Kyoto.
How to start this post? Well, Kyoto is the only city I just HAD to see while we were here in Japan. When reading about it, it sounded wonderful. Old Japan meets new Japan. Where the Geisha still learn and perfect their craft and where buildings have been standing for thousands of years.
We are low on nurses right now and cannot take leave for a while. I was hoping to take a solid amount of time off from work and see Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima, but it is obvious that it may be hard to do that.
I had a holiday the other week, so that gave me 3 days off. Tues-Thurs. I brought it up the week before to Cameron that I thought we should try and get to Kyoto.
Most people take the bullet train. It's fast! It's exciting! It's also expensive for two people! There and back was going to cost around $550, plus the hotel and food and now we're looking at $1000 for a quick trip. To leave our house, take the train to Tokyo and get on the bullet train, it would have been around 4 hrs.
I looked at overnight buses down there as well. Here in Japan, they are amazing! Some have tvs in the backs of the seats and they give you pillows, blankets and keep it dark. That would have been cheaper, but still around $350-$400.
Taking our car would only cost $225 in tolls round trip and take around 5 1/2 hrs to drive. We opted to rent a car on base because they give you free toll tickets and you don't have to worry about messing up your own car. Thankfully, they had a car to use on short notice!
Tuesday morning, we got up and left by 6am. The drive was pretty easy. We've found, it's just easier to get on the toll roads when you can. Some of the beach routes can take hours if there is traffic. Also, driving south of us it much easier than any place up north where we have to go through Tokyo! Two toll roads and we were basically in Kyoto.
We made good time and were too early to check into our hotel. In Japan, they charge you per person at hotels, even for the same size room! We tend to then try and stay at chain hotels in Japan. One we have stayed at often is the APA Hotel (Always Pleasant Amenity) ;). Another one we have used inthe past is Hotel Wing International. Nice thing about picking the one I did is that there was a Starbucks on the first floor! We got some coffees and headed out to explore.
The first place we went to was the Fushimi Inaria Taisha shrine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fushimi_Inari-taisha). I have always seen photos of the 10,000 torrii gates and have wanted to walk through them myself. We tried to walk all the way through, but it seemed short, so maybe we missed a turn and a whole section. :( Maybe try again some day.
The other awesome thing about Kyoto: vegetarian/vegan restaurants!!! We never get to eat out when we travel in Japan. Vegetarianism isn't quite understood as well in some areas. They mostly don't get why you don't eat fish! In Kyoto, they have many people that understand and support it! We were so excited to try these places out. The first one was near the Fushimi Inari shrine.
Vegans cafe. (http://www.veganscafe.com/) It was awesome. Lovely interior, lovely waitress. It was funny, because I've been learning a little more Japanese lately and can usually start to understand people in certain situations, but I didn't understand a THING our waitress was trying to say the whole time. I was confused. I was asking Cameron and he also said he was having a hard time understanding her. He is thinking maybe some of the words and dialect is different from the Tokyo area. I could see that. It would be like visiting San Antonio and then going to Boston.
It was delicious. We were full and totally happy to sit in a restaurant and order food we knew was vegetarian. Actually vegetarian. :D They also had paperwork and flyers about saving animals and supporting vegetarianism on the way out. Pretty awesome little gem.
We went back to the hotel and checked in and cleaned up a bit. Then, we headed out to walk around town. There are so many areas in Kyoto that are still holding on to old Japan. Wooden buildings that have been standing for hundreds of years and streams of water running through the city. Then, there is a modern Kyoto with wide sidewalks (seems so different from Tokyo). Wide, open streets and you do not feel claustrophobic.
Every shop we passed, I wanted to go in and look. I'm not a big "travel shopper" and don't care to go somewhere to shop, but Kyoto's shops seemed different. They were all well crafted items. Hand made bags, paintings, pottery. I went in one store that was an artist's store. He paints and made his paintings, etc into fabric along with other items. I bought a cool over the shoulder causal bag/purse. I got a print out of the artist. He also paints on the slide doors for tatami rooms and they are so beautiful. I want a Japanese house some day. I would have him come paint. :D (http://www.ki-yan-stuzio.com/) Check his stuff out! Awesome!
I saw this small shop that said handmade watches. I thought they'd be extremely expensive, but Cam got me to step in and just look. They were awesome! Also, pretty affordable. I had a hard time choosing, but I found one and asked the woman if I could try it on. I wanted it! I told her I would buy it and she said she made them all. She maybe looked 26! I was surprised. Sugoi!!! I love watches and hers are amazing. You can order online. (http://dedegumo.jp/en/top/home) OHHHHH. Just saw, she opened a shop in NY! Wow. (http://ny.racked.com/archives/2011/01/10/handmade_watches_from_kyoto_to_the_lower_east.php)
That night, we checked out this other vegan restaurant I found on happy cow. I had read that it was someone's house, but didn't think anything of it. It also said it was "cluttered". Yeah. So, it took a while. We found it. It was a house and it was really awkward because we weren't sure if it was a restaurant or not. I opened the door and stepped in and it was like the cantina scene from Star Wars.
It was a filthy house, similar to the show hoarders, with paper and posters all over the floor and ceiling. Oh, yes, right above the open flame she was cooking with. No one really said anything or invited us in. I turned to Cameron to see if we could just leave, and he was planted. He was making a point to stay because I made a big deal about reading the map better to get there. ha. So, we stayed. Awkward. I could write a whole post about this place alone. It was strange and oh yes, we saw several things alive and making homes of the posters and clutter. BUT. The food. Oh, the food. It was amazing!!! Each of our vegan plates was different. They were SO good and the woman finally started to open up. I am not sure if I would go back, but man, I am glad we went. I don't know how our stomach didn't have issues after eating there, but it was fine. (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298564-d1593955-Reviews-Mikoan-Kyoto_Kyoto_Prefecture_Kinki.html)
The next day, we started out with a coffee. :D Then, headed to Nijo-jo Castle. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nij%C5%8D_Castle) It was completed in 1625! I liked that castle better than Odwara Castle. It was a fun time walking around and looking at the Shogunate living quarters and gardens. It was starting to sprinkle, but we knew it would be raining that trip, so we were prepared. June is unpredictable when it comes to weather. After the castle, we ate at ANOTHER vegetarian place. Morpho Cafe. (http://www.morphocafe.com/) Also, DELICIOUS!!! They had this fried tofu that had texture almost like chicken and the breading wad so good.
After that, we went on to our tour of the Imperial Palace. (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3917.html) I thought this would be inside, so that's why I chose it when it might rain. Nope. Outside tour. haha. That was fun. Also, can I throw this in? I just don't know if I like many European travelers. That's all. Just my experience. All the European men would go running under the covers and leave women and children out in the pouring rain. I thought it was funny. The tour was really interesting. I wish I could go back on a nice day and hear everything the guide told us.
That night, we walked all over trying to find a place to eat. I hadn't researched any others, even though we knew there were more vegetarian places to eat. None close to our hotel that I could find quick. We ate at a bar and got some drinks. We were pooped. Headed back to hotel.
The last day, we got up, checked out and drove over to the NW area of Tokyo to where the Bamboo forest is. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arashiyama) There is so much to do in just this area. We thought there would be a lot of people because we didn't get there that early, but maybe the rain kept people away. We walked through the forest of bamboo. It was really amazing and beautiful.
Then, we went over to the Golden Pavilion. That, we should have done earlier. The parking lot was FULL of school buses. SOOOO many kids, all with umbrellas. It was crazy trying to look around there, but it was so amazing to just see. (http://www.shokoku-ji.jp/k_access.html) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkaku-ji) Sometimes, little kids in tourist areas will stop and try to ask you questions in English. It's so cute. They even took a picture of us. I think we freak kids out when we try and speak Japanese.
After that, we got food and started on our trip back. I LOVE Kyoto. I really would move there if I could. If I knew what to do when we got old and we weren't so far from friends and family, I'd buy a place in a second. I love the Japanese people. There is hardly any crime. It's clean, safe, the customer service is amazing. The scenery is beautiful outside the cities. It's just really amazing to live here. I will have such a hard time moving back. People here think of the better good over themselves first. Workers smile and help you instead of making you feel that you are imposing on their work hours. ha!
Here's my next house!
http://japanpropertycentral.com/traditional-japanese-homes/for-sale/114-yr-old-kominka-in-kita-ku-kyoto-city/
Or, maybe a tiny house in Shinjuko, Tokyo: http://japanpropertycentral.com/traditional-japanese-homes/traditional-home-with-private-garden-in-shinjuku/
Gotta win the lottery so we can have a vacation home in Kyoto:
http://japanpropertycentral.com/traditional-japanese-homes/traditional-residence-near-kyotos-gion-district/
There is so much to do there. We will have to take several trips back. I can't wait for my next section of days off!
