Kyoto Chapter 1

So we were departing Tokyo and about to have our first experience of the Bullet Train. Believe me, these things make Mr. Branson's quaint little carriages look like a horse and cart in comparison. I could do a squat thrust or kick my leg out without disturbing the person in front of me. I don't know why I would want to do that but the point is I could if wanted to. I put my ipod on, got "The Pearl" by Harold Budd and Brian Eno playing and watched Tokyo's night time skyline turn into nothingness.



Now Kyoto is a complete contrast to Tokyo and certainly more traditional looking, which pleases Nat no end. According to Rika (the girl who looks after our hostel) there are 1,000 temples and 800 shrines in Kyoto so I soon learned not to get too snap happy at the first sign of a lantern or temple but there are some corkers about.

A couple of observations we have made since we have been in Japan is that as a race, they are mad for a crumble and Green Tea. They will fall asleep anywhere; On the train, in a fast food place, on a bench, literally anywhere you could imagine falling asleep (which if you know me at all is pretty limitless) they will have done it. They also love Green Tea and will ingest it in any way they can. So far we have seen Green Tea ice cream, chocolate, cake, kit-kats, custard, biscuits. There is more but I can't recall them all now.

The order of the day in Kyoto has been walking. Walk, walk and then walk a little further. My calves are currently very unhappy with me and that is why I find myself sat at a computer without feeling guilty about wasting some of the little time I am here. I am getting bored of this blogging lark now though so i'm going to bung some pictures of temples and shrines in, get a green tea going and decide whether i'm going to a traditional bath house tonight.

The last two photos above are examples of Emas which are places where people who follow Buddhism attach their prayers in the hope of them being answered. I feel like I should briefly mention the sick Buddhist guy in our hostel who sits and intermittently belts out a laugh which you will have only ever heard in Kung Fu films before. Another recurring theme is Nat's Geisha watch. She is obsessed with them and as i'm typing this she has actually just started quizzing Rika and the Buddhist guy about them. She is on the lookout for them more than I am for record shops and when she saw one escorting a drunk businessman down a back alley last night a tiny high pitch noise i've never heard before emanated from her. Talking of records, below is the fruit of my mini dig in Kyoto. A crazy booklet with 4 flexi discs of top Japanese folk music, laden with samples.