I finally got the taste of the busy Japanese culture my trip has been missing.
We started Tuesday morning at 4:30 am, after going to bed well after 1:30, and hopped on a Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Kyoto.
We got a late start and arrived in Tokyo about 30 minutes behind schedule, but that allowed us to take a "rapid" service that got us to Kyoto 30 minutes faster.
When you're traveling at 300 kmh, and God is on your side, things like that work out.
We grabbed a breakfast of cold tonkatsu and rice on the platform and ate while we traveled. I had tried to grab Starbucks, but they don't open here before 7 am. Can you imagine??
I fought to keep my eyes open and take in the Japanese countryside, but I gave in to fatigue once we passed Fuji, and I missed out.
What I did see was gorgeous. Small villages and mountains and valleys, gardens planted on hillsides leading up to homes, and did I mention mountains?
Once in Kyoto, we dumped our bags at our hotel and headed back to the train station bound for Nara, the original Japanese capital.
Kyoto will be our "base" this week as we see this side of the island country. We're staying in a hotel that is a cross between a roykin and a hostel in a cute residential area.
The owner spent time backpacking in Europe and saw a need for accommodating young travelers on a budget. He worked as an insurance agent for several years until he could save the capital to start Tour Club, and it's not nearly as shabby as it sounds.
We have a private bedroom and bathroom with a small balcony that looks into the next buildings walls. In a densely populated area such as Kyoto, that view is a treasure.
The bed is twice the size as ours in Tsukuba (this bed is actually made for two) and just as comfortable, which means I still wake up feeling like I'm 80 and in need of a back replacement.
The room is warm, the water pressure is great and it's in spitting distance to the train station. I've stayed in places in the States for twice the equivalent price and eight times as shabby.
We were originally booked for a Japanese-style room, but when we discovered the only difference was sleeping on the floor for an extra fee, we opted for the Western accommodations.
I can do that at home for free.
The ride to Nara was beautiful, like the rest of the Japanese countryside. It recently snowed, so everything is white and winterland-ish.
Nara itself was freezing. The wind made it much colder than the weather predicted. (We failed to look at the "feels like" temperature.)
The main area of shrines and temples sits on a 5 km circle through a forest and is quite pretty. It's a couple mile walk from the train station to the forest, but that hike takes a bit longer when you spend an hour wandering the streets looking for food.
We finally settled on a hole-in-the-wall, not-on-the-map establishment that (luckily) had food models of everything they served.
I'm really a fan at eating at off-the-map places. They're turning out to be excellent.
I had yuckatori and gohan (cooked rice) and Ray had tonkatsu. I'm finally learning to order double portions, which just seem to barely fill me up.
From the restaurant, we tried to see a botanical garden. It turned out to be closed so we headed for the mountain (on which the forest and shrines sit). The big thing there is deer.They're everywhere.
People feed them deer biscuits, and the deer literally molest people and stick their heads into bags looking for the treats.
We saw the Tōdai-ji, a temple complex in Nara. It's home to the largest Daibutsu in the word, and its Great Buddah Hall is the largest wooden building in the world. It was here, of all places, that I got molested by a monk. True story. Ray would love to tell you about it.
From there, we toured through the other areas of the temple loop and climbed to the top of one shrine to see all of Nara and the surrounding area, which was breathtaking!
Being the New Year holiday, the shrines were packed. As part of Buddhist tradition, the New Year is the time to visit the shrines to pray and ask for favor in the new year.
We were two among tens of thousands who visited that day. It was quite overwhelming.We made it down the mountain just in time to see the five-story pagoda before the sun set. This pagoda is the second largest in Japan.
The temperature had dropped significantly with the sun, and we were eager to get back to Kyoto.
Once there, we tried to grab some dinner, which proved to be a surprisingly overwhelming experience.
The Kyoto train station is built below an 11-story mall, which has a slew of restaurants on the top floors. There was nearly a 30-person wait at each restaurant, and there were no menus in English. The small, crowded hallways proved to be no match for our hunger, so we retreated to our hotel to finish check-in and get a recommendation for some local grub.
It's no coincidence the mall's name is Setan. (Pronounced: Satan.)
When you're in a foreign country, you can't help but think of what you miss back home, especially when it comes to food. I've caught myself wishing for a donut for breakfast, followed by a cheeseburger and fries (maybe one at NON!) or a pizza. (things I very rarely eat at home!)
But what my system really craves is a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast followed by a heaping portion of black beans, brown rice, grilled chicken and some leafy greens.
When you factor in the stress of travel, a shot of whiskey wouldn't be bad, either.
But, you won't find any of that here. It's noodles, noodles, noodles and meat that's breaded or baked.
My system isn't happy.
The hotel recommended a nearby ramen shop, so we headed a block north to a tiny 9-bar stool restaurant that had 11 menu options. (8 of them were small and large versions of the same thing.)
The cooks made fun of us for our selections... Well, they laughed at us for something and we just assume it was for our selections.
One bowl of soy-based ramen each, shumai for me and a double order of fried chicken for Ray. Not exactly things that go together, and it's a ton of food for two by Japanese standards.
It was warm, and, best of all, tasted great. All the seats were at a bar around the kitchen, so we could watch everything as the chefs prepared it.
I'm pretty sure I watched one of the guys prepare Ray's fried chicken then run his hands through a serving of noodles. Luckily, they weren't mine. Nearly 24 hours later as I write this blog I'm still alive and symptom free, so I assume I did fine.
The days are starting to run together, which is how it goes on vacation when you're trying to stuff 10 pounds of fun into a 5-pound bag.
Ray is a fantastic tour guide, mapping out places to see and finding the most scenic ways to get there. Hopefully his machines get repaired quickly so he doesn't have to stay here even longer. (Since I already have to go back without him.)
He's learned more than 50 kanji, and he can read hiragana and katakana- which is invaluable when you're in Japan! Ive been here two weeks and all I can say is "excuse me" and "thank you."
At least I can be polite.
By far, this is my favorite picture of the day. Totally candid, as I thought he was looking at the camera when I snapped it, then caught him off guard. Love him, and am so happy to be spending this adventure with him!!
