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Kyoto, Japan

“Useful fact on the Japanese railway system #724: They go on time, to the second and reserved seating is never wrong. So, when we boarded a bullet train four minutes early and someone was in our seat, we realised it was the wrong train… The lady sitting in our seat managed to convey in her only known two English words… “off – next”…

I have found my favourite town in Japan. Kyoto, but specifically the area of Gion. Our mission was to find a geisha. Research said in early evening they can be found between engagements on the river Gion at Gion Corner outside the tea houses or outside the famous Minamiza theatre. Fortunately geishas otherwise known as geikos (only 200 of them in Gion) or their under 21 year old counterparts – meikos (only 100) are very easy to spot. It’s probably their distinct white faces, kinda like ours. After ‘finding’ one we decided to abort this mission as they are embarrassingly followed around by tourists acting as paparazzi. This, no doubt, is all thanks to the book and movie ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ which is set in the town of Gion. Gion is more than geishas though. It’s very much old world Japan, with small streets, smaller tea houses and an extraordinary amount of culture. To experience the best of Gion and the traditional Japanese culture, we attended a theatre performance at Gion Corner. This included reenactments of the tea ceremony, Japanese harp, flower arranging, court music, ancient comic play, Kyoto style dance by geishas and a random puppet play by 3 men in black hoods.
As we had spent our dinner money on theatre tickets, we had Maccas for dinner and walked down the famous Pontocho street, the narrowest of lane-ways on the riverfront with expensive but exquisite restaurants. It is simply one of the most beautiful and interesting little place in the world. Gion is very old world and had very little credit card facilities even at Maccas. Geishas must be cheap if you don’t have to pay by credit card..unlikely!

Our second day was visiting Japan’s third largest city, Osaka. We had four hours to see Osaka before the train to Kobe, so we chose to visit Osaka Castle. Getting there required three trains in rush hour and I now know what a sardine feels like. The castle, complete with an inner and outer moat, was first built in 1583 and rebuilt in 1615 and 1931 ish.

“Favourite thing about travelling #101′: There’s time to search for random things suggested on the Internet. The Internet said to try the ‘famous’ Osaka okonomiyaki (cabbage, flour, eggs, seafood and other stuff) and takoyaki (flour batter and octopus). After leaving the aqua bus on the Osaka river we headed to the train station with the mission to find these two delicacies. We asked at the bakery for instructions and got side tracked by the danish pastries and then went to another food shop for instructions. This game is fun! The chef went next door to retrieve a map, explained how to get there in Japanese but we must have still looked confused so he signalled ‘follow me’. We followed the chef across town in his gumboots, apron and a towel on his head and he took us to where we could buy and eat them. All this without a word of English. These are the stories that make travelling memorable.”

Off to Kobe we went for the afternoon. It’s possible to visit three cities in one day with the bullet trains and a Japan Rail Pass. They say people make a holiday memorable and that was certainly the case with Yuma in Kobe. Yuma, who has better English than we do, was Mum and Dad’s exchange student in March 2013. Yuma went above and beyond for us with a full day of adventure planned. Firstly we took the cable car to the Kobe Nunobiki Herb Garden for free tea and a spectacular view over the city. Next, using the free subway tickets Yuma got us, we went to an ‘out of this world’ buffet. My first world problem of fruit salad juice mixing with ice cream was sorted at this place. The plates are divided into 9 sections – genius! Did I mention unlimited wine?! Following the best buffet of my life, we wandered over to the Ikuta Shinto Shrine where we learnt to wash our hands and wash the badness out of us before entering. This is the advantage of going with a local. You learn so much more than just meandering aimlessly. Following that was the new mall on the harbour, to the best $1 shop I have ever seen and to coffee overlooking the harbour and port.
“Interesting fact about Kobe #504: the small populated island off the mainland was literally created from broken down rubbish.”
To finish up our best day in Japan, we went to a Japanese photo booth where the pictures are altered with cartoon eyes and can be written on. This unusual and quirky idea was the best way to end the day. Arigato gozaimasu Yuma. You have given us an amazing experience and shown us the beautiful seaside town of Kobe.
After 3 cities, 13 hours, 1 aqua bus and 12 trains, including 3 bullets trains later, we arrived back in Kyoto.

The final morning of sightseeing in Japan was spent just out of Gion, Kyoto.There’s a narrow pathway up a hill, with tea houses either side, linking a temple and shrine. We got lost getting there, then got mashed on an over crowded bus and nearly broke our backs walking up the hill in the heat, so we spent 1,100 yen on a taxi back. That was saying something as we only had 2,000 yen to last until we flew out the next day and we still had to do the washing.

It had been a full on 7 days of sightseeing and we were very much looking forward to the 457km or 2.5hr bullet train ride to the Tokyo hotel by the airport. With so much crammed into this year, our virtual Sundays (any-day dedicated to rest from travelling) are becoming transiting days on a plane or train rather than a whole day’s rest. As a plus, we now go on to 2 months of being on an organised tour. It’s quite draining walking everywhere and continuously being lost 🙂
The last dinner in Japan would have been the best meal for Dave – the inside of the traditional Japanese restaurant, the ones where you take your shoes off to enter, was like a birdcage. Dave and I sat in our own little room on the floor and Dave ate his favourite Japanese food complemented by sake, and I had a pizza complemented by orange juice.

Overall, we both enjoyed Japan. In particular the days out of the city where cultures could really be experienced. Some random piece of information to finish off our blog on Japan:
– Although there are no rubbish bins to be seen, there is no rubbish anywhere.
– Smokers must smoke in designated areas.
– It’s illegal to ride a bike with an umbrella, but you don’t have to wear a helmet.
– Out of the city particularly, you only need to look at a map and someone will ask you if you need help.
– Japan overall is an expensive place, but possible to do ‘comfortably’ on $160 per day. That’s including accommodation, Weetbix for brekkie, combining lunch/dinner and a small amount of sightseeing. That’s twice as much as we allowed for any other country.
– A large vending machine beer is $1.70
– Platform shoes, and out there hair styles are ‘in’ and jandals is short for Japanese sandals!
– There are 26,000 daily train services in Japan, we used about 35 trains in 7days.

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