Clothing NOT Optional?
RECAP OF KYOTO
I guess I will be writing in present tense, and past tense.. depending on when I wrote it and I have limited time .. so no time for editing. It is what it is…
The first thing I noticed in Kyoto was all the tourists! Many more blondes here. :) It seemed the tourists were all in Kyoto instead of Tokyo… interesting!
More washrooms all around town, more garbage cans, much more conventional city type amenities for the general public. It may be too cumbersome for Tokyo, being so populated.
My hostel was heaven!! An Onsen, which was incredible!! Amazing showers, washrooms, vanity area, and laundry. Luxury!
I went in the onsen, super hot water.. floated, showered and washed my hair.. everything was perfect! Until I found out that for the onsen you are not allowed clothing. No clothing, no tattoos, and little stations to wash yourself before you get in. 4 stations all with mirrors beside eachother, no clothing allowed. Right. Well my float, wearing a bikini was amazing. I guess I got away with that one. I didn’t know onsens were that way – noted.
Kyoto population is almost 1.5M, so significantly smaller than Tokyo. The feel was entirely different. Almost like a country-type city. Again, I saw no high-end houses at all. I did see a couple of nicer homes while I was walking along the river, pic below.. but still not high-end. More people here drive cars as well, though most people here ride a bike. I’ll call it the BIKE CITY., all ages.. bikes everywhere.
I noted too that on the train, with more tourists, that the tourists were looking around and chatting, while the locals were all still only looking at their phones. This must be cultural at this point as well. I have seen many Japanese families, where the parents – specifically the father is on his phone for the entire ride, often playing a game. I have never seen one wife or mother be even slightly annoyed, only watching the game and helping their kids play phone games as well. It must be widely accepted as the norm here. I was considering how an American woman would react to this, and I thought.. this has not been so accepted in the West, where fathers are often very involved in child rearing, and the details of that.
I like Kyoto. I guess I would say I prefer Tokyo over Kyoto if I had to choose - only because Tokyo is nothing if not exhilarating.
DAILY DIARY
DAY 6 – Oct 21
I was pretty organized last night, but got up 6:45am to catch a train to Kyoto at 9:18am
Finding the right gate was rough. I went to go ask an attendant if I was in the right place, he told me I need to go to the other attendant on other end of the turnstiles. As I walk back weaving between roughly 200,000 people in this small area, I see my wallet lying on the floor in the middle of all the people. It is a tiny pink leather wallet with a gold chain on it and clasp, so I know it’s mine. It’s old and worn but handy for travel. My heart stopped. I lunged to pick it up, looked inside.. my visa, my debit card, my drivers licence and all my Japanese cash. Excellent. Thank you Jesus!!! I can’t begin to think….
So how about Day 6 same outfit!? I took a photo showing my thumb for day 6 same outfit. I packed only one pair of pants because everywhere else I’m going will be hot so Japan gets one outfit I guess.
I took a train to Kyoto, took a bus straight to my hostel, First Cabin Kyoto Nijojo. O.M.G.!!!! Hallelujah!!!! It is amazing!!! But cannot check in till 5pm. So…
Went to the downtown Kyoto market today… was insane! SO many people again! Though this time there were so many tourists. I hardly saw tourists in Tokyo. Kyoto is full of tourists, including many blonde girls haha. Wonder why so many tourists here and not in Tokyo…
The market was absolutely massive and fun. I had Wasagu beef on a stick for $15. Tomorrow maybe I’ll try kobe beef, somewhere in Japan I must try it.
Came back and I went in the natural hot spring tub / onsen with the door to the outside open, had a great shower, washed my hair, blow dried it, did LAUNDRY for my one outfit!!! Haha, met a great girl from Switzerland named Leah, who is cycling through Japan wow!! Inspirational!
Worked on my blog and now about to go to sleep 10:30pm.
Nighty-Night.
DAY 7 – Oct 22
This hostel is to die for! Ten out of ten!! We sleep in pods so we each have our own private space but the roll down doors do not roll right to the bottom so you hear small noises. I woke up early to a woman with a heavy snore. Wouldn’t you want that for a description? A woman with a heavy snore.. sorry lady.. I had on a white noise fan on my phone plus I put in an ear plug and still… ugh… I did fall back asleep. Got up at 8:30am to grab a coffee and ran into Leah, my new Swiss friend. She is so super sweet, she is a barista and shared her coffee with me since the machine here was temporarily down. We chatted about an hour then parted ways. She was off to figure out her next cycling route, I was off to my agenda for the day.
Felt good to start the day with a clean outfit!! Albeit I had worn this outfit since I left Kelowna, but it felt crispy clean today.
I started at a bamboo forest, the most famous one in Japan. Was unbelievably beautiful. I decided to pay for a rickshaw. 12 minutes for $40 but I believe it was longer than that. Also, he stopped twice to ask if he wanted me to take my pic. What, me?? A photo?? Haha, he obviously didn’t know that I have been carrying around a camera with me since I was basically a kid. As a teen, I took photos of everything, and I have never stopped since. Long before digital was a thing, and when I had to pay for every developed photo – yes, I’m that old.
After the bamboo forest, I headed to Gion, a district known for entertainment and restaurants. Super interesting streets, some so skinny you could barely walk side by side with someone and yet even those were full of businesses. There was a festival on today in Kyoto, so many of the city streets were shut down for parades, etc.. On my bus ride there, I called my parents for a catch up. As well, the bus was empty which was very odd. This meant I got the tall seat, first on the bus so I had the best view. What a treat!
Today I tried Kobe beef with ramen in a little side street restaurant. . They have no ‘doggie bags’ in Japan… ugh…. I ate about ¼ of it and had to leave it. I do not like waste so that was tough. Tasty though!! While I was there, the restaurant completely filled up. There has to be a few 100 thousand shops to eat down there, restaurants, etc.. how is every single one lined up and full?
Maps took me through the most random beautiful walkways. There had to be 2 Million people on the streets for this huge festival and parades. Maps took me beside a river in a residential area for a long time before I came back to insanity with all the people. It was an absolute treat.
I stood in line for 45 min to catch a bus back, which never came. Finally, I checked the app and saw that everything was rerouted today due to the festival. To my chagrin, I flagged a taxi and paid $20 to go 3km in 24 minutes. Had I known it was 3km I would have probably walked. But it had started to drizzle, and my phone was at 7% so I didn’t want to risk getting lost. I am hoping to get my external charger next week when my friend meets me in Vietnam. The trick will be getting Jorg to reply to my texts. She arrived in Kelowna 2 days after I left for her reading break, so I missed her. She is a busy girl seeing all her friends, so getting replies from her are few and far between.
Back at the hostel, I learned that I had missed a great spot in Kyoto, so I will go in the morning to Fushimi Inari. Grabbed some food at the supermarket tonight and chatted with Lea for an hour or so. Then chatted with Renata from Ireland.
In the morning, before I left .. I did end up going to Fushimi Inari, a famous shrine with 1000’s of vermillion torii gates. It is beautiful. Thought I was hugely distracted. I got a text from my irrigation guy at my house with some questions about my tenants. Immediately I was dealing with those questions. I went to the WRONG Fushimi Irani gates. How are there two? I asked an officer on the street, and he said, ‘you better take taxi’. I caved. I paid the 18 bucks. I needed to make a few calls about my house. I made calls in the cab, arrived at the large orange gate entrance. Walked through and took photos. It was incredible. But the entire time I was basically making phone calls and not enjoying the moment as I should, so I didn’t stay very long.
I went back to head to Osaka. Oh my, that adventure is next!
PICS BELOW
Everyone buys these at every market, I have not had the guts to have one yet.. squid where they put a burner to it for a few seconds, full of eggs inside .. I am trying to muster the courage while I’m here
Every street is full of children of all ages in school uniforms
My ‘pod’ .. was great!
My Onsen experience - doing it my way. Now the question is, will I go into another one while I’m here? lol
The blisters on the back of my heels have no chance to heal since both the shoes I brought have backs on them, so I have tried various types of bandaids every day
Same outfit, day 7 - but clean!!
Richshaw pic #1 that he asked if he could take of me. Famous bridge behind me
Amazingly beautiful bamboo forest, most famous one in Japan in Kyoto
Streets shut down for Festival
Festival parade starting
Maps took me to the best walking paths beside the river, the guy behind me was fishing for something tho I could not see any fish.. I couldn't figure out what he was trying for
Nicest house I have seen in Japan so far, even a parking spot for a car
Uniforms everywhere
Skinny side streets maximized, business everywhere you look
Two cab rides in Kyoto for me!
Yes, I am still working while I am out here, a little every day!
No chopsticks means I use 2 coffee stir sticks for my noodles at the hostel
Sweet Leah, thanks for the great chats! All the best as you cycle around the world!
Fushimi Inari
Snapping a pic on the train, tourists chatting, locals on their phones every time
