Kyoto, Kinki, Japan
Friday, January 6, 2017

*LOUISE*
We slept with the aircon off last night which saw us all sleeping with long jammies, hoodies and Woolley socks. Blake was resident snorelax last night thanks to his cold. Poor Dylan had to wake him up in the wee hours as I didn't hear him. Looking forward to a comfy double bed when we make it to Hiroshima! Today was a day chockers full of sightseeing. We started with our obligatory 7eleven visit for brekky on the go. We then made our way to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Fun fact - the shrines are dedicated to Inari the god of rice. After viewing the main shrine we made our way up Mt Nari (223m above sea level, 1.5hr round trip) through a tunnel of torii gates. A real enjoyable yet tiring spectacle. Once we were all sweaty and had removed 5 of our 10 layers of clothing we made our way to Kyoto train station to book some of our JR tickets for the next few stops on our trip.
Our next stop for the day was Juan's room for a tea ceremony. We learned the history of tea which originates in China, how to make Matcha, how a tea ceremony is run and how to brew the tea as is done in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. We each had a turn at making our own 'light' tea. Not the nicest tasting tea in the world - very green with froff on top. Can't imagine what the 'strong' tea would be like. Apparently 3x the amount of powder is used per cup and the consistency is that of pea soup... ick. We got to taste fun sugary treats and a Japanese donut at the end which I would compare to a sponge roll back home. For lunch our experience was the exact opposite of the relaxing and peaceful tea ceremony. We went to an Udon restaurant in Kyoto station. We ordered through an ATM machine and then proceeded to wait in line until a space opened up in the stand-up bar area. You literally had to slurp and run. Juices went everywhere including my face.. thanks Dyl! The udon was delicious but the stress of eating hot soup quick enough to get out making room for the next person was almost unbearable. Wouldn't suggest express eating at home. Burnt tongues all around. To top off the great experience I was so rushed I left my travel fork behind. Blake and my woeful bad luck continues and we add that to the list of lost face wash, body wash and Fitbit charger. We can only improve from here!
Our busy day continued as we train/bussed to the impressive Kinkakoji Golden Temple. By this stage we are starting to get over the temples and shrines. Although this one was well worth the ¥400 per person admission fee. From here we made our way to the Nishiki Markets for a stroll. Interesting foods, spices, trinkets and disgusting seafood.
Our last tourist stop for the day was the Gion Kyoto's most famous Geisha District. Where Blake learned that Geishas are not prostitutes.. I repeat, Geishas are NOT prostitutes. Unfortunately no sightings of any Geiko or Maiko. By this stage we were ready to sit down and relax. We found a whiskey and bourbon bar where Cal broke the light with his head. We tried a Japanese MOS burger joint for dinner before heading home to defrost and recharge for our early train to Hiroshima.