Japan

Our first two days in Kyoto were spent touring around a ton of temples, shrines and palaces. We rented bikes from our hostel, Piece Hostel, for $5 per day and they proved to be a very efficient way to see a huge amount of the city. We biked around for about 6 hours each day! The first day was really rainy, but it was so hot that biking in the rain wasn't bad at all. The second day was so ridiculously hot and humid that we were dripping with sweat just standing still. Of course, that's the day we decided to visit Fushimi Inari Shrine where we hiked the path up the sacred Mt. Inari honoring the Shinto god of rice with a thousand torii (orange arches).  It was a fun hike, but I'm pretty sure I have never been so hot in my entire life. 

 

Ceiling at Kenninji Temple

The temples and shrines were very cool to see and experience, but, as expected, were packed with tourists. I would say that some of our other experiences in Kyoto were more memorable. We've been trying to eat as authentic as possible to get a true understanding of the local flavor. With that has come multiple dining excursions without an English menu or anyone who speaks English (I'm amazed by how few people speak any English here...I expected that in more exotic locations, but Japan, really??). Each time has been challenging, hilarious,  and has reaffirmed that the Japanese are incredibly kind and helpful people, regardless of the language barrier!  We have felt totally safe here, and the people are pretty much indifferent to us--no spite or awe, just indifference. We love that, because we can just go about our business without feeling judged. 

We are finding that backpackers are scarce in Japan, I assume because it is so freaking expensive here (glad we are only here for a week)!  The hostel we stayed at was booked solid, but there was no sense of camaraderie between fellow travelers. That was a bit disappointing, but we know we will connect with other travelers in more backpacker heavy countries. The second place we stayed was an airbnb place right in the heart of an AWESOME section of the city, Gion. The area is iconic traditional Japan filled with nondescript bars, restaurants and steakhouses. It's where the richies wine and dine and geisha girls come out at dusk. It was so beautiful walking around the area at night with the warm lights spilling through the traditional slatted windows of the Japanese buildings onto the narrow cobblestone streets.  The dimly lit streets with lights reflecting off the wet stone streets created an almost mystical feeling in the old neighborhood...like thousands of years of secrets were hidden within the walls.  We walked through again during the day, and although still cool, the mysteriousness of the place had vanished with the sun.

 

The place we stayed was huge and cheap...it wasn't until we heard someone trying to get in the front door at 10pm the second night that we learned that the host had sent us directions to the wrong property! We were supposed to be in a tiny studio apartment in a worse area, instead we were sent to his two bedroom place in the best area of Kyoto that cost 3x what we paid! He let us stay that night and put the intended tenants up in a hotel for the night for his mistake. Bummer for them, great for us!!  We were pretty freaked out when the people were trying to get into the place, though!

Our last night in Kyoto we went to a sentō, a public bath house. We were both hesitant about it because we had to split up...men on one side and women on the other. There are tons of cultural rules that go into the process and I was sure I was going mess it up and piss some old Japanese lady off. We went anyways--because this is a trip about experiences and going out of our comfort zone. When in Rome, right?!

I walked in and realized that we hadn't brought anything we needed--towels, washing supplies, etc. After a small panic attack, I noticed two Japanese girls around my age who came in about the same time as me. I thought to myself, "I'll just stall and discretely copy everything they do...maybe they won't notice!" I rent a towel and awkwardly strip down to my birthday suit, completely aware of the old dude manning the counter that can see me in all my glory.

Then my new Japanese friends head towards the bathing room, so I casually follow them in...10 feet safely behind them, my mini rent-a-towel acting as an inadequate cover (picture the kids' story leaf covers a la Adam and Eve).

I glance around and see about 20 of the oldest, saggiest women I've ever seen...and they are ALL watching me. Shit. What have I gotten myself into?! Ok, just remember what we read about bathhouse etiquette. Shower/wash before going in baths...well, I didn't bring soap, but I'll pretend. I shuffle over to one of the open shower spots, still within view of my secret friends. Everyone is seated bare-assed at low stools or directly on the floor washing at shower heads that are about 2' off the ground. I'm too disgusted to sit on a communal stool, so I'm crouched down trying to be as inconspicuous as possible (Bad Naked). That's when an elderly woman walks up and points to the stool, insisting in Japanese that I use it. Uuuuuggghhhh...ok, ok, I'll do it.

So, I'm seated, hunched over, scrubbing myself with my fake soap when another elderly woman walks up (also in all her glory) and starts yelling at me in rapid Japanese and pointing at the spot. After a few panicked seconds, I realize she is telling me I took her spot. I jump up and move to another spot, noticing that the scene has again drawn everyone's attention to me. Great.

My friends are still scrubbing away...they really make a production out of the sudsing and scrubbing process around here! I continue to pretend wash and jump when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn and see one of my very good bath house friends has approached me. She extends out a bottle and says "shampoo?". "Hai, arigato!", "Yes, thank you!" I say with a bright red face. Busted.

My friend, nay, my savior, proceeds to come over three additional times to offer conditioner, body wash and face wash. Now that I've been invited into the cool kids club, I head to the soaking tubs with them. We wander around...naked...like a trio of Goldilocks. One tub is far too hot (like scalding hot), one tub is far too cold, and one tub is just right. Of course, the one that is just right is about 5'x5'. My two naked friends and I cram into the tub and make awkward, sign language-studded, conversation. Eventually, we dress and head our separate ways--with just the memory of our special time together (and new Facebook friends). 

Our final morning in Kyoto was spent at Nishiki Food Market where we tried some funky foods. I ordered a "Hawaiian" treat that was little warm dough balls, a sweet syrup and ice cream. It was delicious...until my chopsticks pulled out from the delicious blueberry-like syrup a chunk of squid tentacle. Yuuuuuuck!!

 

Kyoto Temples, etc we visited: 

-Kiyomizuderi Temple 

-Fushimi Inari Shrine - orange arches

-Kinkakuji (Golden Palace)

-Imperial Palace 

-Kenninji Zen Temple 

-Toji Temple 

-Gion District

-Nishiki Market

After four awesome days in Kyoto, Blair and I take the bullet train back to Tokyo.  The ride is just under three hours and goes through beautiful, mountainous regions covered in lush green forests.  Off in the distance, we catch an unobstructed view of Mt. Fuji which is pretty rare due to clouds and smog/fog.  Not the most impressive mountain I've ever seen, but still pretty cool.  Even more amusing is the guy in front of us unabashedly "reading" a Japanese porno magazine in plain view--two o'clock in the afternoon on a public train. Whatever gets him through the day, I guess.

We are pretty nervous about finding our way around Tokyo, a massive city of around 12 million people (NYC is 9 million).  We are dropped at Tokyo Station in the heart of Tokyo at the peak of rush hour.  It. Is. Packed.  The trains are busting at the seams, the station is a solid sea of people moving in waves from one platform to another.  Every transport system empties into this station--bullet trains, metro trains, subway trains, Japan Rail trains, the monorail--are you getting a visual??  Now here is the strange part...silence.  Complete silence.  No one is talking on the train or as they walk through the station, no one talks on cell phones, no music is piped into the station...all you hear are footsteps and faint announcements over the speaker system from distant platforms.  It is impressive and creepy all at the same time.

So here we are in this mass of people trying to find our way to our next train with big bags on our backs and an awkward collection of maps for every different train type and line we could ever need.  Amazingly, it takes us about 2.2 seconds to figure out what to do and where we need to go.  That is how meticulously organized and well thought out the Japanese systems are.  These people know what they are doing.  Everything makes sense, everything is crystal clear, everything is spotlessly clean--we are pros at getting around Tokyo by the very first day.  Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration...but not much.

Beyond the organization, quietness and cleanliness of Tokyo, we find it to be ridiculously safe as well.  We never once feel in danger or like we are in a sketchy area of town, and we hit a LOT of areas!  As we head home from our last day of touring, we are navigating the chaotically organized mess of trains to get home and we see a trio of girls that couldn't be older than four and five years old.  They are riding the train home from school, completely unsupervised and no one even blinks an eye about it.  The youngest, who I swear is barely four years old, hops off the train at the same stop as us as her two little Magellan friends continue on. Without hesitation, she wanders up and out of the station, expertly scanning her train card as she exits and wanders home all by her lonesome.

We spend the next few days hitting all the tourist hot spots--Sky Tree Tower, Asakusa, Akihabara Electric Town, Imperial Palace, Shibuya (Scramble Crossing) and Yoyogi Park.  We spent our last morning at Tsukiji Fish Market where Blair ate a delicious cow stomach stew from one of the market vendors.  By the end of our stay, we are ready to move on to a new and cheaper country. It's just too, ridiculously expensive! We have stayed in five different places between Kyoto and Tokyo--we stayed at hostels, hotels and airbnb places where we were guests staying in locals' homes.  We really like the experience of staying with people, but we both agree that it was too much moving around.  Packing, unpacking and lugging these 35lbs bags that often is just too much. We will plan to stay places for three or more nights more frequently moving forward.  

 Now off to South Korea!