A few days have passed without posting anything, so this is what happened.
On Saturday, we visited Fushimi Inari Shrine, which was breathtakingly beautiful. We spent hours walking through the bright orange Torii gates. Again, it was so very hot and we suffered quite a bit, but it was so worth it. Definitely the highlight in Kyoto, sightseeing wise. And that’s saying something in this city. We sampled some Tofu ice cream (flavors: sesame and sweet potato – awesome!) and tried other Japanese sweets that I can’t remember the name of, sadly.
The Torii Gates of Fushimi Inari Taisha
In the evening, we went to Sanjō bridge where we spent some time people watching, as there was a huge festival going on along the river, and people, old and young, were dressed up in kimono and yukata. It was beautiful to watch them passing by. It’s actually quite wonderful to see so many young people wearing the traditional clothing here in Japan, keeping tradition alive, as old and new seem to blend effortlessly in this country.
We then joined a group of couchsurfers and people from the hostel to have a drink at the river and met some very nice and interesting people. Sadly, we had to leave early in order to meet up with our first couchsurfing host, Hiro, who is probably the friendliest and greatest guy ever. Because his wife was very ill, we could not stay at his house in the end, but he took great care of us nonetheless by booking a nice room for us and organising everything. The short time we spent with him and his beautiful family will not be forgotten.
On Sunday, we decided to rent bikes once again, as this is probably the best way to get around Kyoto, which only has two subway lines anyway. We went all the way out to Arashiyama to see the bamboo forest, which, to be honest, wasn’t all that impressive due to it’s limited size (and because it was so very crowded). But we enjoyed spending time at the beautiful river and discovered Daikakuji Temple by accident, which was very beautiful (what isn’t beautiful in Kyoto), with it’s huge lotus pond and little pagoda, even when it started to rain. We had to cycle home in the pouring rain, which, looking back, also makes for a fond memory. Trying to hold on to your umbrella while cycling is a real challenge, but many Japanese do it, apparently. Also, I practically had to escape from a woman who offered me her raincoat (which I would, of course, never have been able to return to her).
In the evening, we met up with fellow couchsurfers Ruben and Roberto from Barcelona (we’re neighbours, basically). We wanted to sing karaoke, but decided on staying at a very cool (and very tiny) little swing and blues bar instead, where we enjoyed some overpriced Gin Tonic while talking about movies, as R & R are both teachers at a film school in Barcelona. Ruben even showed us his latest short film, which was absolutely incredible – I cannot wait to show it to people back home once he puts it on the internet (after festival time is over). I hope you win, Ruben!
Yesterday, after a short but memorable visit to Nijō Castle (the old residence of the Tokugawa shogun) – again, beautiful, special, and moving, like everything else in Kyoto – it was time to say goodbye to the old capital, which left us a bit sad, as we enjoyed our time here tremendously and will return to this city for sure one day. Our last memory of Kyoto is one of deafening thunder and pouring rain, which obviously made little impression on the locals, but was quite impressive from our European point of view.
After arriving in Nara, we decided to walk from the station to our couchsurfing host, and on this short walk, we could already see how very pretty this quiet and chilled little town is. We are staying at Hiro’s cafe (another Hiro, not the one we met in Kyoto), which is as beautiful as it’s owner is nice. After dark, we went for a quick walk through Nara park (I touched a deer’s nose!!! Aaaahhhh!!!), because there’s the Tokae Lantern Festival going on this week, where the whole park is illuminated by candles and lampions. So very pretty. Summer is hot and humid in Japan, but it’s also festival time, so it’s a good deal for us, I guess. We sampled some more Okonomiyaki (oishii!!) and tried some sugar coated strawberries. We then tried to locate a public bath with Hiro to take a quick shower, but all the baths are closed on Mondays, apparently. Then something that, from now on, I will simply refer to as Couchsurfing magic happened: Hiro took us to a friend’s place to take a shower. That’s right, we went to a complete stranger’s home to take a shower. But, this being Japan, that’s not where it ended. We got treated to some oishii Japanese green tea and pickles, and when Hiro returned with our fellow couchsurfer Ihsin from Taiwan and his friend Mutsumi, we spent the night drinking tea and wine at Komaki’s place (who thanked us repeatedly for dropping by instead of complimenting us out or getting annoyed for taking advantage of her hospitality like that). I love Japan. I love couchsurfing. You can never make these kinds of experiences while staying at a hotel and keeping to yourself. To travel the way we are travelling right now has been the best decision ever. So many special and wonderful memories, so many beautiful people, so many stories to tell.
Nara Park by night
Today we will explore the city in Ihsin’s lovely company. Even though the weather is wet and grey, it’s going to be a great day, I am sure of it.