Kyoto before the crowds
Autumn maples, empty temple paths at sunrise, and the case for setting an alarm on holiday.
Kyoto in autumn is famous, which means Kyoto in autumn is busy. The trick, it turns out, is embarrassingly simple: get up before everyone else. At six in the morning the temple paths are quiet, the moss is wet and the maples look like they've been lit from inside.
A sunrise route
- A shrine with a tunnel of gates on the hillside, walked before the first train arrives.
- Breakfast near the station: rice, miso soup, grilled fish, pickles.
- A temple garden while the gardeners are still sweeping leaves off the gravel.
- A nap. This is important.
Eating slowly
The best meal of the trip was in a small place with eight counter seats, where the cook made each course in front of us and explained, with careful English and a lot of pointing, which mountain the mushrooms came from.
- Many small restaurants take bookings only by phone or through your hotel; ask early.
- Department store food halls are a perfect, cheap lunch.
- Tea houses close earlier than you'd expect.
By nine the crowds arrived, and I was already sitting by the river with a coffee, very pleased with myself.