At 8am I took a lazy stroll through the city. The breakfast I had paid for at my hotel turned out to be a starbucks voucher, so I picked up some pancakes, a yoghurt drink, and green tea kitkat balls (KitKats are big in Japan and are available in all kinds of flavours!) and snuffled them as K walked. I finished them off in a juice bar not far from Kyoto station, where I had a delicious mixed fruit smoothie to boot, and then decided to check out the Kyoto sky tower.
I had deliberately omitted the Osaka and Tokyo towers, but I durifully paid my 750 yen and rode to the top.
Aside from several large temple complexes visible from the sky, Kyoto looked much like any other city from this height. This coupled with the omnipresent smog made the experience underwhelming, and then my second set of batteries died.
I rode down feeling a bit like I'd been stupid (I'd known this was going to be rubbish, that's why I hadn't done it in Osaka or Tokyo, so why had I made that mistake here?) but successfully purchased some high-powered batteries from a convenience store.
I met Arkasas and we got the bus back to the Kimono shop. There we spent no less than two hours trying on Kimonos. I found a particularly expensive orange one (23,000 yen, yikes!) and the shop assistant dressed me up in it, pinning it with ribbons, adding a thick white Obi band, and then tying it off with a gold and orange rope. The effect was quite spectacular and I felt pretty special, but in the end I preferred last night's cream summer outer-kimono (which can be worn as a jacket) with a purple fan pattern. Arkansas chose a minty green kimono with a dark pink Sakura print, and we paid and went for lunch. (both our Kimonos put together cost less than half of the orange one!)
I had a photo of a page of a guidebook that advised me that there was a good vegetarian restaurant close by, and we eventually found the shop it should be above, but the cafe had gone. Next we did a local search and found another, but that had closed for lunch (sold out). We found a third veggie cafe which was hidden behind a good market stall, but that had closed for lunch too! So at ten to three, we hurried into a tiny Nepalese restaurant down a back alley, because they had an English menu with a veggie option!
Infact, Yak-Yeti offers two vegetarian curries (vegetable or Dahl) and it came with an immense naan bread, a portion of rice, and a salad. It was fantastic. The waiter was very polite, even when I nearly walked out without paying! Luckily Arkansas reminded me.
From the shopping street we took a bus ride north to the highly recommended Honen-in temple.
We never made it to Honen-in that day. We found this beautiful canal-side walk lined with cherry trees heavy with blossom flowers. In the afternoon sun, the petals seemed illuminated, and it was heart wrenchingly beautiful. We later realised this was Kyoto's famous "Philosophers walk"Which is said to have inspired some of Japan's great thinkers with its beauty and serenity. Soon though, we realised we had to head back down to the station. We were hoping to travel to Nigoshima for their enormous winter light show.
We got on the number five bus, which was standing room only. With every stop, more and more people got on, until the bus was groaning under the weight, and everyone on it was contorted around each other in order to fit! It was kind of amusing, except for the fact that it was a rather hot day thanks to the aforementioned sunshine, and it was a pretty uncomfortable journey. Another classic Japanese experience to add to the list!
By the time we arrived at the station, it was clear we didn't have time, as the park the light show was in closed at 21:00, it would take over an you to get there, and it was already 18.15.
After some dallying, we returned to the shopping centre to buy an obi for my kimono. There was a shop which sold cheat ones, with a string and a clip on bow to make them easier to tie, so I found one of those in purple, and then we returned to one of the nearby vegetarian cafes (that had only been temporarily closed) for a delicious dinner and a studio gibhli film (Porco Rosso gor those who know Ghibli). Arkansas was quite surprised by how much she enjoyed her vegetarian pizza. I ordered something I couldn't understand (safe in the knowledge I could eat it) and got a delicious rice dish.
For dessert we went to a convenience store to get a version of the green tea rice putty cakes that had half a strawberry in the core rather than beancurd! It was delicious and I was really full. That night I used my own mini-pillow for the bed, and used my sleeping bag, so the duvet provided became a mattress topper. I was very cosy and happy!
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