Kyoto banks are like israeli snow...
Trip Start
Sep 09, 2010
1
17
22
Trip End
Oct 05, 2010
Kyoto, Kinki, Japan
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
so the nijo castle - i had no expectetion but the huge building of this ancient castle was really something unique from all the other palaces and castles we saw in europe. all the rooms are internal without windows in the walls but sliding doors with different types of louvers ...there is a wide corridor that runs along with the building and envelopes it - the result is natural light that has filters all the way to the rooms...the corridor wood floor squicked under our feet...this is the nightingale floor - an ancient alarm system. all the rooms are very impressive although there are a few ornaments...we went out to the garden with its small lake, brown rocks and the reflections...it was a simple garden but for us it was something we saw for the first time.
the castle is a huge complex that contains another castle and garden that was rebuilt again there...we wondered there for about another hour and then we understood we have a lot to do.
so, we took the train to hirashiyama to see the 'second most amazing place in kyoto' as the lonely planet describe it. after a huge bowl of ramen and a few kilometers of speed walking we arrived to a small path that goes through a bamboo forest...the dense green barks of bamboo were very nice but i guess it wasnt that important to go there.
taking the train back to kyoto we understand this is the last time we will use the JR pass which was the most economical decision we made in japan...we took a lot of trains without thinking cause it was all included in the pass tomorrow when we will have to pay 700 NIS for a ticket to tokyo we will be really sad...
arriving back to downtown kyoto we realized we wouldnt be able to do the golden pavilion today and we had to exchange money. speaking about that i guess this the only thing that made this trip for us very hard. in japan there are no exchange stores in the street. its possible to exchange money in the banks or in the post office the problem is that the post office takes a fat commission and there are not so many banks in the city and they are closed by 15:00 and the currancy rate is avialable only at 11:00 this gave us a small window of oppurtunity that we missed.
we had to take out money from the ATM and went to buy all the ingredients for the dashi we will make back in israel...later we went back to the hostel before going out in kyoto for the last time...i wanted to make a shower...we have in the hostel an 'eco friendly' shower...this is a stupid title for the main reason of misrly of water...its wired because in the 2 weeks we are in japan the amount of rain that flud the city doesnt come in 5 years in israel...it was the spartanias shower i ever had for 350 NIS per night- i had to push the handle every 30 seconds- but i gues this is japan...everything is soooooo expenssive.
we finished this long day with good okonomi-yaki. not very healthy cause they try to give it the americal attitude with melted chesse and a lot of fatty stuff so it was really tastyf!! tomorrow we have to do all the stuff we wanted to do and couldnt make it today. i hope we will have the time. this will be our last day in kyoto before leaving o tokyo...our last destination!!! :((((((((
