When staying in Kyoto, a visit to Ine Bay in northern Kyoto is well worth a visit. With mountains rising up in the background and the calm, steady waters of the bay in the foreground, it’s one of the most photogenic places in all of Japan. So I decided to take a cruise ferry ride in Ine Bay, just for the experience.
The ticket counter was pretty busy so I had to wait in line to get a ticket for the cruise.
A Scenic Ferry Cruise in Ine Bay: Seagulls and Waterfront Views
There was a shop counter selling food near the ticket counter. I could see different kinds of soft serve ice cream and burgers being sold. I wasn’t hungry at that moment so I decided to skip the food.
Then I walked down the wooden walkway towards the ferry. There were plenty of people around me, also getting ready to ride the ferry.
The top deck of the ferry boat was open and there were seagulls flying around everywhere.
When we started, the seagulls started flying alongside us.
They were clearly visible even from the covered lower deck of the boat.
The people around me took out their phones and started taking photos and videos of the seagulls flying around. It was a breathtaking sight. I too decided that I simply must capture this view and took lots of pictures.
There were railings all along the sides of the boat so that people would be safe. There was no danger of anybody falling. Even though the sky was cloudy, the water looked so green!
Then I headed up to the upper deck. It was cold but lots of people had gathered there to look at the scenery and the seagulls. Everyone was dressed in heavy winter clothes and I could even see a few people feeding the seagulls.
I didn’t really know how safe that was. The seagulls swarmed around the heads of the tourists, searching for food. How long would they fly alongside the boat, I wondered.
As we headed deeper into Ine Bay, some of the seagulls seemed to fall away. But some others still followed us. A few sat on the railings and sides of the boat, as if they had gotten tired of flying.
I was sure they did this with every ferry and I wondered why. What did they gain from it?
The mountains were dimly visible in the background. I wished that the day had been clear and sunny. Then I would have gotten such brilliant photographs!
As it was, everything seemed a little bit gloomy and hazy. The brightest things were the jackets of my fellow tourists.
I decided to creep a little bit closer to the seagulls and take a photograph from close by.
They were very used to human company. They didn’t even flinch at how close I was.
People seemed to be feeding them cookies and chocolates.
And the seagulls were almost posing for photos.
I could see that we were getting close to land.
The huts and roads started becoming more visible.
The seagulls took off, knowing that we had reached our destination.
I got off the ferry and looked back.
It was now empty of humans. Only seagulls filled the seats and the railings of the upper deck.
The boat tour dock had a small souvenir shop.
There was also a parking area where people could park their cars.
I saw huge tourists buses parked there.
The seagulls walked around among the bicycles and traffic cones. It was really one of the funniest sights that I had ever seen.
A big, luxurious looking boat was parked on one end. It looked fancier than our ferry and its railings were also filled by seagulls.
