Kyoto: Day 1

Since work is all settled, I start on Monday the 15th with a week of training, and my apartment hunting was complete (I move in tomorrow), I had about a week free- so, why not do some sight-seeing! I took the Shinkansen (just about 2 hours) to Kyoto and spent 4 nights there seeing the sights in and around Kyoto and two other cities nearby- Nara and Arashiyama.  I had an incredible time!! So, since I took over 500 photos, the posts will have to come in installments, so that I can share both what I learned as well as what I saw.

The night before leaving, I drew myself a map from the train station to the ryokan (guest house) where I would be staying.   I had already booked a Kyoto day tour and had a general idea of what I wanted to do on each of the subsequent days.  I carried the following essentials:
1. I had withdrawn plenty of cash- Japan is definitely a cash heavy society,
2. Lonely Planet Guide book (becoming well used)
3. some clothes (living essentials)
4. my kindle- currently reading: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, with Memoirs of a Geisha in line 2nd.
5. My japanese phrase book (helpful)
6. Tangerines and apples for snacking (although Japanese convenient stores are on every corner and opened 24/7)
7. My camera!! (like I said, I took over 500 photos!)
8. An alarm clock - Getting up and out early every day helped to beat the crowds, it also meant crashing early too!
After packing up a day pack on Sunday, I headed off in the light drizzle- its definitely the start of autumn here.  The weather is significantly cooler, and a hint of color is beginning to show through.  I took the local metro to the main Tokyo station where I caught the bullet train (shinkansen) to Kyoto.  I oriented myself at the major hub of the Kyoto train station.  First I had to find the meeting place of my day tour for Monday which was at a hotel near the train station.  I found it easily.  Next was to find my Ryokan, where I would be staying for the next 4 nights.  Since Monday was a holiday, many ryokan were already booked, so after much internet searching I finally found one that said they could have me stay all 4 nights, with their confirmation of "see you 10/7." My hand-drawn map indicated following the main road past several main streets (luckily the street signs were also in English).  Across a bridge over the main canal, and then on a small side street past the McDonalds on the corner.  I am always shocked with myself when I find these locations, half the time by pure luck!

This was the street of my ryokan- can you see it?

 Here it is!

The door was open, but nobody was there!! I waited around for about an hour, until 4:15, and still no one.  (check in had said 3:00pm).  I decided to meander about and come back at around 5:30ish.  I picked up some lunch from the convenient store (around the corner, of course) and headed down to the canal to enjoy the sunshine and my book.

Mom, I thought you'd appreciate the funny signage (more to come!)

When I did return to the ryokan, the lady asked for my reservation number.  I had nothing to offer her, all I had received was an email saying "see you here." Clearly, lost in translation, she and I attempted to speak to eachother- me with my 10 words in Japanese, and her with her 10 words in English.  I basically understood that she did not have a room for me tonight, but would have a room for the next 3 nights.  Luckily, she was nice enough to put me up for the night- in the storage room on the roof! She only charged me 1/2 price for that one.  I decided to take that, since I had no idea where else to look and it was very likely everything else was totally booked, or I would be paying significantly more money for something else! 

Although it smelled slightly of cigarette smoke, I had my own room with access to the shower (also on the roof) and the whole 4 nights only came to 15,100 yen (aprox. $190 US).  I did move rooms after the first night, that part of the story will come in "day 2."

With a place to stay finally settled, it was about 6:30, so I headed out again to do some walking about, and perhaps find some dinner.  The big canal was a good landmark (only 2 short blocks from where I was staying).  So I walked north along it enjoying the crowds of people.

The canal




Turns out this was the main road through Gion, Geisha central (more to share about that one too!)


Just 2 min. from my ryokan, I found an Indian restaurant that served the biggest nan bread ever- and just for me!! After my dinner, the waiter served me a hot chai too! Totally comfort food!