Went out last night with Steve, from America, he's been travelling for a year and a half. Very interesting bloke. Many many stories that keep me entertained for the evening. We ask for a recommendation of where to eat from the guy at the desk, he suggests a sushi place and writes down the name in Japanese to make it easier. Well, as you may have seen, what he wrote and what the place was called both seemed very different to me. Took a bit of wandering, and a lot of asking to locate the place, but we got there. Conveyer belt sushi! First time! Fantastic! You can pick off the conveyer belt, or if you don't see something you want, you just ask and they rustle it up for you. Great system. You pay by the plate, in this place all dishes were ¥137 so just over £1, absolute bargain. We polished off 9 plates each, some eel, scallops, pounded bonito, tuna, shrimp, we had it all. First class. After dinner we found it fairly difficult to find just a bar. We appear to be right in the heart of the red light district. Plenty of people in the street inviting us in to various party places, menus available at the door, pick what you like. That's great, but we're just looking for a regular bar. I'm fairly sure that it takes us a good hour trawling though the streets till we find one. Eventually we do, head in and grab a few beers. Nice place where you got beers for ¥500, the going rate. Head home about 1, merry.
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Up for 9.30 today and Steve and I had decided to hit up some temples and the castle today. Another American, Allan, is coming along too. I'm suffering some mild chaffage after my walking yesterday so I'm going to try and take it easy today. We walk to the castle from the hostel, it's a scorcher today and it's not long before my thighs are reminding me of that! Pick up some fruit and drink then get to the castle. One of only 4 castles in Japan. Nijojo Castle looks impressive from the outside. It has a moat around the outside and so you cross over a bridge to get in. Once inside there is a courtyard and then you pass through a gate to the main residence. Shoes off, no photography. Boring! All the walls have been ornately painted and the entire castle had nightingale floorboards. These squeak under your feet as you walk. I tried my best ninja stealth moves, but the floor was up to the task. These were installed to make it harder for assassins to sneak in. The interior was massive, all on the same level, with various rooms where meetings would have been held and everywhere covered in these painted walls and sliding doors. After this we are back outside and wandering round the gardens which were exquisite! Little waterfalls, trees and rocks, very relaxing. The sun is beating down so we stop for a drink and to rest a bit before leaving.
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Some more walking before lunch from a Lawson and on to the park surrounding the Imperial Palace. Bench in the shade and lunch time. I, of course, appear to have the remarkable ability to frequently pick somewhere to sit that is infested with ants. So I'm trying to kick these ants off my feet while juggling my chopsticks and eat. Quite the picture. After relocating on two separate occasions I decide to just eat standing up and away from trees. Thighs are feeling pretty hot and sweaty, it is a constant battle as I walk along, trying to tread the fine line of pace vs comfort, I think I am losing at both. After lunch Allan heads off in a different direction to buy souvenirs and Steve and I grab a subway.
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Sanjusangedo Temple is the destination! ¥600, no shoes and no photos. Again! This place took it one step further though because they claimed they would check your camera after! I decided not to attempt a few sneakies! This place had a 118m hall filled with 1000 Buddhas and 28 deities. It was quite the sight seeing these Buddhas, 10 rows high on a teared platform. It was also good to have English explanations for all the deities. Everything was made from wood, all carved in smaller pieces, then put together. The lacquered wood was then covered in gold and glass eyes placed in each statue. Most of the gold had worn away as this temple had burned down at various stages of its life, though they still look very impressive. There are 500 Buddhas each side and then a huge statue in the middle representing the 1000 armed kannon, she only has 40 arms, each said to save 25 worlds so that's how they get the thousand. I make a donation, light some incense and stand it in the sand along with others. I have seen many a Buddha but this was on a different scale, especially with the other 1000. Pity there were to be no photos. After a walk round the grounds we have time for one more temple before they close. Hokoji Temple, most notable for a ginormous multi tonne bell beside the main temple. I was pretty tempted to swing the wooden log in to the bell to hear what she sounded like. Steve and I debated this for a number of minutes before deciding that it probably wasn't the best idea. After my long day of walking around in my chaffed condition I convince Steve to take the subway home, to lessen my burn.
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Got a shower. The worst shower of my life. As the water ran over my reddened thighs it felt like someone was taking a potato peeler to my legs! I almost let out a whimper as I clenched my teeth while showering! I appear to be really good at this travel business! First my feet, now my thighs. I consider taping some of the gauze I have for my feet to my thighs, but I fear the removal may be excruciating so I decide against it. It's Steve and Allan's last night so we head out for dinner. Steve is also friends with Mr Chaff and so we are both walking at granny pace with the John Wayne motion. It's alright, we are foreigners so this pantomime waddle doesn't really draw any more attention to us than usual. We stop to eat when we literally can not take anymore of the crotch fire. What a place we picked, shoes off an over to a table. The menu had everything, sushimi, tempura, ramen and dishes from Korea, Tiawan and China all reasonably priced. We order up about 3 dishes each with hot sake and beers. After we clear through what we have it's another couple of dishes as the food is so good. Allan has to leave to catch the bus and so Steve and I sit on, order more hot sake and beers. Conversation spans politics, economic turmoil and the difference between America and Ireland. The cheap evening turned out to be the most expensive one I've had as we are both of the view that the more we drink the less Mr Chaff might effect the walk home. We get back about 1.30 and straight to bed. Great night, hopefully the legs will be better tomorrow.