Day 4 - Kyoto - Beautiful

W: Arrive in Osaka at Kansai's sinking man-made airport. Thankfully it stayed above sea level while we were there.

We take a monorail to the immigration area and are almost the last people from our flight to get through. Japanese customs are much tougher than HK. At the baggage carousel some airport staff have collected our bags and are nervously looking for their owners, security conscious I guess. We finally make it through and head for the JR station.

A lady stands at the base of the escalator and silently and ceremonially bows us on... we wonder if she does this all day. Later at our Kyoto lodging, Eimi-san will tell us she "is not a real person, is a doll".

Tony bravely and nervously books the train tickets for the Haruka Express straight through to Kyoto. We go down to the platform, the train is waiting but it's being made spick and span before we're allowed on. Osaka suburbs seen through the train window look pretty grey and depressing. Noticed lots of pachinko parlours.

T: The only bright spot on our trip through the Osaka suburbs is our train conductor who is the smiliest man we've ever seen. He has quite a chat as he punches our tickets, although we've no idea what he's said. The drab suburbs seem depressing after Hong Kong but I feel much more upbeat after we arrive in Kyoto. Pass a great looking noodle/tempura stand on the train platform which looks promising, then find our way to the taxi stand. Astroboy models in front of Kyoto station... we learn later there's an exhibition on.

W: Like everything in Kyoto, taxis are gorgeous. We slide into a pale green 1960s looking Nissan Cedric and show the white-gloved driver the address of the Hanakiya Inn near Kiyomizudera where we'll be staying for 4 nights.

T: The taxi driver looks puzzled by the address - then we show him some instructions printed from the Hanakiya Inn web site and we're off.

The trip should take less than 10 minutes but it's late afternoon Saturday now and the narrow streets up to Kiyomizudera are blocked by gigantic tour buses making their way down from the temple. We finally get through but we're not exactly sure where we are. The driver asks an old lady in a shop if she knows Hanakiya (she doesn't) and eventually he drops us at the bus parking lot which is in the instructions. We look down the narrow lane behind us and spot the sign.

W: The streets around are filled with souvenir and pottery shops and even though it's now dark there are still hundreds of tourists around. The ryokan is great and Eimi-san the host ebullient. After sorting out the payment etc... we took a walk to the main street of Kyoto.

We went down some back streets and it is picture book Japan, very beautiful and the sort of Japan you don't really believe exists, but it does. We came across a temple, and then walked down the busy main street and bought dango (rice balls in a sticky sweet sauce and seaweed) from a stand that appears to be run by three old ladies in their 90s. There is a lovely caricature drawing of them on the carry bag.

Then walked a very long way in search of a vegetarian restaurant Miko-an which Tony had researched but which it turns out had moved. We found a flyer with a map showing the new location of the restaurant, but being written in Japanese it was hard to tell where it had moved to.

T: Find out on our last night that it's moved to "Electric Town" near Takashimaya department store. It was a lovely evening for a walk anyway. Even the traffic light buttons make the sound of birdsong.

W: Walked back and found a fast food chain, where we ordered kitsune udon. You buy tickets from a vending machine, after making sure you hit the right button, then give the ticket to the waitress.

Walked some more and came across great gift shops that we'll come back to. As an introduction to Japan, Kyoto is amazing.

Next > Day 5 - Kyoto - Tempura on sticks