Day 4 – Morning in Kyoto and travelling to Kaga Onsen to Beniya Mukayu

We awoke to a beautiful morning in Kyoto after enjoying a fantastic night’s sleep in our room at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto.  Day 4 in Japan was scheduled to be another travel day as we would be leaving historic and beautiful Kyoto and heading to our next destination, Kaga Onsen.



We packed our bags and made our way downstairs for breakfast.  I first made a quick stop in the main seating are of the lobby to take advantage of the free Wifi to send some quick emails and check the news back home.



I then joined my wife in “The Grill” restaurant located at the far end of the main lobby.  This restaurant is bright and spacious as it is laid out with an open concept, and is not closed off by walls to the rest of the lobby, but with planters and other minimal partitions allowing patrons to have some privacy while eating but to also enjoy the buzz and activity happening in the lobby.  It also has an expansive view of the Japanese garden through the large picturesque windows at its far end.

Similar to the Italian restaurant where we enjoyed dinner, “The Grill” also has an open kitchen concept which features a brick oven where a variety of food is freshly prepared. 

Our breakfast was a buffet style, and offered a brunch type fare in a wide selection of food.  My wife and I really found the food to be quite fresh and delicious, and the wide variety of selection available easily satisfied our early morning hunger.  Once again, the service proved to be exceptional.  A special treat for me was in speaking with one of the chefs, who was a Canadian from a city in British Columbia quite close to Vancouver.

 

We would like to thank all of the wonderful staff at the Hyatt Regency in Kyoto for providing us with such a wonderful stay and for all of the help and assistance while we were there.  Special thanks to their Sales Manager, whose generous donation of his time for us and his great and knowledgeable tour of the hotel was greatly appreciated.

We took a taxi to Kyoto Station and, using our JR pass, we reserved seats for ourselves on the Thunderbird Train from Kyoto to Kaga Onsen.  With the JR Pass, we have free travel on the system and visiting the ticket office was not a necessity, but we always like to reserve our seats as the reserved seating cars tend be a little less full and allows for a more relaxing trip.  I am confident that we would never have been without a seat had we not reserved them in advance on any of the trains we took (including the Shinkansen –“Bullet Trains”), but I would recommend the reserved seating for the peace of mind that it will bring during your trip.

These seats can be reserved by visiting a JR Ticket office located in all of the train stations.  Just look for the sign like the one shown here.

 

Beniya Mukayu

We arrived at Kagaonsen and were met personally by the Manager of Beniya Mukayu, the Ryokan that we would be staying at.  After he quickly got our bags into the van we were on our way to the Ryokan.  On our way the Manager provided us with some information and highlights of Kaga Onsen.  This personal touch was fantastic and definitely appreciated after our long train journey.

 

 

 

 As you drive up to Beniya Mukayu, you are immediately impressed with the facility.  It presents itself to you as a place of luxury nestled into a wilderness backdrop that tells you that you are about to have an experience of deep relaxation and pleasure.  We were there in March just before the blossoms of Spring arrived.  I can just imagine how even more beautiful this area is from Spring to Fall.

 

 
Entering the lobby I was struck by the simplicity of the furnishing and the casualness of the atmosphere, this almost Zen like feeling upon entering was accentuated by the soothing aroma of incense that filled the lobby.  We were met by the owner of Beniya Mukayu, Sachiko, who, wonderful and friendly personality was able to make us feel like old friends even though we had just met.  Once again, our bags were transported to our room for us and we were given a personal tour of their facility by Sachiko who, I must mention, speaks great English.

To put it simply, this facility is amazing.  The tour started in the an area just off of the main lobby where guest can sit in a peaceful environment, and enjoy the gorgeous views of the trees and garden outside while enjoying a beverage for the small bar off to the side.  A real specialty is their freshly squeezed juice, available from a variety of fruits to choose from. 

 

  

We then went up a small flight of stairs to the right of the lobby where we entered a large library that provides for a really serene and quiet respite for any travelers.  The quiet seating area in the main area of the library is designed with little in the way of decorations or distractions with various seating options to meet the needs of the guests.  If you would like to read, but unfortunately forgot your own book, a separate room provides various reading materials in a wide variety of topics in both Japanese and English.

 

Our next stop was their spa area where their professional staff is highly skilled in providing their clients with a variety of treatments based upon an Herbal Matrix, where they will carefully select herbs to prepare your herbal balls, herbal infusions, and herbal teas based upon your own physical condition and requests.  Their guests can enjoy a variety of treatments including Body Treatments, Facial Treatments, Foot and Head Massages, and other treatments available depending on the season. 



This facility is truly designed to provide their guest with the ultimate in relaxation and comfort, allowing you to truly let your concerns and tensions slip away as they use techniques and minerals to soothe and rejuvenate your body and mind.  We made a quick stop to the entrance to their communal Hot Spring facilities, of which I will write more of later in this blog as we did not enter the facility as part of the tour for the privacy of those using the facilities.




Next to the spa area is their large dining hall.  This room is very unique in its design as it not only is the venue for their meals, but also serves as their facility where guests can participate in yoga classes every morning.  The room is essentially divided into two, with the far half composing of the main seating area for meals and the closer half having more of a multi-functional feel for other activities, such as yoga.  The wooded pillars that occupy the room, allows the staff to partition the room as required.

 

Sachiko, then proceeded to give us a tour of the various styles of guest rooms that they have at Beniya Mukayu.  There are only 16 rooms in total, and I am assuming that this is to assist in providing a quiet and non-rushed atmosphere at the Ryokan and to enhance the relaxation of their guests. They provide Japanese style rooms, Western style rooms, Japanese/Western style rooms and their Wakamurasaki Suite rooms.  Beyond the fact that each and every one of these rooms is spectacular in terms of the layout, amenities and comfort, each room also has its own private open-air hot spring bath for personal enjoyment. 





Most Ryokans that we visited on our trip only provided individual private hot springs in a few specially selected rooms; Beniya Mukayu has made this a standard for all of their guests.






The rooms themselves are all very spacious and provide you with a fantastic escape.  All the rooms have a great view of the luxurious grove of trees that populate the grounds of Beniya Mukayu or of the town in Yamashiro (Japanese/Western room) depending on the floor.  The beds in every room are quite comfortable and spacious, upon our arrival we were asked what type of pillows we would prefer to use during our stay (I chose feather, while my wife chose a memory foam pillow).  Depending on the style of room you will either have an open-air or covered veranda.  In the Wakamurasaki Suite, obviously the larger choice to be had, you are provided with a dining table in the sunken kotatsu style (low to the floor but you sit normally with your legs going into the open are under the table). 


The bathrooms in each room also come fully stocked with the various lotions that include a cleansing gel, facial wash, lotion, emulsion, and a body lotion.  These are unique lotions are made specifically for Beniya Mukayu and were definitely wonderful to use and nourishing to the skin.  Each room also has separate seating areas, a television, and in-suite Wi-Fi.  In all, they are designed foe maximum comfort and relaxation, and trust me, they deliver.

After our tour, we settled into our room, the Japanese/Western style room, and enjoyed a welcoming cup of tea and confectionery.  We both put on the traditional Japanese Yukata and headed down to the communal hot springs.   These facilities were very clean and quite large.  The main changing area provided baskets in which to place my Yukata and sandals, and the washing area was kept very tidy.  After washing, I entered the communal open-air bathe to enjoy a long hot soak in the rejuvenating alkaline spring water kept a approximately 40 degrees Celsius.  The open-air bath was a large cedar tub, and since I was the only one there at the time it provided more than enough room.  I would guess that 5 or 6 men could enjoy it at the same time with no problems.  The bath itself, was nestled against the grove of trees that you see from most of the rooms at Beniya Mukayu, but of course your privacy is preserved by the placement of bamboo and trees.  Before leaving the facility I tried out to indoor hot spring which was much larger than the outdoor one, and by being indoors I could really feel the effects of the heat on my face as the steam rose from the water.  Overall, a thoroughly pleasurable and stress relieving experience.

As I walked back to my room, in the full knowledge that my wife would still be in the women’s communal hot spring, I stopped at the lounge area of the lobby to enjoy a complimentary glass of freshly squeezed juice.  I chose apple.  This small glass of juice was quite refreshing after my hot spring, and the juice itself was 100% pure with nothing added which made it absolutely amazing to enjoy.  While enjoying my juice my wife arrived and after she enjoyed her juice, we were invited to experience their tea ceremony.
 

This tea ceremony took place in a small, intimate cabin situated amongst the grove of trees.  The ceremony was provided to us by Sachiko’s husband.  This ceremony was definitely more formal and traditional than the previous one that I had experienced at Hoshinoya (again, that casual ceremony was great in it’s ability to prepare me for future ceremonies).  We entered the room wearing our Yukatas and kneeled on the small cushion next to a burning candle.  The room itself was very cozy and the dim lighting provided a real authentic ambience.  Our host appeared from a side room wearing traditional robes and provided us each with a confectionery to cleanse our palates.  As we ate this, he prepared the tea from scratch using the traditional Japanese methods.  We both took our turns enjoying the tea.  Afterwards, he was more than happy to answer any of our questions and was a very gracious host. We then returned to our room and rested before dinner.

Dinner was served in the main dining hall and was Kaiseki style, this is where several small dishes are served individually over the course of the meal.  Typically, a Ryokan will base the menu of their Kaiseki dinner in consideration of the specialties of their region in Japan as well as the current season.  Thankfully for me, this meant that we were going to experience a glorious 9 course meal where 5 of the dishes were featuring snow crab – a personal favourite.  As mentioned previously, there are only 16 rooms in total at Beniya Mukayu and a wonderful result is that the dining room is not extremely busy or noisy.  A Kaiseki meal is meant to be an experience, if not an adventure, and the staff and owner of Beniya Mukayu provide you with a level of service that is unparalleled.  They prepare the courses, often right at you table, and assist you throughout the meal that makes you feel as if you are their only guests without ever becoming bothersome.  This is a fine line, and they worked it to perfection.  Here is a little video of our meal and pictures/descriptions:

Our dinner was completely fantastic, and with its conclusion we were more than ready for bed.  We returned to our rooms and ready and excited to see what the next day would hold.

Contact Izumi through her website to plan your vacation to Japan!

Day 3 - Leaving Hoshinoya and arriving at the Hyatt Regency Kyoto

We woke up in Hoshinoya to a beautiful snowfall. Here is the view of the snow falling in the small garden right outside our villa:

The breakfast that we had ordered yesterday during our check-in was delivered directly to our chalet.  The staff member quickly set up in our living room and began to cook our breakfast while we finished with our packing.  The breakfast was extremely delicious.  Having chosen the American (western) style option, I was served eggs, sausage, and yogurt with fresh fruits toast, juice, and coffee.  The Japanese breakfast consisted of “Saga-dofu” (tofu cuisine) – a specialty of Kyoto, with grilled fish, rice, pickles, a Japanese omelet and tea.   Having this served and cooked fresh in our room allowed us to watch the snow fall on the river and mountains outside of our window.  It was a wonderful experience.

After breakfast, we walked to the main reception building and checked-out.   We asked the staff to load our bags onto the boat and informed them that we would walk back to the main district Arashiyama, where he had first arrived yesterday.  The walk along the river took us about 30 minutes and we were able to really enjoy the beauty of the surrounding area.

 

We arrived back at the boat pier and were immediately met by a taxi that the staff at Hoshinoya had arranged to meet us.  We boarded the taxi and quickly drove across Kyoto to our next destination, the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Kyoto.

The Hyatt Regency Kyoto is a first-class hotel that offers it guest a wonderful base from which to visit the main attractions of Tokyo.  The lobby has high ceilings and a beautiful leather seating area in the center, with a small area for workstations where guests can use their laptops utilizing the free Wifi available in the lobby.  At the far end of the main floor area is a restaurant called “The Grill” which serves beautiful meals throughout the day.  I will write more on this restaurant on Day 4 as we enjoyed breakfast here. In front of “The Grill” and to your left from the front entrance is a grand wooden spiral staircase that leads to the Italian restaurant, “Trattoria Sette”, where we would be enjoying dinner a little later in the evening.  Completing the lobby is a marvelous long white reception desk that is fully staffed and not once did we have to wait for service during our visit.

 

Our room was Western style with a large king sized bed, a desk area, large closet space and a large window that overlooked a beautiful Japanese garden that is meticulously maintained.  The bathroom was fantastic with the separated room for the toilet, once again with the Japanese control panel on the wall and heated toilet seat.  The shower/bath area was clean and spacious and the area was capped off by a vanity a sink area.

 

We were given a wonderful tour of the hotel by the Sales Manager, which included visits to many of the other rooms that are available for guests to enjoy.  These rooms included large spacious accommodations such as their Deluxe Corner Twin room which with its spectacular layout can allow for up to four guests with the Hyatt Regency being able to provide two extra beds.  If you are looking for a room that can best serve four guests, you may be best off to book their Regency Suite as it has four beds already designed into the room.  Another room that we viewed was designed with a more traditional Japanese flair, but also incorporated a few western style amenities to provide a wonderful blend of old and new.

 

 

 

The best options for families is there Deluxe Balcony Twin room, with the ability to have the parents or children in an adjoining room that has an interconnecting door that when open causes the two rooms to function as a large suite.  The Deluxe Balcony Twin is a large room that boasts two large beds, a gorgeous seating area with beautiful couches and a very large balcony that runs the entire length of the room with a beautiful view.  The bathroom is impressively large offering two modern sinks and ample counter space.  What I was really taken by was the fantastic cedar bathtub that was nestled in an area next to the large windows overlooking the balcony.  You could have a luxurious bath in natural light while looking over the trees and view of Kyoto, all arranged to also provide you with privacy from the outside world.

 

 

 

One nice feature of the rooms at the Hyatt Regency is the cushioned backboards behind all of the beds.  The material is made from the same fabric that Japanese Kimonos are made from and each room has multiple fabrics used to create a nice backdrop and design for the room.

 

 

 

After our tour of the hotel, we boarded a bus from a stop located right outside of the hotel to go to Kyoto Station where we would then take a short train ride to Fushimi Inari Shrine. 

 

Fushimi Inari Shrine is a very historic and ancient site in Kyoto that predates the move of the capital to Kyoto in 794. This shrine is dedicated to Inari, the Shinto God of Rice, and his messengers are thought to be foxes, and for this reason you will encounter many fox statues situated throughout the grounds of the shrine.  The buildings of this shrine are wonderful to explore, however many people will come here to explore the grounds and hike the trails on the mountain.  The walk to the top of Inari Mountain can take 2 to 3 hours to walk to the summit and back.  The views from the top are amazing and definitely worth taking in if you have the time and the energy.  Even if you choose not to go all the way to the top, there are many sights to see while visiting this shrine.  Most notably are the thousands of vermillion gates that you walk through while traversing the many trails.

 

 

After exploring the Shrine we returned to the Hyatt Regency for a short rest and to prepare for dinner.  We walked up the wooden spiral staircase in the lobby to “Trattoria Sette” where we were joined by Joseph for dinner.  This Italian restaurant is just simply amazing.  The menu offers a wide variety of dishes to meet anyone’s taste, and we chose to order multiple appetizers and main dishes to share so that we could all experience different dishes.  The atmosphere of the restaurant is quite open and provides wonderful natural light from the large windows surrounding the seating area.  The kitchen is also semi-open and you can watch the chefs prepare the various meals for the diners.  All of this is complimented by a service staff that was very professional and attentive to our needs, not once did we need to search for a waiter, nor did we ever feel pressured in rushing through our meal.  It was a completely relaxing and enjoyable evening where we enjoyed wonderful conversation and spectacular food.

 

We returned to our room completely satisfied and settled into our bed for a good night’s sleep.  The bed proved to me extremely comfortable and sleep came quite easily.

Contact Izumi through her website to plan your vacation to Japan!

Day 2 - Part two - Hoshinoya in Kyoto

From Kyoto Station we travelled through Kyoto by taxi to the location of the boat pier where we would be picked up and completed the journey to our Ryokan (Japanese style hotel), Hoshinoya.

We arrived at the boat pier and were immediately met by a staff member who assisted us with our bags and escorted us to the waiting room where we were served a cup of Japanese tea and provided with maps of the area in case we wanted to do some sightseeing prior to going to the Ryokan.  We decided to walk around the area for an hour or so to stretch our legs after our trip and visited many of the local shops and temples in the area. 

This part of Kyoto is called Arashiyama and is rich in the history of Japan.  We had visited this area on my first visit to Japan back in 2005.  We had spent an entire day walking through the beautiful bamboo groves of this area that is populated with wonderful temples that date back to the Heian Period (794-1185).  These small temples are nestled into the wooded mountains and visiting them really provides an insight in the rich culture and heritage of Japan.  Although we elected to walk through this area, we could have taken advantage of the Rickshaw services that are provided in order to be comfortably transported through the meandering trails that make up this beautiful area.   We visited the bamboo groves and few of the temples in the area as well as the nearby local shops along the main street in the area.  This is definitely a must see destination for any trip to Japan that includes a visit to Kyoto.

We returned to the boat pier and barded the boat for the quick 10 minute voyage to Hoshinoya down the Ooigawa River.  We were met by two staff members upon our arrival and were escorted up a small path while our bags were taken by other staff members to be transported to our room for us.  As we made our way to our private chalet, we were give a tour of the grounds on which Hoshinoya is situated, our hostess spoke fluent English and was quite capable of answering all of our questions along the way. 

The view was breathtaking.  Hoshinoya is a luxury Ryokan that is made up of individual buildings that house the main reception desk with an adjoined library and seating room where guests can enjoy beverages while reading or playing games in a beautiful setting with great views of the river.  Other buildings that were made up of our initial tour included the main dining area and the building in which we would be visiting for a Japanese tea ceremony in a few hours.

The surrounding grounds and outdoor area of Hoshinoya provides two intimate gardens for you to enjoy.  The first of these is thee “Water Garden”, a mall pond area in front of the library that is fed by a waterfall.  There are chairs and tables situated on the edge of the pond where you can sit and enjoy the gentle sound of nature.  The second garden is the “Hidden Garden”, a Japanese style Zen garden that is in located near the middle of the grounds and provides a serene and quiet escape for peaceful reflection.  Both of these gardens are lit up at night in warm lighting that are just gorgeous.

We made our way into our room which was a private villa that was created in a beautiful blend of Japanese and Western style with a large and spacious floor plan.   We stayed in their “Yama” room which provided a bedroom, separate living room and a beautiful bathroom.  The bedroom was very large and contained two large western style beds situated on a raised platform.  The design of the bedroom was warm and comforting and the deep colours of the wooden interior really enhanced the ambiance of the view of the river and forest that was available from the large bedroom window.  The living room provided a small yet comfortable couch and lounge chair both set in front of a small table and facing a large window that looked out on the river and the mountain on the other side.  The bathroom was amazing with a separated area containing the shower facilities and a large cedar bathtub.  The toilet was of course in a separate room off of the main hall and contained the modernized toilet with, of course, the heated seat with complete bidet and wash functions that I have come to love in Japan

Our hostess joined us in our room and quickly signed us in while her assistant served us tea and a small confectionary.  Our host gave us the schedule for our tea ceremony and dinner for later that evening.  She also asked about our requirements for breakfast the next day and I chose a Western style breakfast while my wife opted for the traditional Japanese style.

After settling in to our room we were treated to a tour of some of the other rooms that are available at Hoshinoya.  All of the rooms at Hoshinoya have a view overlooking the river and designed for maximum comfort and flexibility

After our visit to the other rooms we went to enjoy a casual Japanese tea ceremony.  I had never experienced a tea ceremony and was looking forward to it.  We are first served a small Japanese confectionary to cleanse our pallet and the woman conducting the ceremony was very polite in walking me through the rituals like when to bow, proper placement of my hands, the accepting and proper way to sip the tea.  For my first time it was very comfortable and educational and I felt well prepared to take on a more traditional style ceremony that I knew would be coming later in my trip.  Overall it was a nice experience.

Dinner at a Ryokan is a feast served in a traditional style known as “Kaiseki”.  This is a multi-course meal that provides one glorious dish after another; these can range from 6 to 15 (or more) different dishes.  We were seated in a private dining room and were served each dish by a wonderful member of the staff, who also thankfully spoke English, and was able to give me the details of each dish that was served.  One piece of advice that I can offer to anyone entering into a Kaiseki style meal is to leave your inhibitions at the door and at least try everything that is presented to you.  Had I shied away from trying some of the dishes I would not have experienced some glorious foods that were absolute pleasures to my pallet.  Our entire menu consisted of the following:

 

These dishes are, of course, served one after the other and being in an enclosed private dining room the staff gave us enough time to complete each dish before bringing the next one.  It must be difficult for the staff to anticipate how much time they should give us for each dish, but they did quite well in their timing.  The entire meal took a little over 2 hours to complete but this is not an issue as the Kaiseki style of meal is designed to be an event and not just a dinner.  Our dinner experience was truly satisfying and we were both overwhelmed by the quality and freshness of each course.

After dinner, we enjoyed our brief outdoor walk back to our villa and stopped frequently to take in the beauty of Hoshinoya as it is bathed in warm lighting that really provides a peaceful and relaxing atmosphere on your journey back to your room.

Having had a long day of travel we were ready to enjoy the comforts of our villa and we both looked forward to a good nights’ sleep.   Our beds were extremely comfortable and in no time we both quickly fell asleep looking forward to what the next day would bring.

Visit Izumi's website to book your trip to Japan!