My friends met me at the airport and took some of my luggage off of me, while I'd travel around the region for the next week. Buggers haven't changed at all since I last saw them a year ago, but the first thing they both said when they saw me was that I had gotten fat.. I like pizza, so?
Keihanshin – the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan region is a sprawl of people and people-related things, total population around 18.5 million. It took me one hour to get to Kyoto on my express train from the airport, and during the whole trip the only holes in the mess of buildings were forced in by the rivers snaking through the region, their banks spotted here and there by the shanties of homeless people (there are no such things as social security or unemployment benefits in Japan). Funnily enough, these people often seem to have such items as televisions, radios and fridges in their little makeshift tents. It pays off to rummage through people's garbage in this country of hyper-consumers, I guess. :)
Funny thing. After getting off my train in Kyoto I was standing on the platform checking my map. All of sudden the seats in the now empty train next to me jumped up halfway towards the ceiling of the cars, yanked around 180 degrees and dropped back down. Right, train returns to the airports, need to keep people facing forward to minimize vomiting...
Kyoto.
It's pretty much impossible to pass wind in this city without ending up farting on some god/spirit/sage/ghost or another. There are temples everywhere, and it doesn't take long until you stop reaching for your camera after spotting a new one.
Had a coffee to keep me awake until I'd reach my hotel. Visited the bathroom of the cafe and Lo! It had one of those funky toilet seats with more knobs and switches on the side than your average car has on its dashboard. Seat heater, ass massager, some other type of massager (that I wasn't sure about and was too tired to really try out), different kinds of water-spraying apparatuses, etc, etc. Like I said, funky. :) The water tap was another thing. It was one of those models that activates automatically, when you place your hands underneath it. Fair enough, everyone and their mother has those these days. But. Before it would give you water, it would squirt soap on your hands. All they need to add to that is a touch of TheHoff.
Got to my hostel, about 5km's walk from the Kyoto Station. To my surprise, it was right in the middle of the Geisha district, Gion. I hadn't really looked into this, while booking my stay, I was more interested in my hostel having the highest rating of all hostels in Kyoto. IchiEnSou Guesthouse, no private rooms, but I really recommend it to anyone visiting the city. Great place, great staff, great location, great fun. Old, traditional style house with tatami floors, horigotatsu(a table with a hole in the floor underneath it), and some doors only one meter tall: have a taste of how it feels to be a tall guy like me all the time. Saw plenty of Geishas and Maikos around the hotel. Personally I think they look rather ridiculous, but it was fun to watch the old Japanese guys gawking at them so longingly, whenever they saw them walking around (usually in pairs).
Had some sake with these guys, players of the traditional Japanese instrument, Shamisen.
Then it was time to start touristing.Kinkaku-ji, the Golden Pavilion Temple. Something of a must-see for all the tourists coming to Kyoto.
Koi carps. They put these fishes into every mass of water that can be somehow considered sacred or imperial. I guess people feed them, since all they do is look at you, opening and closing their mouths.
Money, money, money.
Temples are nice and have a lot of pretty things, but...
...for me it'll always be these wünderful vending machines. (yes, this one is *inside* the temple grounds)
Looks like they burned a big house and used the remains to build a smaller house. Actually quite common sight here, keeps out the bugs or something.
Nijo Castle and some pink flowers. Alas, no cherry blossoms. I was about 2 weeks late for those.
From top of the Nijo castle walls into the castle grounds. It's a very charming place, even if it doesn't look like much.
Aren't these things supposed to be used, when there isn't any sunlight around?
Letters on the mountain sides... There are 5 of these huge pictograms around the city.
How can you charge 6 euros for a single tomato? Answer: Carve it into a rose.
Monjayaki. Looks like vomit, tastes really good. Traditional dish from Tokyo-area. Mostly cheese.
Funny thing I noticed: there's a tiny graveyard right outside my hotel room. No wonder I slept so well in there, like the dead. (yes, I actually enjoy staying next to that place now that I know of it)
Going up to FushimiInari-Taisha. 4km of pathways up and down a mountain, lined with thousands of torii gates. My favourite place in Kyoto, I'd have to say. (by the way, the girl entering the gates in the picture, she had "soul sound" written on her ass. :) )
I'd *love* to come here in the night time. I really like spooky places. :)
Panorama.
In the forest.
Shrines.
This guy looks hungry.
"First they lock me up, then they worship me, what's up with that?"
This stuffed raccoon (tanuki) looks a bit worn down.
Whereas this one has some serious balls.
I know it means that you shouldn't leave your handbrake off, when parking on the slope, but the (somewhat) literal translation makes me laugh and sounds more like some too-deep-to-understand-zen-thing: "Cars that take off flight, will not come down in a hurry."
Busy little street and a pagoda.
Looks like a tree house all the way from here.
Next up, Nara.
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