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THE BEST HOSTEL YET:
Kawaramachi, Kyoto, Japan.
October 24th, (well, 25th now) 2013, 1:36am.
Wow! I'm so happy with this hostel that I booked! We were a little skeptical at first, since the only rooms that were left were 6 bed mixed dorms. But we needed somewhere to stay, obviously! We sucked it up (because noting could have been worse than the ryokan in Asakusa) and went with the flow.
This was probably the hardest Hostel to find! We searched for the right train to take, and a young Japanese girl helped us out. She spoke very limited English, like most of them do. Her name was Koto. Koto in Kyoto! :) She had dark brouwn hair, in a mushroom cut. Her face was a little chubby and her eyes were pretty small. She had a cute little voice that squeaked something Gibberish when she talked. She wore a plaid scottish-like kilt, with a black Japanese hoodie with Kanji written on it. Her socks were light pink with ruffles, and they peaked out from her blue sneakers. Her tie-dye back pack set her whole look off. She helped us, and motioned for us to follow her. I didn't know whether or not she was taking the train with us to helo us, or if she was already going in that direction. Either way, it was yet another amazing act of kindness shown by these people.
After much searching and many U-turns, we arrived at out Hostel. Still wet and miserable, we made our way to our room. On the way, we met a young man from China named, "Tim." He pronounced his name as "team" though. He calls himself that because no one can pronounce his real Chinese name anyways. He was so nice! We checked the weather for us and talked about our trips so far. We later found out that he'd be staying in the same dorm as us! Yay!
After settling in to our room, I hopped onto the top bunk. Oh my goodness. This mattress is even nicer than the one at the Chinzan-so!!! My body sunk into the material as if I were laying on a cloud. And the pillow is made out of the same material- I think it's memory foam. I feel like I could sleep forever on this thing! I was so tired too! Just as I was nestling into my bed, another young boy came up to me. My top bunk was at his shoulder level... So it was really awkward talking to him... He was from Taiwan, here for business. He was obviously flirting with me, and after 5 minutes I decided I had enough... Over the past 2 weeks I've learned that nothing turns a guy off of you better than, "Oh I'm here with my uncle." It seems to be a tactic that works even better than the, "I'm here with my dad line." I used that once after a boy asked me if I needed a ride somewhere. Once I told him I was with my dad, he said, "I wasn't asking you." I gave him the most stupid look as I glanced around the huge room. No one else was there but me. His buddy laughed as they walked away. But with the uncle line, they all just say, "Oh. Really?" And slowly back out of the whole situation! It's flawless! Good thing they never se what he looks like, because frankly, I don't think he looks that scary!
I laid my head back down and returned to relaxing after our day, but alas, Real called me down to the floor below us because apparently there were tons of other young people there. I went down, a little shy at first because of the recent Taiwanese incident, but eventually began talking with some people. Real and I met a boy from Sweden, twins from Australia, a Chinese girl from Australia, (that was weird, she looked so Asian but spoke with an Australian accent.) Another boy from Portland, Oregon, and a Canadian currently living in Kyoto and working at this very hostel. We chatted and laughed and told stories and laughed some more, and before we knew it- it was 1:00am!!! Everyone but Real and I was drunk (we don't like beer) but the group planned a group outing for tomorrow. We are going to try and go to some Japanese attraction together, and eventually have an all you can eat buffet and all you can drink night. (Courtesy of the Canadian who works here.) It's funny- I'm the youngest and Real is the oldest. But we really like everyone and everyone seems to like us! The twins are hilarious. So is the Canadian and the Chinese Australian. I like them all! I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings with out new found friends... Hopefully everything works out!
Love always,
Lindsay Lehr
- comments
shirley That sounds like a really fun evening, like things so often are in those 'spur of the moment' times. You'd have so much to talk about with the other travellers. Looking forward to more xoxo
Kari Oh this brings back so many great memories- these moments are so great, connecting with people from all over the world... it's really a small place in the end and we all have more in common than we realize. Like, drinking beer. Except not, apparently.
barbara Get some sleep the two of you!!!
Paige Yeah, definitely brings back lots of memories. The story of the Chinese Australian reminds me of the time Dad & I were in Scotland. A commercial came on with two women in full Geisha dress but they spoke with this super broad Scottish accent. It was so odd!