Kickin' it in KYOTO!!
Trip Start
Mar 10, 2009
1
11
39
Trip End
Nov 09, 2009
Where I stayed
Tomato Guest House & K House
Kyoto, Kinki, Japan
Sunday, March 29, 2009
More pics have been added. I will attempt to get some write blogging on today and catch everyone up a bit
CMB - So, we get to Kyoto late in the afternoon after an 8 hours train ride on local JR trains to Kyoto. Not the ideal time saver but much cheaper with a special train pass many japanese use at this time of the year. During sakura, they offer the Seishun 18 kippu, a special train pass, to use any 5 days from March 20 - April 10 for $110. This is really a huge bargain which is why all the locals buy it but you can not use the shinkansen (bullet train) with this pass. So, we had many train rides that day with 5 train transfers and 8 hours of travel instead of no transfers and 2 hours for the bullet train. Such is life for the unemployed backpacker. Was cool to cruise through the small towns and see more of the landscape as well.
Of course, Makely and I are lazy and like some adventure so we did not book a room in advance when going to the most popular Japanese destination at the most popular time of the year - spring, sakura blossom Kyoto = crazy.... we are very very smart in case you didn't know. So, we get in and start walking around town with our multiple backpacks looking for a room despite several warnings that it is very crowded and almost everything is booked. We, of course, are turned around and are lost as we exit the train station. This by the way is one of the most confusing parts of traveling by train or subway. You get to a new place or location and you exit 1 of several station exits and you have no idea where you are or which direction you are facing. Luckily, there are usually blown up map signs giving you some help but not here as the train station here is also a huge mall and hotel.
So... we start to go to a hostel we thought to try from Lonely Planet. Too bad we end up going southeast instead of northwest... completely turned around. Luckily, we see another backpacker walking this direction so we stalk him. Luckily for us, we follow him right to another hostel we had heard good things about, J-Hoppers - which has locations all over Japan and all come recommended. Catch up with him and he re-iterates how hard it is to find a room in Kyoto right now... great! Finally get there and cross our fingers but no luck. They are booked for the whole time we are going to be in Kyoto.
And now we realize we are not lucky guys traveling the world just stupid guys... As Makely says... long story longer... we finally get a good map of Kyoto which show locations of many hotels and hostels. The guy at J-hoppers recommends trying, K house, which we had also heard about and had a great recommendation through hostelworld.com. We head over there...about a 20 min walk. When we eventually get there we are getting tired and the backpacks are starting to weight at least 10 tons... BTW, side note, we are screwed when we try to hike Machu Picchu for 4 days later in the trip. Of course we ask if they have any beds... no dice.
Getting a little worried at this point and it is getting late... we may be sleeping at the train station on the ground. They did have rooms here in 3 days though so we went ahead and booked those. They also gave us a recommendation not on the Kyoto hostel map which we were sure everyone probably had. They had a public phone we could use as well so I called ahead on 1 of them and SUCCESS!!!! They had just had a cancellation and fwe hours ago for a double room which wasn't much more expensive than a dorm style room. Reserved and then another 20 min walk across town to our new home... at least we had one.
Nice place - Tomato Hostel, in case ur ever in Kyoto, and it was the first Japanese style room we had statyed in. No bed, just mats and comforter to sleep in... really not bad at all. We also had our own TV... a novelty but fun to watch some Japanese TV in which we couldn't understand a lick but was funny to watch nonetheless.
After a good night's sleep, we take off to see some of the great Kyoto sites. We walk it. Starting to get our traveling legs as we walk everywhere we go (perhaps we will survive Manchu Picchu....) We head towards the river and a string of great old temples that line the eastern edge of town. You will see this in the pics... cool heron at the river with sakura trees up and down the bank and we spot our first geisha that is walking along the river as well. Very cool... a taste of some old Japanese culture. Break....
OK, CMB back at the the computer to try to wrap up parts of Japan which already seem like months ago. One quick note though.... Japanese is WAAAAAAY easier than Chinese to speak and understand as we are now in Xi'an and have already been to Beijing.
So, back to our first day in Kyoto... We hit the eastern stretch of town which is lined with beautiful Buddhist temples with sakura starting to blossom everywhere. It really is a beautiful time to be in Kyoto. I would highly recommend coming here around this time. Japanese and foreigners are out in the thousands to enjoy the beauty of this time of year and the traditional backdrop of old Kyoto. Makely and I are taking pictures like mad since everywhere you look seems to be another "perfect" shot. We hit our first temple, Kiyomizu-deru temple. There are many mothers and their daughters out in full kimono traditional outfits that Makely and I are sneaking around to get shots of while they are posing with the sakura. I eventually ask some to pose for me and they are very happy to oblige - see pic. We end up following a family around the temple complex at about the same pace and you would start to think that they were traveling with us from all of our pictures with them in it. There is also the "love stone" at Kiyomizu temple. There are 2 stones on the ground about 50 feet apart. You are supposed to try to walk from one to the other with your eyes closed. If you can make it, then you are supposed to have your wish granted. If not, then it will be a long time before your love is realized. With about 100 people around these stones, it was virtually impossible to attempt the "walk of love"... i guess i'll just have to keep truckin' and see what happens...
At each temple, as you enter, there is a fountain of sorts with water dripping usually out of a bamboo into a stone basin and a bamboo "ladle". You are supposed to use the ladle to get some water and rinse your hands and then rinse your mouth out before you enter the temple. Not mandatory but I started to do this at every temple as Makely began to photo document many of the episodes, "Birnie washing his hands for the 1000th time...".
So many sites this first day, it was a bit overwhelming. Temples to parks lined with food vendors and crafts for sale, to small old Japanese cobble-stoned streets with teahouses and sakura poking out of little patches of dirt between the old homes. Everywhere people out to soak it all up. An amazing day really - makes me smile to remember back to it. At each park or riverbank, there would be friends and family setting up a picnic under a sakura to enjoy some food, beer and sake. Some times they would even have tents out to stay all night, drinking, eating and laughing all day and night... it was really cool and quite a sight to see.
After a full day of walking around the temples and parks, we were quite beat and ready to sit or more likely lie down. We started the walk back to the hostel, maybe a 20 min walk. Of course, we were magically pulled aside by the offerings of a 1 coin standing bar. The beer sounded good so we ducked in to this tiny standing bar for a "quick" drink. Each beer was only 100yen ($1) with the nominal gaijin entrance fee of 100yen. We convinced ourselves that it only made sense to have at least 3 beers to get the most of our entrance fee... and so it began. We soon caught our 3rd wind and are off to the races drinking and laughing about this little place and events of the day. You will see the picture of the bar as club radish or detonator bar (detonator from the japanese symbol of the bar's name). So happens that this little place is soon packed. We end up chatting to 2 gaijin (foreigner) guys that show up. One, a guy from New Zealand (kiwi), and the other an American from, of course, Encinitas. Crazy how small the world can be. Second person we have now met from Encinitas while traveling around... who would have thunk it? These guys have been living in Japan for awhile and we start talking about everything... Japanese phrases, such as "O-tsukare sama des" (what u say to locals after a long day and are ready to relax), what is it like living here?, the guy from Encinitas is asking me about Swami's and some other surf breaks and eats around north county, etc... really was classic. Eventually the guy from Encinitas starts talking to an older Japanese guy and his daughter that were near us. Lots of laughing throughout all the conversations ... particularly listening to the guy from Encinitas talk to the Japanese guy in a broken but somewhat coherant, English/Japanese/surfer lingo. The group eventually gets bigger as 2 local Aussies join the group that knew the kiwi. They all wanted to know how we found this place as it is the best deal in Kyoto for beers. "Just luck and we happened to be thirsty", we said and the beers kept flowing. More questions, stories from both sides, advise on how to speak better Japanese, their jobs, etc... they were all married to Japanese women which was interesting. Nonetheless, starting to get ugly at this point. 3 sheets to the wind with at least a six pack or more down, we decide to follow the Kiwi and "Diego" (Encinitas guy as he is now referenced), to Rub-a-Dub, reggae bar which we had actually heard about and was supposed to be a fun place. We get some snacks at a convenience store, a travel beer for the walk and we are off to Rub-a-Dub. We roll in and start the drinking up again... as you can see from some of the pics... it is very ugly at this point. I spill my first vodka tonic all over the bar and Makely finally comes out of his shell (I know this is surprising to many but he has actually been fairly quiet at this point when out at bars). We are talking to everyone and making friends -the rasta japanese bartender, 2 cute japanese girls that are either laughing with us or at us... probably the later, and a group of younger japanese guys that wanted to talk about baseball...naming every japanese player in the MLB which eventually turned into a battle of Yankees vs Red Sox. Unbeknownst to me, I guess our "friend", Diego, would occasionally steal my vodka tonics as I would order one then get distracted and turn to talk to someone. He would quickly down my whole drink before I turned back around. Makely saw this and told him that he would buy him a drink and he didnt need to be such a jackass! Diego was more wasted than us and muttered something in a drunken slur and left. It was getting late (maybe 3am) and had been a very very long day. Makely was fading so he said he was heading back but similar to a late night in Tokyo, I was out for the long haul like a drunken idiot. I can not be stopped! So, Makely headed up the stairs to grab a cab and about 3 seconds later I realize I am that drunken idiot (THAT GUY - makely here hahaha) and need to get some sleep fast! So, I run up the stairs to try to catch the same cab back but it was already too late. He had come out and a cab was right there in front of the bar. He had sped back home to comfortable sleep. I, on the otherhand, decide, I will make the walk of shame all the way back to the hostel... no big deal. As I stumble down the street, hopefully in the right direction, I happen to run across a dart bar that we had seen much earlier in the day and was hosting a dart tournament that night. Since I recognized it, I decide to head in. I can't imagine what they must have thought as I barge in. Of couse, I was met with open arms and hopes that I would probably spend some good money there. I get a beer and they ask if I want to play some darts. Of course, I do... would love to, besides the fact I can't clearly see 10 feet in front of me. I get set up to play darts with 2 girls and another guy that are all regulars there... probably just finishing up their round in the dart tournament. They tell me one of the girls is number 1 in Kyoto... sure, sure, bring it on! So, we start out and play teams, guys vs girls... cricket style of play. It also happens to be Ms. #1 in Kyoto's birthday that night so we are all celebrating and the drinks are flowing... They may be as drunk as I am... maybe. They can all speak broken English and me broken Japanese at this point so we have a great time with competitive banter. Honestly, gets a bit blurry at this point... I know we lost the first cricket match by 2 bullseyes and a 15... not bad, i think... at least respectable. I blame it on my partner, he sucks ;). This continues on for 2 more hours... 501 style darts and much laughing and joking around. The birthday girl constantly yelling my name when it is my turn to go, "Buuuurrrrneeeeeeee". All of it comes towards the end of the night as I take on Ms. #1/ birthday girl mono e mono. Of course, the guys have yet to win a game at this point. We go 501 head to head and surprisingly I am keeping pace. She went first and gets within striking distance to finish the game while I am thinking I might have a chance since she needs to double off to win (hit the "double" of the number on the board to equal the number of points she has left to exactly equal 0 - probably doesn't make sense to those who don't play darts). Nonetheless, I think I have a chance. She of course hits a low number then hits the double on her second dart... game over.... maybe she is #1 in Kyoto and has been toying with me all along. Still great fun... she and the others I was playing with have to go as it is very late so I saddle up to the bar to contemplate what is next... I think I am out for only 5 or 10 minutes when the staff wakes me up at the bar to pay my tab... not too bad, $21. I wearily walk out with a cab waiting for me to take me back to the hostel... damn, it is bright out here as i look at my watch and it is now 5:30am. I struggle to remember the names of the streets the hostel is near as he has no idea where Tomato hostel is.. somehow I come up with it so that he gets close and I can direct him from there. We get there and I look in my wallet.. no cash and he doesn't take credit card... great! So.. back in the cab and to a nearby 7-11 (they are everywhere) to go to the ATM. We already found that many of the ATMs didnt seem to take our bank cards and was hoping this was not the case here. Later, we found out that it is not our cards but the picture on the ATM displays is misleading or we are dumb. The picture shows that you should put the magnetic strip up into the ATM when this is actually not the case and it should be down as in the USA. Of course, at this time, I haven't figured this out yet and can't get money out of the ATM. I head back out to the taxi and tell him. I decide to have him take me back to the hostel and try to get some money from Makely. Back at the hostel, I storm in like a herd of elephants, up the stairs and probably wake everyone up... yes, I am an idiot! Telling this story is a bit embarassing by the way. Into the room, rifle through Makely's wallet and nothing... he is broke too.. DAMN IT! I gather as much change as I can from him and I and head back down to bad news for the cab driver. I give him about $2 for a $10 cab ride and repeatedly say in my most desparate tone, "I am sorry" in Japanese (gomen nasai, gomen nasai, gomen nasai...). He calls in to the mothership and talks for a while then shoos me away with a half smile. Then, I go up to sleep with my tail between my legs.... crazy first day in Kyoto.
I get up the next day hungover. Makely is hungover too but he gets up and heads out... I am feel terrible and stay in. Makely, of course, has no money so he has to go hunt for an ATM to get going as do I later when I get up. Both starving when we get up but have no money. Both find ATMs and Makely discovers the error of the ATM card problem when he uses a help phone attached to the ATM machine. I open my wallet at the ATM and find a polaroid picture of Ms. #1 dart player in Kyoto and I that I had forgetten about. Funny night and great fun!
So in order to catch up on this blog, I am going to have to speed things along. As much as I wish I could document it all and every moment, it ends up taking for too long to compile it all.
So, my hangover day was spent hungover by me in bed and out to Arashiyama for Makely. Arashiyama is a great little town just outside Kyoto by train. Easy to get to with great temples and beautiful gardens out in this area. The major Kyoto area has supposedly over 2000 temples with 18 World Heritage sights for their cultural significance. Really amazing. While I did not make it out to the Arashiyama this day with Makely, Makely came back with good reviews saying it was a beautiful spot to enjoy. So, I made it out there the following day when Makely was getting a second wave of illness that had stuck with him since the end of Australia. He decided that he really needed a day to recover and rest to try to get better and he could also get some needed laundry done. We also switched hostels this morning to K-House which had a great location and was a wonderful hostel. Highly recommend it. Very clean and great amenities.
When I went to Arashiyama the following day, it was raining and cold at the beginning but soon it cleared and I lucked out with a great day. The temple is quite impressive and they had a Buddhist service while I was there that I sat in on for a few moments... seemed very similar to a christian church sermon with a Buddhist monk delivering a monologue with occasional chuckles from the patrons. While the temple was good, the gardens around the temple were stunning. Quite beautiful as the architect of the gardens tried to incorporate the hillside into the grounds seemlessly. As the rain cleared and the sun came out, I had to go back to the gardens for a second round as they were that beauitiful. Very peaceful and again many tourists and Japanese just sitting around at different spots enjoying it, all the while taking millions of pictures of the surrounding sakura that was almost in full bloom. Out from the gardens was the path of bamboo, a huge bamboo forest that was used to film, "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". When the sun would hit it right, there was an amazing green hue all around you from the innumerable and massive bamboo stalks all around you. Then, add the gentle swooshing sound of the bamboo tops flowing in the breeze and it was extremely peaceful (except for the 100s of others hurrying and talking around you). But, there were breaks in the crowds and if you just stayed in one spot, it was very calm and relaxing. Walked through here for a bit trying to capture its essence with no real luck but it definitely stuck in my mind.
Walked around this cool little town and went to another cool temple, ran by all women which was very small and quaint. Cool setting with many different ground moss and variety of flowers everywhere. Then walked around the park for a bit and along the riverbank.... all making for a very relaxing and peaceful day. Headed back to Kyoto to meet up with Makely where we again took a train up to Karume about 30 minutes north of Kyoto to experience our first onsen, Japanese hot springs bath house.
We head up there ready to relax our weary bones in the hot waters. Karume is again a very small town in the nearby mountains that is supposedly very popular to visit by the local Japanese to escape the city by going to this onsen. Going to an onsen is a very common practice by Japanese as I understand it. Some onsen are mixed bathing and some are separated. We weren't sure what we were getting here. Nevertheless, we get there, pay our entrance fee and head to the men's only side. Not really sure what the hell we are supposed to do including wearing a bathing suit or not which we brought, we stand in the middle of this bathroom with lockers looking lost and confused. Luckily, soon after, 3 other Americans came in who were exchange students in Japan and pointed us in the right direction. Strip down naked, put your stuff in a locker for a 100 yen fee that you get back when you open it again and head out to the outdoor showers to wash up before you head into the outdoor hot springs.
Easy enough... get outside where Makely was first to arrive, he sees the showers with stools in front and a flexible hose and shower nozzle. He was a bit confused so headed to some nearby more Western looking showers to clean up. Luckily others were washing up by the time I made it out and I guess the norm is to sit on these stools and wash yourself with the flexible shower head and the provided soap and shampoo. A bit weird at first. On to the hot springs, sit in the very hot springs and relax... beautiful hillside nearby, sakura trees and no sounds of the city. The water is quite hot and you can only take it for about 5 minutes at a time and then out on the ledge and maybe back in for another 5. Was nice to just relax in the "hot tub" after almost 3 weeks of travel to this point. End up talking to the exchange students for a bit while in the springs and get some more local info including another bar back in Kyoto to try later.
While talking, Makely happened to see one of the guys creating his own jacuzzi to which he self-consciously looked around to see if any one else saw this. Makely just gave him a big smile and looked him in the eye to say, "Yep, I saw that...". Later that night, we headed out for a night photo shoot. Many of the streets and temples are lit up and look amazing. Hit a few temples which you can see from the pics and then to the major park with everyone out drinking and eating to catch the huge weeping cherry tree lit up. Makely and I all the while attempting to be professional photographers with the correct angle, lighting, etc while using makeshift tripods from railings, trash cans or anything we can find that is grounded. The last spot was a very small side street near the Gion district called XXX (I'll have to look it up later). It was amazing! Almost full bloom sakura lining the side of this quaint street with a small stream running along side the street as well. Great little teahouses and restaurants all about. Was really amazing lit up at night... the pictures don't do it justice.
Next day, Makely again is feeling like he needs to rest up and lays low for a some R&R. I head up to the Imperial Gardens and palace here in Kyoto. Great park and I just cruised around listened to my iPod for awhile while i would people watch. Again really beautiful gardens surrounding the palace. You could only go into the palace if you arranged a time in advance with a separate tourism office which was fine as I just liked wondering around the park and gardens for the day. I soaked it up and ran across a beautiful peach grove in full bloom and many different colors, a photo shoot in front of a sakura tree with a geisha, and ended up stealing shots of all the locals taking shots with the sakura. See the attached pics. All in all, a great few days of relaxing and enjoying Japan sights and culture. It was too bad that Makely was sick but he did the right thing to focus on getting better. It is too bad that I am the devil and lured him out for a few drinks later for our last night in Kyoto.
We head out to Gion area towards Kiyamachi street to find this recommended pub from the exchange student at the onsen and his gaseous friend. We hunt around high and low with no luck as the bars in Japan are tiny rooms on any of multiple floors of the buildings scattered throughout the major streets intertwined with maze like side alleyways. Basically, it is near impossible to find some of these regular bars without ever having been there before.
I finally give up and try to ask one of the guys outside one of the 100s of other bars. I ask in broken Japanese, "Where is the A Bar?" He replies, "Oh, the gay bar is over there..." "No, no, no... not gay bar... the A bar?" "Ahhh, (chuckle) the A bar..." where he is able to lead me around the corner maybe 100 feet away and we find our place. We head in and looks like a cool place... good american music and mostly locals drinking and eating at big communal tables. So we grab an open seat and order up 2 big Yebisu beers. While we are settling in, 2 japanese girls come in and end up sitting next to us. Enter.. Taka Tanaka and Chika Chicagawa. Classic names which still gives us a chuckle We end up chatting for quite awhile with our broken japanese and their better broken english. One round after next and we had to move to a smaller table to make room for a larger group that came in. I can't remember all the details at this point in our travels as this was 3 weeks ago but I believe we were asking about the definition to "very small" as in "I know a very small amount of Japanese" which we had been told was similar to "amore". Every time this came up Makely would start to chuckle and point at me. Of course, Taka and Chika wanted to know why he would laugh. So, I, in my ever so shy manner, endevour to explain Makely's laughter. Not too difficult to explain this one with the language barrier though. They start laughing a ton and the converation loosens up from here. The formalities are out of the way and the conversation turns to bad words in English and Japanese. I try to explain every word on a banner in the bar that says, "Kiss my fucking ass, you stupid fucking asshole!" Good humor explaining this one!
Much laughter throughout the night and several rounds and eats later, we head out and try to get some sleep for the night. Taka and Chika are kind enough to walk with us all the way back to our hostel as they live nearby as well. Much joking and laughing all the way home makes for another great night in Japan!
Back "home" and to sleep to get ready for a day trip to Nara the next day...
Comments
Greetings from San Diego
Gaijin Chris,
Busani gave me your travel blog info and I have been enjoying some of your funny stories and great pictures ... it looks like you guys are having the time of your lives ... it must be a super experience.
How are the $/day actual expenses compared with what you were forecasting before taking off from SD?
We miss you at San Diego Squash and hopefully you will get back on time for the next league season.
Best,
Alberto Malinow