We woke up heavily (the previous day was fun yet tiring) but we couldn't snooze our alarm. Get up, get up! Our next itinerary was Yoshinoyama (not the food-chain Yoshinoya, okay)! We met our friends at Kyoto Station, had breakfast, then bought our tickets to Yoshino Station using Kintetsu Railway which costs about JPY 1,200 one way. The trip took about 2 hours (including one transit at Kashihara-jingu-mae Station), a chance to continue our sleep!
We arrived at Yoshino Station at about 12 PM, time to eat! The weather was soooo cold (about 4 deg Celcius) for us the equator kids! We first had to climb (exaggerated, of course) a rock stair. Thank God there was a cozy cafe there who also sold food. Hot drink and hot food were exactly what I needed!
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| Almost there, ganbatte! |
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| I love wooden ceiling! |
After we finished our meal (and used the toilet), we started our hike! *patting tummy* Let's take a walk, kiddo!
Yoshinoyama is divided into four areas: the Shimo Senbon (lower 1000 trees) at the base of the mountain, Naka Senbon (middle 1000 trees), Kami Senbon (upper 1000 trees) and Oku Senbon (inner 1000 trees) at the top of the mountain. But it was said that nowadays Yoshinoyama has about 30,000 sakura trees. It was famous as the best place to do hanami (contemplation of cherry blossoms) in Japan. Due to difference of altitude and temperature, sakura in lower senbon will bloom first, followed by sakuras in the next senbon after 2-3 days and gradually sakura trees at next senbons bloom too. Our visit at the beginning of April was kinda a wrong timing, since the cold weather prevented the sakura buds to bloom. Only several trees had started to bloom. We had already known it from observing sakura guides in several sites, nonetheless, we still decided to give it a try since the mountain looks like a beautiful place. And we weren't disappointed!
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| Here is a route map from Japan Guide |
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| Keep this map from Mount Yoshino official website; the map there are all in Japanese |
During the cherry blossom season from late March to early May (March 28
to May 6, 2015), shuttle buses operate between Yoshino Station and the
Naka Senbon area.
The buses depart 2-4 times per hour and cost 360 yen one way. From the
Naka Senbon area near Chikurin-in Temple, mini buses operate further to
the Oku Senbon area of Yoshinoyama (15 minutes, 400 yen one way, 1-2
buses/hour). We decided to take the bus from Yoshino station to naka-senbon, then continue our hike to kami-senbon.
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| Hubby's big blunder : only wearing thin shirt and cardigan! Don't try this, okay! |
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| The view when we started our journey |
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| Sakura, sakura, sakura! |
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| Loooove the sky and sakura trees' silhouette! |
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| Most sakura buds hadn't bloomed yet. Like I said, kinda bad timing! |
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| Here is how it looks like during mankai (pic from kanpai-japan.com) |
Thank God we already saw ume blossoms at Yoshino Baigo. Looking at the pics, it looks similar with sakura blossoms in Yoshinoyama.
When we reached kami-senbon, the sky was getting darker and cloudier. I had gotten very tired, too. We headed back down using different road from the one we used by bus. There were several small native kids (around 5 years old) with their moms (carrying their babies) hopping easily while we cautiously put our step on the ground. Aaaww embarrassing!
It's a shame we didn't take any pic of the stores in shimo-senbon area because of the rain.Those cute shops and cafes sells sakura snacks (mochi, cakes, ice cream) and kuzu (arrow root) snacks. However, the prices were quite expensive (perhaps to pay for the view).
Next time when we go here again, I'd like to bring picnic basket and a blanket when sakura trees reach mankai (about mid-April) or autumn.
We got back to Yoshino station, where I bought a cute umbrella with sakura patterns. The one displayed in front of the shop (wet from the rain drops) was black but I chose a pink one. However when I opened it, there was no sakura pattern there! I complained (asked nicely) to the seller, and the lady gleefully said 'ah!' and nicely showed us one of her dry folded umbrella, opened it, showered it using her watering jar, and voila! The sakura patterns showed up! We said 'wooww' in unison. LOL. Now I still regretted 'why didn't I buy more umbrellas?' hihihi... I worried too much about airlines rules about umbrellas.
Hubby and friends kept observing train schedule using Hyperdia. When we arrived at Kahihara-jingu-mae Station, we had to run to other platform for transit because the train to Kyoto will arrive in 3 minutes while the next train wouldn't be there for the next 40 minutes. We didn't want to wait that long in a far-off station! Thank you little baby for being so strong! *patting my tummy again sambil mendelik sama suamik yang bisa-bisanya ngajak bini bunting lari-lari*
We arrived at Kyoto Station and walked around. IMO, looked from outside, Kyoto Station is more modern-looking and futuristic than Tokyo Station but Tokyo's feels more business-like inside. I didn't have much time to explore Tokyo Station but I really like Kyoto's. It is absolutely huge, has skyway and observation deck (however chilly it is, I'm find cause it's free hehehe), has connection to some famous department store (not that I care, actually), and most importantly: has many nice restaurants in it! There were three main food areas in the station (as far as I know): Kyoto Station Ramen Koji (aka Ramen Alley) with its eight ramen restaurants, The Cube Food Court and Isetan's Eat Paradise at 11th floor. Eat Paradise seemed a bit pricey to me.
That night we tried a ramen restaurant (sooo sorry that I forgot the name). The ramen was warm, rich, and delicious. It gave me enough strength to accompany hubby looking around BIC Camera near the station (again, to look for a wristwatch). He was a bit hesitating. We decided to get back home and (kalau dapet ilham) he could buy the watch in the morning before we headed to Osaka. The most nice-polite-helpful store keeper gladly offered to keep the watch for my hubby. Thank you so much, kind ojiisan!
We got home and packed our luggage. Our trip in Japan was almost over, hiiks!
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