Today’s adventures started around 11am as we headed by foot to the closest train stop to catch the local JR train to a part of Kyoto known as Arashiyama (northeast part of town). I was surfing TripAdvisor, which is one of my favorite go-to references for vacation excursions. It’s filled with piles of reviews and I’ve never been let down with any bookings. Usually for vacation, I have every day planned out well in advance of departure, but not this trip. I just was too deep in training mode to put forth any effort to the vacation part. In fact, for this trip to Japan, the only thing I had planned was the Tokyo Marathon. Training life will captivate every ounce of energy! (It’s really nice now to take a break from training – so much free time! This will help physically and mentally to be ready to go for the next training block.)

We hopped off the JR local and met our cycling tour guide, Peter – a native of New York who has lived in Japan for 25 years. He speaks fluent English and Japanese. We waited for the rest of the small group and then we were on our way via awesome road bikes to Take-No-Michi (Bamboo Path) and the Arayashima Monkey Park.

Upon arriving at the monkey park, we were greeted with monkeys everywhere – you couldn’t step without one scurrying in front of you. It was honestly shocking how friendly they were, but there were signs about how to read the monkeys’ facial expressions to know if it was about to attack. There were monkeys hanging on each other at a pond, on the fence, on a roof, and napping on rocks. We went into a hut where we were able to feed them through fencing. It was amazing to watch their maneuvers – such agile creatures!

We proceeded from the monkey park by bike to the bamboo path which was eye-opening too. It was, however, filled with so many people. It was interesting to learn that bamboo grows until about 60m and then it turns brown before being removed. The caretakers slowly remove the brown ones and plant new ones. The lifespan of a stalk of bamboo is about 2 months. We stopped at a small, eloquent garden before jumping back on our bikes to visit a few shrines in the local area.

Our first shrine, Umenomiya Taisha, offered the opportunity to select a Japanese fortune. Our guide would read it and tell us if it was good or bad. If it was bad, it was tied to a tree to remain in the shrine and not to go with the traveler. Of course, my husband’s fortune was bad, so then the joke became that he was bad luck. I wanted to keep him at the shrine, because I’ve had enough of bad vibes over the years!

Matsunoo Taisha was really beautiful. It is a shrine that believes in the fortune of turtles who climb mountains with perseverance, with the spring waters filled with healing. It was so tranquil, calm, and the sun was just setting behind the the mountain. The local hosts of the shrine were so happy to see foreigners again, too. (Japan just reopened to tourism in October 2022.)

We hopped back on our bikes, rolled through town which was hustling with children getting out of school and parents leaving work. There were people in suits, kids in uniforms, girls in kimonos, and others being pulled by rickshaw bikes. It was so fascinating to be in the middle of all this, strolling through town on a bike. We rode back to our starting place before departing our ways for the local JR train. All in all, it was a 4 hr tour well-spent!

The best part of the day was interacting with the other tour members. Our group of 7 was so special because we were all in Japan for the Tokyo Marathon – runners, sponsors, and supporters. A few of us were from the USA and one was from the UK. We had such a fun time swapping stories, hearing about everyone’s training life, who was watching our pups while we traveled the world, and just smiling as we climbed stairs and inclines with our marathon bodies. We shared our medals amongst the group for pictures too! A few of us swapped contact info to stay in touch. I went into this tour to see some cool sights and experience the area without having to navigate. I came away from the tour with new marathoner friends across the USA. What an incredible experience!

We continued to a dinner recommendation place from our tour guide, to get “Fire Ramen.” For me, this was my first official experience with Ramen. The restaurant was packed, but we waited our turn until we were called in and seated in groups. We selected our options and waited for the fire show – when our Ramen was lit on fire in front of us! Two things made this dinner experience awesome: (1) The owner was fluent in multiple languages, took photos for us, and gave us a booklet of Kyoto “hidden gems” that he had published. It was so over-and-above any expectation! You definitely don’t get this experience in the States. (2) I was seated by a lady and her husband who were from Boston. Based on how we all dressed, we deduced that we all were marathoners! We chatted about the race experience and I finally learned that I was not the only one who suffered in the heat! This lady from Boston admitted that she would rather run in the snow – and I have to agree! It’s so crazy the amount of people who were traveling around Japan after the race, but it was like a party every time we saw another marathoner. Anyways, we finished our dinners and went our separate ways.

Take-home point:
Sometimes, the road unplanned can lead to beautiful destinations with unforgettable memories. Today’s adventures were not planned, but absolutely totally worth it. How lucky am I to be here in Kyoto, Japan and have met so many remarkable people in one day! It was a wonderful day on so many levels.