JAPAN 2016 | DAY 4 | KYOTO

Brian and I woke up early in the morning to head to Kyoto.

We were told to get a famous lunchbox for the train ride there. It seemed to be a little bit pricey but after we had our first bite, it was well worth it.

Brian and I didn’t end up walking up the 2-hour long hike up the mountain because of our lack of sleep. We were running with only 3-4 hours of sleep from the previous night so hiking up the mountain would have been the death of us. Inari was amazing. I’m always still in awe how people were able to make these shrines and pathway without modern day technology. The experience was very humbling.

We then headed to Kyoto station to grab lunch and rest until we checked into our Airbnb at 4PM. One of the funniest things from this trip was the fact that we were eating a lot of donkatsu. And it always had to be donkatsu from a department store. Whenever we would tell Tenpachi where we ate, he would be laughing because we would be eating donkatsu from a mall when we came all the way to Japan. But the donkatsu at the mall was delicious and I didn’t mind at all. Brian didn’t mind at all as well. Or I hope so.

After checking in and washing up (the towels smelled horrible by the way so that created a whole ruckus), we headed out to the place I anticipated the most for this trip – Arashiyama. We took the train and had to walk for a good 15 minutes from the station. The moment we saw the entrance to the bamboo forest, I got intimidated. With great excitement and adrenaline, we walked into the forest.

Visiting Arashiyama was such an amazing experience. Being consumed by the tall, bamboo trees made me feel so small. And in a sense, that was such a great reminder that compared to everything in the world, I’m just one, tiny human being. In a strange way, that mentality helps me not to focus on the problems and struggles I go through. Over the years, I realized that I carry a lot of negative energy because I’m so consumed with worries, anxieties, and insecurities. I want to change that and live positively. I don’t know why, but Arashiyama led me to think that.