal. Not your usual bento box from the States, this one had all kinds of culinary mysteries to sort out. Lots of sushi? Yes, please.
Then came one of the most magical parts of the day – a walk through the bamboo forest near Nonomiya Shrine. Tall, swaying stalks surrounded us, filtering the light in that soft, dreamlike way that makes you slow down whether you intend to or not. This area once hosted imperial princesses preparing for sacred duties, and you can feel a certain quiet reverence lingering in the air.
And, yes, there was a crowd. Okay, not just a crowd, a throng of people vying for their own photo ops. It was a bit of a squeeze in some places, but I’ve gotten this way of moving through crowds down in Japan. You commit fully to gently moving through, don’t worry about saying, “excuse me”, they don’t do it here. If, however, you accidentally bump someone in a rude(ish) way, you do say, “oh, sorry, sorry”, and then move on.
Eventually, we made our way back to the bus (some more enthusiastically than others – hello, tired legs), and returned to the ship.
Kyoto delivered: gold, calm, history, beauty – and yes, a solid step count.