kyoto

Kyoto has been very nice and definitely lived up to the hype. It doesn’t have all the neon Tokyo does and it’s certainly not blue collar like Osaka, but it does have an unimaginable number of temples, shrines and pagodas. It’s a little overwhelming to be honest. We arrived Sunday evening and after checking into our hostel, we headed back towards Kyoto Station to find some food. The station is actually a massive complex opened in 1997 with shopping, dining and a hotel – not to mention a major train and bus station. The inner concourse is enormous – with skywalk on the 10th floor and great views of the city from the 11th floor. Afterwards, Steve and I enjoyed some conveyor belt sushi – which we hadn’t had since the first day in Tokyo.



On Monday morning we headed out hoping to cram in quite a bit of sightseeing. The weather channel called for rain on Tuesday, so we wanted to get as many sights in as possible. Our first stop was at Kiyomizu-dera, which to the untrained eye might otherwise seem like an Ewok village perched in the hills. It was gray and hazy out, but we still got some great views of Kyoto while following the hordes of school children and tourists around the grounds. From there we followed the path set out by the Lonely Planet guide down small alleys, parks and near other temples and shrines, though we opted not to visit each and every one in detail – there are literally hundreds. This actually took quite a while and so it was soon time for lunch. Having become experts in Japanese fast food over the last week or so, we were quite comfortable ordering rice and noodle bowls from a vending machine… Basically you walk in to the restaurant, put your money into a vending machine, press one of the buttons – most of which have tiny little pictures of what you’re getting – and then hand your ticket over to the waiter. In turn, he brings your food tableside. It’s just as efficient as everything else in Japan and it’s actually kindda fun trying to figure out what all the tiny pictures are when you’re “ordering”. So far I don’t think either of us has been disappointed with of the food that we’ve gotten at these “fast food” restaurants and in fact some of them have been excellent. After lunch, we made our way to Ginkaku-ji which is a temple (unfortunately under construction) with very peaceful gardens behind it. There’s a cool rock garden, a pond and lots of pine trees, all of which make for a very nice afternoon walk. With a light rain falling we decided to head back towards the hostel along the “Path of Philosophy.” Rest assured that Steve and I did not philosophize about very much of anything, but the walk down the canal was also very pleasant. Note that we saw countless other shrines and temples throughout the day, but those were certainly the highlights.



This morning (Tuesday) we left anticipating a day abbreviated by rain. As it turns out, the forecast was way off and it was actually nicer than yesterday – thanks weather channel! Once again, we ended up walking a ton, first heading north from the hostel towards the Imperial Palace Park. The park is massive and it took quite some time for us to get across – but it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the rest of the city – so that was a nice change. Since the weather appeared to be holding up we decided to turn around and head south, past the hostel to Fushimi-Inari Taisha. This shrine originally dedicated to the gods of rice and sake has thousands of torrii which lead up the wooded slopes of the adjacent mountain. It’s a very impressive sight and was certainly worth the long trek down. Oh, I almost forgot. On the way down to the shrine we stopped at Mos Burger – essentially the Japanese equivalent to McDonalds. But fear not, I haven’t lost my mind quite yet. I really wanted to try a “rice burger” which is basically a burger with “rice patties” as buns. I also didn’t actually get a burger but rather “ginger pork” which was actually something like bacon simmered in teriyaki sauce and ginger and then stuffed between the “buns”. It was quite a challenge to eat since it basically falls apart into what would normally be a rice bowl – but was otherwise quite good. Other differences from McDonalds – coke served in an actual glass (and made with real sugar!), no ketchup to be found and tableside service by a staff that actually seems happy to work there. After the Fuhimi-Inari shrine we took a train back to the hostel (we needed a break from all the walking) but stopped at the Nishi food market nearby first to take full advantage of the samples of Japanese pickles and other assorted food products on display. All in all Japan has been full of awesome foods and I think I’ve really enjoyed each of my meals here. Whether it was an Izakaya, a noodle shop, a sushi restaurant or a “fast-food” stop, the Japanese really know how to eat well. It’s been a fun nine days.



Tomorrow Steve heads back to the States while I make my way to Beijing. A number of you have asked me about the status of my plans in China given the recent terrible earthquake in the Sichuan province. I have been following the news closely and will certainly adjust my plans as necessary to avoid Chengdu and the Sichuan province in general. Since I don’t really have concrete plans past Beijing, making last minute adjustments should not be difficult. For now I expect to simply fly from Xi’an to Kunming and spend more time in the Yunan province than I had originally planned. Hope everyone back home is doing well. Next stop, China.